Gordon Parks Museum Receives Community Impact Grant by the

Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas

 

Fort Scott, Kan. Aug.11, 2026 – A Community Impact Grant in the area of Arts and Culture from the Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas helped support the Gordon Parks Museum Historic Yearbook Preservation, Digital Access, and Exhibit Enhancement Project.

 

“This grant will allow the Gordon Parks Museum to preserve some of our most important historical resources while making them more accessible to the public,” said Kirk Sharp, Executive Director of the Gordon Parks Museum. “These yearbooks provide a unique window into Gordon Parks’ early life, his education, friendships, and the African American community of Fort Scott.

 

A major component of this project is the preservation and reproduction of four rare yearbooks connected to Gordon Parks and the local community. These include Parks’ 1927 eighth-grade graduation yearbook, his 1928 Fort Scott High School Crimson yearbook, the 1925 Crimson yearbook of his lifelong friend Clarence Hill, and the 1953 Hawkins School yearbook.

 

The project also includes the purchase of a 37-inch touchscreen kiosk that will provide visitors with interactive access to digitized yearbooks, photographs, oral histories, films, and other archival materials.

 

In addition, the project will add two 60-inch exhibit display cases and one 48-inch display case to enhance the preservation and presentation of artifacts, photographs, documents, and interpretive materials.

 

“By combining preservation with interactive technology and enhanced exhibit spaces, we can protect these materials for future generations while creating new opportunities for visitors, students, researchers, and our community to experience and learn from Gordon Parks’ remarkable legacy.” Sharp said.

 

The Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas hosts individual charitable funds created by donors who have a passion for giving back to their community. Grants from these funds assist people throughout Southeast Kansas and beyond. Call 620-231-8897 with questions about the Community

Foundation. Or visit SoutheastKansas.org.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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