Editors of two volumes of papers of Will Rogers have examined thousands of documents; combing through manuscripts and letters to complete the fifth and final volume of “The Papers of Will Rogers,” published by University of Oklahoma Press.
Volumes 5 covers from August 1928 through August 1935 and includes some documents relating to the time after Will Rogers’ untimely death in an Aug. 15, 1935 plane crash in Alaska.
Steve Gragert, Will Rogers Museum archivist-historian and now interim director, and Dr. Jane Johannnson, member of the RSU faculty, Pryor campus, edited the last two volumes of the documentary history. Volumes 1-3, chronicling writings of Will Rogers from birth though July 1915 were edited by Arthur Frank Wertheim and Barbara Bair and published by OU Press. Volume 4 covered 1915 through 1927.
“Like the other volumes, focus was on previously unpublished materials,” Gragert said. “There are not only documents one might expect such as letters from political, business and religious leaders, but letters from ordinary Americans, even some who took exception to things he wrote or said.”
Special letters include one he wrote to Belton Dandy Kleberg Johnson, member of the family that owns the famous King Ranch in Texas. Will wrote the letter to the little boy a year after Johnson’s father died from a long illness telling him what fine parents he had. Johnson carried the letter with him all his life.
The Brahma calf in many of the Rogers’ family photos (it was Mary Rogers’ special pet) was a gift from the Kleberg family and named for Sarah, Belton’s mother.
There are letters from presidents, flying greats like Charles Lindbergh (and his wife) and Wiley Post and a 1930 contract with Fox Film Corp. for more than $1 million.
The fifth volume contains documents relating to Will’s death, settlement of his estate, insurance policies, creation of the Will Rogers Memorial Commission and fund-raising for the Museum.
One of the most touching letters is one written by Lewis Breker to his mother, Elenor Carselowey, a part Cherokee from Vinita.
A deputy in the Supreme Court of Los Angeles, Breker, wrote Aug. 22, 1935 about his experience as part of a law enforcement detail at the California wake and funeral of Will Rogers, “lines two miles long, continuously for five hours.”
He told his mother of some of the floral wreaths, even from the Soviet government, and said he stood near one from Claremore.
Publication of the final book was made possible through cooperation of Rogers State University and the Sarkeys Foundation, Senator Stratton Taylor and Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers.
Gragert served as director of the Will Rogers Research Project at Oklahoma State University. While at OSU, he edited or co-edited 17 of the 22 volumes in the scholarly series “The Writings of Will Rogers,” all published by Oklahoma State University.
“I am pleased to have worked on this program,” he said, “to come full circle from the writings project at OSU.”
Dr. Johansson has been involved in the project about four years.
“I did not know much about Will Rogers,” she said, “Steve was the expert. I thought it was a real privilege to be asked to work on this project. I learned what a significant person Will Rogers was.”
The new book as well as the first four volumes is available at the University of Oklahoma press, bookstores, on-line or at the Museum gift shop
The Will Rogers Museum in Claremore and Birthplace Ranch near Oologah are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., 365 days a year.