Description

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In June 1965, the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center, as it was then named, owned a mere handful of artifacts. In fact, the Oklahoma City institution was forced to borrow materials in order to mount exhibitions to support its inaugural events. From that modest beginning, the center, now known as the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, has grown into perhaps the world’s most respected repository for the study and understanding of the diverse cultures of the American West.

But, as Bobby D. Weaver demonstrates in this no-holds-barred history, the path from those humble origins to the esteemed position the museum occupies today led through some rough-and-tumble times, including a period of receivership. The autocratic style of the founding director, coupled with certain early less-than-ethical practices, forced the museum into what Weaver delicately terms “a legal tangle” that required a complete organizational and financial overhaul.

With renewed professional leadership and the steadfast support of dedicated patrons and sponsors, the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum has developed and changed along with evolving understandings of the culture it was founded to celebrate. What was once a shrine to a particular manifestation of American frontier life has transformed into a world-class art and historical museum that represents the broad sweep of the American West—both lived and imagined—with its full range of social, ethnic, and economic diversity. As Weaver relates, today’s institution is well poised for the future as it furthers its mission of preserving and interpreting the heritage of a vital American region and its lifeways.

About the Author

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BOBBY D. WEAVER is also the author of Castro’s Colony: Empresario Development in Texas, 1842–1865 and Oilfield Trash: Life and Labor in the Oil Patch. From 1988 to 2001, he served as assistant director of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. He lives in Edmond, Oklahoma.

Praise For…

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“I love the Museum, and I'm so happy it's unique history will be shared in this new book.”—#HashtagTheCowboy Thanks, Tim
— Hashtag Tim

“The creation of a new institution of national stature is not an easy task, but today the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum stands as one of the oldest and most important museums of western art and history. Bobby Weaver, historian and former assistant director, has told its story—from a shining institution high on Persimmon Hill to the depths of receivership and back—in a well-written, clear-eyed manner. This is the inside story and a must read for anyone interested in western history and institutions.”—Ron Tyler, author of The Art of Texas
— Ron Tyler

“Written with perception, wit and an insider’s perspective, Bobby Weaver’s comprehensive history of one of America’s most colorful and important Western museums is a model of its kind.”—B. Byron Price, director, Charles M. Russell Center for the Study of Art of the American West
— B. Byron Price

“Bobby Weaver has accomplished two goals with this book. He has provided a case study for any museum advocate who will be asked to keep their institution relevant and sustainable over the long haul. At the same time, he has crafted a narrative spiced with challenges and opportunities, ups and downs, and enough cliff hangers to keep readers turning the pages as they witness the way one institution has helped shape the image of the American West.”—Bob Blackburn, executive director, Oklahoma Historical Society
— Bob Blackburn