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Ever expanding, Gilcrease
established his company headquarters in San Antonio, Texas in 1937 and
also maintained an office in Europe. In the meantime, he was also
expanding his art collection, the bulk of which would be amassed in the
years after 1939. At a time when few others were interested in
Native
American art or artifacts of the American West, Gilcrease sought out
single works of art as well as large groups of material from dealers and
other collectors.
In 1941, Tom told “Chief”
Cephas Stout, who had done the remodeling and updating of the stone house,
to convert the barn and garage for storehouses for his artwork and
artifacts. When complete, he referred to the barn as "His Gallery"
and the garage as "His Library.”
In 1943, Thomas opened
the Museum of the American Indian in San Antonio. While living
there, his stone house was sitting empty and he decided it could be better
utilized as an orphanage for Indian children. He soon made
renovations to the second floor, adding more rooms for the girls and built
a second building for the boys. The garage was utilized as a
technical training center for the children.
During this time Thomas
was also supporting a number of
Oklahoma
Indian artists, including Crumbo, Acee Blue Eagle, and Willard Stone, each
of whom created works that he placed in his collection. In 1946, Gilcrease
was honored by the tribal members of the Sioux Nation when he was made an
honorary tribal member and given the name Wicarpi Wakatuya, which means
"High Star".
Though the American
Indian Museum in San Antonio failed to attract the number of visitors that
he thought it would, it did not deter the avid collector. In 1947,
he made of the shrewdest acquisition of American art in the century. Purchasing the entire collection of the late Dr. Phillip Gillette Cole, an
avid art collector in New York, the amount paid by Gilcrease at the time
wouldn’t buy a single work in the collection today.
Soon, 63 boxes and 11
crates were delivered to
Tulsa which
contained twenty-seven bronzes and forty-six paintings by Charles Russell,
seventeen bronzes and twelve paintings by Frederic Remington, and numerous
documents and correspondence of well known characters in the American
West.
With these new works,
along with the many that he had already collected, Gilcrease hired
architect Alexandre Hogue to design a museum on his property to display
his treasures. In 1949, Thomas returned to
Tulsa with his
oil company and opened the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History
and Art on his rambling estate. Thomas continued to live in the rock
house, which was surrounded by a garden showcasing plants used by the
Indians.
During the early 1950’s
Gilcrease continued to acquire works of art, artifacts and documents.
However, it was also at this time that oil prices began to decline and the
art collector found it more and more difficult to finance major purchases.
As his debt continued to
mount, Gilcrease offered to sell the entire collection in order to keep it
intact. However, in 1954, fearing that
Gilcrease Museum would leave
Tulsa, a small
group of citizens organized a bond election. The next year, Tulsans
approved, by a 3-to-1 margin, the bond issue which paid Gilcrease's
outstanding debts. Gilcrease then deeded the collection to the City of
Tulsa and
committed oil property revenue to assist in the maintenance of the museum
until the $2.25 million bond was repaid.
Three years later, in
1958, the Gilcrease Foundation conveyed the museum buildings and grounds
to the City of
Tulsa.
After transferring his
collection, Gilcrease continued to fund archaeological excavations and
acquire even more material for the collection. Thomas died of a heart
attack in 1962 and was given a funeral service which included traditional
Indian rituals. His remains were entombed in a mausoleum upon the
grounds of his estate and his additional art and artifacts were bequeathed
to the museum.
During his lifetime,
Gilcrease collected more than 10,000 artworks, 250,000
Native
American artifacts and 100,000 rare books and documents, including the
only surviving certified copy of the Declaration of Independence.
The
Gilcrease Museum is said to be the world’s largest and most
comprehensive collection of fine art, artifacts, and archives that tell
the story of the American West. The grounds also display 23 acres of
thematic gardens showcasing the gardening styles of different time periods
in the American West. Free guided tours of the museum are available,
as well as a gift shop and the elegant Osage Restaurant.
Today, Thomas Gilcrease
is evidently just as enamored with his collection as he was in life, as he
is said to continue to roam his beloved grounds. Seen all over the
estate, the philanthropist ghost often spends time in the gardens, which
was his favorite place during his life time. He is also spied in his
former home which now houses the
Tulsa
Historical Society as well as the museum itself. According to the
tales, he has been spied so often at night by security guards; it has
contributed to a high turnover rate.
Other reports tell of
ghostly children that continue to roam upon these historic grounds. Ghost investigators have obtained electronic voice recordings of a woman
singing, the sounds of men arguing, and strange whispers.
Other phenomena reported
by staff and guests include loud banging noises coming from the second
floor of the museum, major temperature fluctuations, doors slamming by
themselves, unexplainable technical malfunctions, and items that
mysteriously disappear only to show up later in a strange place that it
obviously does not belong.
Some estimate that there
as many as seven different spirits remaining on the property, all of which
are reportedly harmless and linger only because they like it.
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His
father built a log home near Eufaula and ran a cotton gin in the
nearby community of Mounds. Thomas received his education in a
one-room school house under the tutelage of Creek poet Alex Posey. Under Posey’s guidance, Thomas was given a fine education that would
fire his imagination for the rest of his days.
