The Lynn Riggs Exhibit

 The Claremore Museum of History is known for being the home of the Lynn Riggs Memorial. The Lynn Riggs Family Collection consists of art, historical artifacts, letters, manuscripts, photographs, financial and legal documents, and printed materials relating to the life and work of Lynn Riggs and his colleagues, family, and friends. 

The collection spans the years 1899-1954, and complement the Lynn Riggs Papers, in the Yale Collection of American Literature, at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, New Haven, Connecticut. On July 31, 2018, the museum opened Beyond Realism: The Cherokee Who Brought Oklahoma to the World. This exhibit was a renovation of the Lynn Riggs Memorial display. Two Todd-AO 70 mm projectors were on loan from Ben and Catherine Kehe. These projectors originally came from Hollywood, California, and were mandatory to show the film OKLAHOMA!. 

Also, on display is our original 70mm film reel of OKLAHOMA! and artifacts from the Lynn Riggs Family Collection that include books from Lynn’s personal Library, correspondence, audio recordings, and photographs. The Department of Special Collections at the University of Tulsa loaned the museum several artifacts from the Lynn Riggs Papers. In addition to the exhibit, the museum also has curated three different Collection Guides comprised from various Lynn Riggs family estates and is available for review upon request to the MoH.