OHS EXTRA! - Everything under the sun

"A Long Walk in the Sun: Mexican-American War Days" at Fort Towson

Fort Towson Historic Site will be the setting for “A Long Walk in the Sun: Mexican-American War Days” living history encampment on Saturday, September 18, 2021.

The historic site will be open and free to the public on September 18 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with various historic skills demonstrations throughout the day. Woodcutters teaching the skill of felling and cutting a tree, the art of making corn husk dolls, the cooper’s process of making wooden buckets, and the use of gunpowder and artillery will all be a part of the day’s demonstrations. Living history interpreters representing US dragoons, infantry, and cavalry will be circulating at the event. Visitors can also learn about the history behind the Sutler’s Store, which was a source of goods and merchandise for soldiers and surrounding towns until the fort’s closure in 1854. For more information about the event, please call John Davis at 580-873-2634 or email jdavis@okhistory.org. Fort Towson Historic Site is located north of US 70 near Fort Towson.

Autumnal Equinox Walks at Spiro Mounds

Come to Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center on Wednesday, September 22, 2021, for the site's Autumnal Equinox Walks. As the end of summer nears and crops are ready for harvest, the time of the year arrives for the most important of ceremonies for the eastern American Indians, the Busk or Green Corn Ceremony. The Green Corn Ceremony marked the time of harvest and renewal with ceremonies that took place around the autumnal equinox in the Spiro area.

On September 22 there will be three walks beginning at 11 a.m., 2 p.m., and 7 p.m., led by archaeologist and Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center manager Dennis Peterson. Each walk will take about two hours and require a mile of easy walking. Peterson will tell about this unique prehistoric American Indian mound site, the types of mounds, why they were created, and why some of the mounds are lined up for the solstice and equinox sunsets. He also will be on hand to answer your questions and discuss the history of the excavations, American Indian ceremonies, and stories of the unusual happenings associated with the mounds. Call 918-962-2062 to learn more about this year's equinox walks.

Upcycling through hard times—a snapshot of domestic life 

A new exhibit, Thrift Style, opened in September at the Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center (CSRHC). It centers around the practice of reusing flour and feed sacks to make clothing and other household objects in the 1920s through World War II. This practice was the “upcycling” of its day, when repurposing colorful and patterned cloth bags mutually benefited 20th-century consumers and businesses. In this era when fabric was in short supply, manufacturers encouraged thriftiness, packaging their goods in cloth bags with desirable patterns, which in turn boosted sales. The exhibit has 41 pieces from patterns to garments, and serves as an example of how past ingenuity can inform today’s efforts toward sustainability.

The exhibition was organized by the Historic Costume and Textile Museum and the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, both at Kansas State University. The items on display provide a nostalgic view of American ingenuity, sensibility, and optimism during a particularly challenging time of economic hardship and war—the period of the Great Depression and World War II. The reuse of feed, flour, and sugar sacks was a cost-saving and resource-saving approach employed by homemakers to make new items to meet their families’ needs. For more information about this exhibit, call 580-237-1907.

Oklahoma Historical Society

collecting, preserving, and sharing since 1893

Nina Hager, editor