 The Gordon Parks Collection at Mercy Health Center in Fort Scott, Kansas is the first collection of his works to be displayed in his hometown. Gordon Parks gift to the community in honor of his parents Sarah and Andrew Jackson Parks includes over 50 of Parks' autographed photographs and 14 samples of his poetry. The display is in the public areas of the Medical Center and open for viewing whenever the hospital is open to the public. You can drop in anytime during the open hours or call to schedule a tour. This is the largest collection of signed Gordon Parks work outside of the Library of Congress. The Gordon Parks exhibit begins in the main lobby (photo above) and there are maps labeled "walking tour" that will guide you to the galleries along the halls and dinning area. The work progresses from Gordon Parks early work to his modern (almost science fictional) photography of the 1990s. My favorite works in the Parks collection are Gordon Parks' black and white photographs from World War 2 and the western United States. Photographer, writer, and filmmaker, Gordon Roger Alexander Buchannan Parks passed away March 7, 2006. Parks' body is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Fort Scott. Additional Park documents and his writing desk are located
in the Gordon Parks Center for Culture and Diversity at
The goal of the Center for Culture and Diversity is to move the collection to a new Gordon Parks Museum in the fall of 2009.
copyright 2007-2009 by Keith Stokes |
