Will Rogers Memorial state agency. Will Rogers was born near Oologah, Oklahoma, where his father had settled. He had originally purchased the land in 1911, a plot containing that overlooks the Tiawah Valley, as the site of his retirement home. The price was reportedly $500 per acre. After his death, it was passed on to members of the Rogers family. Will's widow, Betty Rogers, donated the property in 1937, during the Great Depression, to the state of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma legislature appropriated $200,000 for the construction of a museum honoring Rogers. The original limestone building was designed by John Duncan Forsyth. Groundbreaking occurred
Will Rogers (Davidson) was returned to the US and donated to the Will Rogers Memorial Fund, a charity established by the movie industry as a tribute to Will Rogers, in 1936. The WRMF was an eventual replacement for the National Vaudeville Artist Fund, which operated social assistance programs and a hospital for vaudevillians suffering from tuberculosis. The hospital was in Saranac Lake, New York and often referred to as the NVA Lodge. As a result of an agreement between vaudeville producers and movie moguls, the hospital name was changed to the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital, where the plaster cast was on display until