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 cameos in both the 1936 film "The Great Ziegfeld", and the 1937 film "You're a Sweetheart". Rogers was portrayed by his son, Will Rogers, Jr., in a cameo in the 1949 film "Look for the Silver Lining", and as the star of the 1952 film "The Story of Will Rogers". James Whitmore portrayed Rogers in eight runs of the one-man play "Will Rogers' USA" between 1970 and 2000, including a limited run on Broadway in 1974, and as a television film in 1972. Whitmore changed the monologue each time he performed it, using quotations from Rogers as commentary on events