Oklahoma Historical Society

The Oklahoma Historical Society and the Osage Nation agreed to operate the White Memorial in partnership. The long-term goal may be the transfer of Lillie Morrell Burkhart’s trust to the Osage Nation and out of the hands of the Oklahoma Historical Society.

The Oklahoma Historical Society announced Monday it has sold Jim Thorpe’s former home to his grandchildren through the Thorpe Family Foundation.

State officials who oversee the Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture say they are temporarily laying off staff from the museum until its build-out is fully funded.

The former location of Brown’s Bakery, Clyde’s Supermarket and T.G.&Y., has been designated on the National Register of Historic Places.

Three sites in Oklahoma have been added to the National Register of Historic Places, according to a joint statement from the Oklahoma Historical Society and State Historic Preservation Office.

In 1984, the Oklahoma Historical Society took over the management of Lillie Morrell Burkhart’s estate, and today they run the White Hair Memorial — just as Lillie wanted. But, there continue to be questions about what exactly that legacy will be moving forward.

Lillie Morrell Burkhart was a wealthy Osage woman living near Ralston, Oklahoma in Osage County in the early 20th century. When she passed away in 1967, she had a will that clearly laid out her wishes: her home is to be kept as a shrine to her ancestor Chief White Hair. She left her land, her country house and her two headrights to the Oklahoma Historical Society.In KOSU’s third story in a series about her legacy, what would happen to that home and everything inside it would be at the center of a lengthy court battle involving relatives who were upset that Osage wealth would be leaving Osage hands once again.

Osage Nation Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear says his nation has been approached by the Oklahoma Historical Society about returning headrights formerly belonging to Lillie Morrell Burkhart, who willed it to the state agency when she died in 1967. The return would mean that the Osage Nation would manage Burkhart's trust.

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