Frequently Asked Questions about Annie Oakley
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The Garst Museum and the National Annie Oakley Center in Greenville, Ohio, is a large historical museum with over 300,000 artifacts on display in over 35,000 square feet of exhibit space within six building wings. Major exhibits are The National Annie Oakley Center, CrossRoads of Destiny, American Indians, Lowell Thomas, the Village, Agricultural and Military exhibits. Please see the Garst Museum Store for the books below, gift items and merchandise relating to Annie Oakley.
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One or Two Eyes Open, is a compilation of selected stories from Annie Oakley or Frank Butler, her husband. Many of these have been transcribed as they appeared in the newspapers. These are selections from Annie's scrapbook. Microfilmed copies at Garst Museum were provided by the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY.
Sympathy Letters To Frank Butler After the Death of Annie Oakley Butler is a compilation of notes and letters written to Frank by those who were touched by Annie’s showmanship, personality and generosity -- the famous and also ordinary people including family members.
The Autobiography of Annie Oakley, is a collection of fifteen articles written by Annie and published in newspapers across the United States in 1925-26.
Personal Pages from Annie Oakley & Frank Butler, is from the museum’s archives, and includes correspondence to and from Annie Oakley and Frank Butler. This book also includes letters from family members, acquaintances, and famous celebrities such as Buffalo Bill Cody.
Frank Butler, The Man Behind The Woman, is a biography of Annie’s husband. Included in the book are 32 of his poems.
Most are $10-$14, Personal Pages is $25. All are available at Garst Museum Store and The National Annie Oakley Center, Greenville, Ohio, 937.548.5250, https://garstmuseum.org.
Shirl Kasper's book, Annie Oakley, also published by the University of Oklahoma Press, 1992 and available in the Museum Store, is an excellent source of good information on Annie Oakley. This edition has been updated with a new "Afterword," published in 2023 from newly discovered sources. It includes her start as a commedienne, her later life with Frank Butler, and her final years and struggles. In the introduction, Kasper states, "Biographers have painted her as a sweet little girl, when in fact she was a resolute, competitive woman, intent on making her way in a man's world." Kasper points out several falsehoods of the Annie Oakley legend. The biggest one "portrays Annie Oakley as a swaggering cowgirl, when she really was no such thing. She was a petite woman, standing only five feet tall and weighing only 110 pounds. She was prim and proper, conservative in her views."
Glenda Riley's book, The Life and Legacy of Annie Oakley, published by the University of Oklahoma Press, is an excellent source of factual information about Annie Oakley's life.
Read the National Trust for Historic Preservation's story about Annie: How Wild West Sharpshooter Annie Oakley Made It in a Man's World.
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The Garst Museum and the National Annie Oakley Center in Greenville, OH.
Annie Oakley's house in Dorchester, MD.
The Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, WY.
The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Ft. Worth, TX, has a section dedicated to Annie Oakley that includes her wedding ring, a traveling trunk, letters and pictures with inscriptions in her hand, and items relating to her performances in the Wild West shows.
Look for Annie Oakley on Blog for Lifestyle & Travel, about the Birthplaces of the Most Interesting Women in History.
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PBS's American Experience did an episode on Annie Oakley as a part of The Wild West collection.
Teacher resources
We have two 4th grade lesson plans about Annie Oakley. The first is a Social Studies lesson about how to differentiate between primary and secondary historical resources, using the Annie Oakley information on this website as an example. The second lesson plan is a Language Arts lesson about how to write informational text to examine a topic and convey the ideas and information clearly.
Character Education Resources from the Character Development Group.
Images courtesy of the Darke County Historial Society
Annie Oakley Center Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 1025, Greenville, OH 45331info@annieoakleycenterfoundation.com
