What's in a name? - Will Rogers Elementary

William Penn Adair "Will" Rogers (1879-1935) was an American cowboy, vaudeville performer, humorist, social commentator and movie actor. He was one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s. Known as "Oklahoma's Favorite Son," Rogers was born to a prominent Cherokee Nation family in Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma). He traveled around the world three times, made 71 movies (50 silent films and 21 "talkies"), wrote more than 4,000 nationally syndicated newspaper columns, and became a world-famous figure.

At the age of 55, he died in a small airplane crash in Alaska with the famous pilot Wiley Post. Will Rogers is buried in Claremore, Oklahoma, where fans can visit the Will Rogers Memorial Museum.

Pittsburg County Fun Fact: Will Roger's wife Betty has an uncle who came to Canadian, in the Choctaw Nation in 1896; her uncle’s name was Dr. William Edgar Crowder and the town of Crowder was named for him.