Woody Crumbo
Encyclopedia
Woodrow "Woody" Crumbo was an American Indian
artist
, flautist
, and dancer of Potawatomi
descent. As an independent prospector
, he found one of the largest beryllium
veins in the nation. His paintings are held by several prominent museums, including the Smithsonian Institution
and the Metropolitan Museum of Art
. A 1978 inductee into the Oklahoma
Hall of Fame, Crumbo became an "ambassador of good will" for Oklahoma in 1982 under appointment by Governor George Nigh
.
, Crumbo moved with his mother to Kansas
as a child after the death of his father in 1916. Orphaned in 1919, he spent the rest of his childhood living with various American Indian families around Sand Springs, Oklahoma
. When Crumbo was 17, he began studying art at the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School
, also taking up the study of the Kiowa
ceremonial wooden flute. Later he soloed on this instrument in performance with the Wichita Symphony.
Crumbo earned a scholarship
to the Wichita
American Indian Institute, graduating as valedictorian
to continue his studies at Wichita University and the University of Oklahoma
.
in the early 1930s disseminating and collecting traditional dances. His art career was cemented when his teacher from the Chilocco Indian School sold a number of his painting to the San Francisco Museum of Art. Subsequently, Crumbo joined the Bacone College
in Muskogee
as Director of Art from 1938-1941. A few years later he curated a collection of Native American art at the Thomas Gilcrease Institute in Tulsa. Crumbo's "peyote bird" design became the logo for the Gilcrease Museum
.
From 1948 to 1960, Crumbo lived in Taos, New Mexico
. In the 1950s, Crumbo bought a $3 mail-order mineral identification kit; he took up prospecting with fellow artist Max Evans. The two found deposits of ore worth millions, including a vein of beryllium
that the New Mexico School of Mines identified at the time as "among the greatest beryllium finds in the nation." He later served as Assistant Director of the El Paso
, Texas
Museum of Art from 1960–1967 and briefly as Director in 1968. He left to work independently and explore humanitarian efforts. In 1973 he took up residence near Checotah, Oklahoma
, where he continued to create and to promote Native American art. He moved to Cimarron, New Mexico
in 1988, died there in 1989, and was buried in Okmulgee, Oklahoma
.
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, flautist
Flautist
A flautist or flutist is a musician who plays an instrument in the flute family. See List of flautists.The choice of "flautist" versus "flutist" is the source of dispute among players of the instrument...
, and dancer of Potawatomi
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...
descent. As an independent prospector
Prospecting
Prospecting is the physical search for minerals, fossils, precious metals or mineral specimens, and is also known as fossicking.Prospecting is a small-scale form of mineral exploration which is an organised, large scale effort undertaken by mineral resource companies to find commercially viable ore...
, he found one of the largest beryllium
Beryllium
Beryllium is the chemical element with the symbol Be and atomic number 4. It is a divalent element which occurs naturally only in combination with other elements in minerals. Notable gemstones which contain beryllium include beryl and chrysoberyl...
veins in the nation. His paintings are held by several prominent museums, including the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
and the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
. A 1978 inductee into the Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
Hall of Fame, Crumbo became an "ambassador of good will" for Oklahoma in 1982 under appointment by Governor George Nigh
George Nigh
George Patterson Nigh , is a popular civic leader in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Nigh served as the 17th and the 22nd Governor of Oklahoma. He was the first Oklahoma Governor to be re-elected and the first to win all 77 counties in the state...
.
Early life
Born near Lexington, OklahomaLexington, Oklahoma
Lexington is a city in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, United States. The city population was 2,152 at the 2010 census. Sperling Best Places reports that over 7400 residents live in the Lexington Zip code-Geography:Lexington is located at ....
, Crumbo moved with his mother to Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
as a child after the death of his father in 1916. Orphaned in 1919, he spent the rest of his childhood living with various American Indian families around Sand Springs, Oklahoma
Sand Springs, Oklahoma
Sand Springs is a city in Osage and Tulsa counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. A suburb of Tulsa, it is located predominantly in Tulsa County. The population was 18,906 in the 2010 U. S. Census, compared to 17,451 at the 2000 census. The city was founded in 1911, by Oklahoma philanthropist...
. When Crumbo was 17, he began studying art at the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School
Chilocco Indian Agricultural School
Chilocco Indian School was an agricultural school for Native Americans located in north-central Oklahoma from 1884 to 1980. It was located approximately 20 miles north of Ponca City, Oklahoma and seven miles north of Newkirk, Oklahoma, near the Kansas border....
, also taking up the study of the Kiowa
Kiowa
The Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
ceremonial wooden flute. Later he soloed on this instrument in performance with the Wichita Symphony.
Crumbo earned a scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
to the Wichita
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
American Indian Institute, graduating as valedictorian
Valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...
to continue his studies at Wichita University and the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
.
Professional career
While studying art, Crumbo supported himself as a Native American dancer. He toured reservations across the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the early 1930s disseminating and collecting traditional dances. His art career was cemented when his teacher from the Chilocco Indian School sold a number of his painting to the San Francisco Museum of Art. Subsequently, Crumbo joined the Bacone College
Bacone College
Bacone College is a private four-year liberal arts college in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Founded in 1880 as the Indian University by Almon C. Bacone, Bacone College is the oldest continuously operated institution of higher education in Oklahoma...
in Muskogee
Muskogee
Muskogee or Muscogee can refer to:*The Muscogee tribe, an American Indian people originally from Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama, many of whom later relocated to Oklahoma*Muscogee Nation, a federally recognized Muscogee tribe in Oklahoma...
as Director of Art from 1938-1941. A few years later he curated a collection of Native American art at the Thomas Gilcrease Institute in Tulsa. Crumbo's "peyote bird" design became the logo for the Gilcrease Museum
Gilcrease Museum
Gilcrease Museum is a museum located northwest of downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. The museum now houses the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of art of the American West as well as a growing collection of art and artifacts from Central and South America...
.
From 1948 to 1960, Crumbo lived in Taos, New Mexico
Taos, New Mexico
Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico, incorporated in 1934. As of the 2000 census, its population was 4,700. Other nearby communities include Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, and El Prado. The town is close to Taos Pueblo, the Native American...
. In the 1950s, Crumbo bought a $3 mail-order mineral identification kit; he took up prospecting with fellow artist Max Evans. The two found deposits of ore worth millions, including a vein of beryllium
Beryllium
Beryllium is the chemical element with the symbol Be and atomic number 4. It is a divalent element which occurs naturally only in combination with other elements in minerals. Notable gemstones which contain beryllium include beryl and chrysoberyl...
that the New Mexico School of Mines identified at the time as "among the greatest beryllium finds in the nation." He later served as Assistant Director of the El Paso
El Paso
El Paso, a city in the U.S. state of Texas, on the border with Mexico.El Paso may also refer to:-Geography:Colombia:* El Paso, CesarSpain:*El Paso, Santa Cruz de TenerifeUnited States:...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
Museum of Art from 1960–1967 and briefly as Director in 1968. He left to work independently and explore humanitarian efforts. In 1973 he took up residence near Checotah, Oklahoma
Checotah, Oklahoma
Checotah is a city in McIntosh County, Oklahoma, United States. It was named for Samuel Checote, the first chief of the Creek Nation elected after the Civil War. The population was 3,481 at the 2000 census....
, where he continued to create and to promote Native American art. He moved to Cimarron, New Mexico
Cimarron, New Mexico
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 917 people, 382 households, and 255 families residing in the village. The population density was 479.5 people per square mile . There were 449 housing units at an average density of 234.8 per square mile...
in 1988, died there in 1989, and was buried in Okmulgee, Oklahoma
Okmulgee, Oklahoma
Okmulgee is a city in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, United States. The population at the 2010 census was 12,321 a loss of 5.4 percent since the 2000 census figure of 13,022. It has been the capital of the Muscogee Nation since the United States Civil War. Okmulgee means "boiling waters" in the Creek...
.
External links
- "Land of Enchantment" (1946), one of Crumbo's best-known paintings https://www2.elpasotexas.gov/arch_museum/temporary_exhibits.asp.
- Woody Crumbo art, Smithsonian Institution Research Information System
