Annie Oakley Center Foundation acquires items in Texas Auction

Annie Oakley

GREENVILLE--The Annie Oakley Center Foundation in Greenville, is happy to announce that they were able to purchase three lots of Annie Oakley related artifacts during a recent auction held at Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas on June 10. The Annie Oakley Center Foundation is an independent non-profit that supports The National Annie Oakley Center at the Garst Museum.

This auction presented items that were offered by the family of Billie Butler, the granddaughter of Annie Oakley’s brother-in-law, William.

According to Eileen Litchfield, president of the Annie Oakley Center Foundation, “This auction represented an unusual opportunity to acquire Annie Oakley artifacts that would complement the existing exhibit at The National Annie Oakley Center at Garst Museum.” 

The three lots that the Annie Oakley Center Foundation purchased were: 

* A handwritten letter from Annie Oakley’s husband Frank Butler, to his brother, Will about Annie’s final illness.  

* A letter, a postcard and two envelopes from Frank Butler to his brother, Will, in which Frank contradicts a false newspaper story that Annie had died. 

* The third lot purchased was a charming poem about hunting in Florida, with a postscript in Frank Butler’s hand. 

For more information about Annie Oakley and the Foundation, visit www.annieoakleycenterfoundation.org.

Photos courtesy of the Garst Museum.

Frank Butler