Press Release
July 17, 2024
Contact: Jennifer Frazee
Fort Gibson Historic Site, Oklahoma Historical Society
Office: 918-478-4088
fortgibson@history.ok.gov
www.okhistory.org/fortgibson
Presentation at Fort Gibson Historic Site to Focus on Hannah Worcester Hicks
FORT GIBSON, Okla. — On Saturday, July 27, at 10:30 a.m., Dr. Michelle Martin will present “All the World’s Sorrows: Hannah Worcester Hicks and the Civil War in Indian Territory” at Fort Gibson Historic Site.
During the American Civil War, women and children in the Cherokee Nation suffered tremendously. Hannah Worcester Hicks, the daughter of famed missionary Samuel Austin Worcester, and her husband Abijah Hicks (Cherokee) lived near Fort Gibson as the war raged in the western Ozarks. Hannah Hicks’ diary provides insight into the chaos of war in the Ozarks and the important connections between the Cherokee Nation’s citizens and communities like Van Buren and Fort Smith. Her diary reveals the intense division at work in the Cherokee Nation at a critical time for the nation’s survival. The Hicks’ tragic story illustrates the human cost of war in Indigenous nations and western Ozark communities.
This program is included with site admission and will take place in the Fort Gibson Historic Site Commissary. The program runs from 10:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., and the site is open from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. After the presentation, browse the Fort Gibson gift shop stocked with replica items from the 19th century and tour the historic military fort.
For more information, please call 918-478-4088. The Fort Gibson Historic Site is located at 907 N. Garrison Ave. in Fort Gibson.
The Fort Gibson Historic Site is a division of the Oklahoma Historical Society. The mission of the Oklahoma Historical Society is to collect, preserve and share the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma and its people. Founded in 1893 by members of the Territorial Press Association, the OHS maintains museums, historic sites and affiliates across the state. Through its research archives, exhibits, educational programs and publications the OHS chronicles the rich history of Oklahoma. For more information about the OHS, please visit www.okhistory.org.
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Editor’s Note: Photos of the Fort Gibson Historic Site are available upon request.
