Parks birthday celebration Friday at FSCC

Fort Scott Community College officials have announced that the Gordon Parks Center at Fort Scott Community College will celebrate the anniversary of the late Fort Scott native's birthday on Friday with several planned activities throughout the day.

The public is invited and encouraged to take part in one or more of the free events, officials said.

Parks was born in Fort Scott on Nov. 30, 1912, and would have been 95 years old this year. He died in March 2006 at the age of 93.

"We thought it would be a fitting day to show some of Gordon's works and celebrate the day he came into this world," Gordon Parks Center Director Jill Warford said. "We are showing one of his films, a documentary on his life, his last interview, and for lunch we will have some readings of his poetry. We also encourage people to tour the center at the college and the Parks' exhibit of photos at Mercy Health Center."

The schedule for the day includes a 10 a.m. showing of the HBO documentary on Parks' life titled "Half Past Autumn." At noon, there will be a soup and sandwich lunch along with speakers and poetry readings. Parks' autobiographical film, "The Learning Tree," will be shown at 1 p.m. The movie was filmed in Fort Scott in the late 1960s.

At 3 p.m., a short interview of Parks will be shown. The interview took place in February 2006 when Parks received the University of Kansas' William Allen White Award. It was his last interview.

All events will be conducted in the Gordon Parks Center located in the FSCC Academic Building on the main FSCC campus. For more information, contact Warford at (620) 223-2700, extension 515, or e-mail her at jillw@fortscott.edu.