Resources

The Annie Oakley Foundation has published a series of letter books compiled by Marilyn Robbins, drawing on Annie and Frank Butler's correspondence and Annie's scrapbook. Please see the Garst Museum Store for these books, gift items and merchandise relating to Annie Oakley.

• One or Two Eyes Open is a compilation of selected stories from Annie Oakley or Frank Butler, her husband. Many of these have been transcribed as they appeared in the newspapers. These are selections from Annie's scrapbook. Microfilmed copies at Garst Museum were provided by the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY.
• Sympathy Letters To Frank Butler After the Death of Annie Oakley Butler is a compilation of notes and letters written to Frank by those who were touched by Annie's showmanship, personality and generosity -- the famous and also ordinary people including family members.
• The Autobiography of Annie Oakley is a collection of fifteen articles written by Annie and published in newspapers across the United States in 1925-26.
• Personal Pages from Annie Oakley & Frank Butler is from the museum's archives, and includes correspondence to and from Annie Oakley and Frank Butler. This book also includes letters from family members, acquaintances, and famous celebrities such as Buffalo Bill Cody.
• Frank Butler, The Man Behind The Woman is a biography of Annie's husband. Included in the book are 32 of his poems.

Most are $10–$14; Personal Pages is $25. All are available at the Garst Museum Store and The National Annie Oakley Center, Greenville, Ohio, 937.548.5250, garstmuseum.org.

Shirl Kasper's book, Annie Oakley, published by the University of Oklahoma Press, 1992 and available in the Museum Store, is an excellent source of good information on Annie Oakley. This edition has been updated with a new "Afterword," published in 2023 from newly discovered sources. It includes her start as a comedienne, her later life with Frank Butler, and her final years and struggles. In the introduction, Kasper states, "Biographers have painted her as a sweet little girl, when in fact she was a resolute, competitive woman, intent on making her way in a man's world." Kasper points out several falsehoods of the Annie Oakley legend. The biggest one "portrays Annie Oakley as a swaggering cowgirl, when she really was no such thing. She was a petite woman, standing only five feet tall and weighing only 110 pounds. She was prim and proper, conservative in her views."

Glenda Riley's book, The Life and Legacy of Annie Oakley, published by the University of Oklahoma Press, is an excellent source of factual information about Annie Oakley's life.

The Garst Museum and the National Annie Oakley Center in Greenville, Ohio, is a large historical museum with over 300,000 artifacts on display in over 35,000 square feet of exhibit space within six building wings.

Visit Annie Oakley's house in Dorchester/Cambridge, Maryland. The Cambridge house, now privately owned, is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Buffalo Bill Historical Center (Center of the West) in Cody, Wyoming.

The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Ft. Worth, Texas, has a section dedicated to Annie Oakley that includes her wedding ring, a traveling trunk, letters and pictures with inscriptions in her hand, and items relating to her performances in the Wild West shows.

PBS's American Experience did an episode on Annie Oakley as a part of The Wild West collection.

A 4th grade Social Studies lesson about how to differentiate between primary and secondary historical resources, using the Annie Oakley information on this website as an example.

A 4th grade Language Arts lesson about how to write informational text to examine a topic and convey the ideas and information clearly.

Character Education Resources from the Character Development Group.