John Wayne museum spotlights Midwestern morals

While most kids were watching "Sesame Street" or "Dora the Explorer," 5-year-old Ethan Pro was taking in rough and tumble westerns like "True Grit" and "The Searchers."

Ethan, now 14, said he remembers horsing around as his dad watched old John Wayne movies on TV. Eventually, the California native put down his toys and lost himself in the rugged world of the Old West and the drawl and dress of The Duke.

"I loved how (Wayne) was always the hero and could beat any bad guy," Ethan said. "He was tough, and a respectable man. I loved his walk, his voice, his outfits, just everything about him."

Ethan's interest never waned. Today, his room in Canyon County, Calif., is outfitted with all things Wayne. He draws pencil sketches of "The Duke" and, after a successful "Go Fund Me" campaign, he will attend this week's grand opening of the new John Wayne Birthplace Museum in Winterset.

"It's been my dream since as long as I can remember to go to the John Wayne birthplace," Ethan said. "To me, he's the biggest and best movie star that ever lived."

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Now, with a brand-new museum dedicated to the Duke, organizers hope to nurture new legions of "Ethans" in Winterset.

After decades of planning, seven years of fundraising and more than two years of construction, the John Wayne Birthplace Museum is set to open to the public Saturday. Wayne, born Marion Robert Morrison, lived in Winterset for the first three years of his life. His family then hopped from Iowa town to Iowa town before settling in California when he was 7.

The $2.5 million, 6,100-square-foot facility, kitty-corner from the Duke's first home, will honor Wayne's film career and his die-hard patriotism. The centerpiece of the gallery is a collection of memorabilia from Wayne's life, including scripts, costumes, set pieces, posters, personal correspondence, an original Andy Warhol painting and a custom-made 1972 Pontiac station wagon.

But more than just a spot for stuff, organizers hope the museum acts as a gathering place, a home for those who love Wayne and a gateway for those yet to find affection for him.

Aissa Wayne, 59, one of the Duke's daughters and sometimes co-star, said the museum will be a tangible reminder of what her father stood for: integrity, perseverance, patriotism, freedom and, of course, good triumphing over evil.

"So many people write to me and say, 'I learned about American values from your dad,' " said Wayne, who lives in Malibu, Calif. "Now, this is a place where kids can go and learn and ask questions about our country and freedom and what it means to be a citizen. That's what my dad would have wanted, a place where people could learn to love and appreciate our country."

Decades after his death, she said, those morals her father cared so deeply about maintaining in his work are on display in this museum.

"Even though he was a big, famous actor, he struggled and asked, 'Is anyone going to hire me for another movie?' " she said. "I saw him not take parts that weren't inspiring or didn't teach a lesson and he paid a price for that. Now, I'm thinking, gosh, Dad, look, it paid off. You touched people."

Wayne was 'like the people of Winterset'

Earlier this month, Brian Downes, the museum's executive director, stood in the collection gallery and pointed to his name written in scrawling print in John Wayne's personal calendar.

"May 18, 1977, interview with the Chicago Tribune," he said. "That's the day I met John Wayne."

Before Downes worked at the museum and resided in Winterset, he was a writer at the Tribune. On a whim, he wrote Wayne requesting an interview and, six weeks later, he was standing on Wayne's front porch in Newport Beach, Calif.

"It was pretty incredible that somebody at that level, internationally known, was so accessible," said Downes, a lifelong Wayne fan. "He was so ordinary and very much like the people of Winterset in a lot of ways. He was very curious. He was extremely polite and gracious."

Decades after that meeting, the John Wayne Birthplace Society convinced Downes to leave print for the movies and lead fundraising efforts for a new museum.

"We were fundraising the hard way, with shoe leather," Downes said. "It was just exhausting. I had a lot of sleepless nights to get here."

From the outside, the building is spotted with uneven bricks in various shades of sand, almost like a set piece from one of Wayne's movies. Divided into three sections, the museum features a movie theater, a gift shop and a gallery space.

The gallery is further divided into three segments: "The Family Man," a focus on Wayne's personal life; "The Actor," a look at his films; and "The American," a display on his patriotism, which includes his U.S. Congressional Gold Medal.

From his fishing hat to his toupee to the saddle he rode in "The Cowboys" to a letter from former first lady Lady Bird Johnson to one of the many eye patches he wore as Rooster Cogburn in "True Grit," the museum's goal is to offer a complete look at the man, not just the movie star.

Many items in the gallery are on loan from Joe Zuckschwerdt, president of the Birthplace Society's board and owner of more than 30,000 pieces of Wayne memorabilia. (In 1994, he put a 1,200-foot addition onto his Hollywood, Penn., house to hold his ever-growing collection.)

Almost two-thirds of the $2.5 million raised for the museum came from Wayne fans from across the world. The rest was made up of grants.

"There are retired people who send $10 or $20 a month," said Aissa Wayne, who sits on the Birthplace Society board. "They know they'll never be able to actually come because they're too sick, which makes it all the more touching that they donated."

Wayne's 'Midwestern values'

Embedded in the path to the front door of John Wayne's first home are hundreds of bricks emblazoned with the names of people who supported the Birthplace Society when a new museum was just an idea on a whiteboard.

While her father never specifically discussed Iowa, Aissa Wayne said he always talked about having "Midwestern values."

"He wasn't extravagant, he was down-to-earth and dependable," Wayne said. "We'd always sit down to have dinner as a family, always, and he attributed that to his Midwestern upbringing."

Downes said he hears from many visitors that Wayne's perceived down-home, simple, ultra-loyal demeanor is what hooked them. People like the idea that when someone gave Wayne a cockeyed look, he'd let them know what for, Downes said.

"To know him personally and watch his movies, you can't really separate the two," Downes said. "Did he become his movie character or was he reflecting himself? At some point I think they mashed together."

"People think they know him, and they do," he added. "We hear over and over that he reminds people of their dad or their grandpa or a neighbor."

Wayne appeared in more than 160 films over his career and played a wide range of characters, but often he was the lionheart, a man, who no matter how much he drank or snarled or swore, would fight on the side of right.

For Ethan, Wayne is more than a vehicle for remembering — he's an inspiration.

"He's a hero," Ethan said. "He's not like the Hollywood actors today where they are not what they are on the screen. He was what he stood for."

Will Wayne's legacy live on?

By Ethan's own admission, not many kids his age love John Wayne.

"Some kids know who he is because their dad watches him and they kind of like him, but not that much," he said.

Wayne died of cancer in 1979, meaning two generations have come of age without a new Duke movie in theaters. So how does a freshly built $2.5 million museum get a new crop of kids interested in Wayne?

Exposure to his films is key, said Downes, sitting in the museum's new theater, where the Birthplace Society hopes to host movie screenings. With bright red walls and chairs from Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, the entire space feels like a homage to cinemas of yore.

And, Downes added, it's not as though the birthplace hasn't been doing well. More than a million people have visited the small house since 1982.

For the museum's opening weekend, Downes said he took reservations from Ireland, Australia, Germany, France and all regions of the United States. The ages of attendees ranged from parents bringing their kids to 20-year-olds to senior citizens.

Winterset's Wayne museum is far from the only one about a historical figure. Downes points to the successful Buffalo Bill Cody Museum in Cody, Wyo., as evidence that lots of people, including millennials, are interested in the past enough to visit an institution based on his life. (Buffalo Bill, born in 1846 in the "Iowa territory," was a hunting guide and sort of ambassador for the American West.)

"You know, Buffalo Bill Cody died in 1917, very close to 100 years ago," Downes said, "and his museum in Cody is jam-packed in the summertime. It looks like a university. They have a library (and) things I don't imagine this facility will ever be big enough for, but they started in a small log cabin. Somebody there had a vision and they got it done."

MORE COVERAGE ON JOHN WAYNE:

• 11 things to see in the John Wayne museum
• 10 great John Wayne quotes
• Five films for John Wayne newbies

Then Downes paused and looked over the theater. There were still some technological kinks with the introductory movie to be worked out and some pictures to be hung, but the museum is almost ready for its close up.

"But I'm not one to pop the champagne cork," Downes said. "I know there's always more work to be done."

IF YOU GO

John Wayne Birthplace Museum, 205 S. John Wayne Dr., Winterset.

Events for the grand opening run all day May 23-May 25. The ribbon cutting ceremony is at noon May 23 at the museum.

Most other events are free, although some require tickets of varying prices.

Call 515-462-1044 or visit johnwaynebirthplace.museum for more.