PROFILE: MEET STACY CRAMER MOORE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CHISHOLM TRAIL HERITAGE CENTER
DUNCAN - When the world comes to you, there’s no need to be a world traveler.
Stacy Cramer Moore, Executive Director of the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center in Duncan, met Margaret Thatcher, Great Britain’s “Iron Lady,” in April 1994 at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa.
Moore was a college student. Thatcher was Britain’s Prime Minister.
MARGARET THATCHER
“I passed a test to be able to interact on the question and answer panel. What I remember most about her is that she had the softest hands,” Moore said. “Ironically, she was known as the ‘Iron Lady,’ but had the softest hands.” As for Moore’s question to the Prime Minister, who was giving a speech on freedom as part of a university lecture series, she asked how Thatcher handled terrorism.
At the time, Northern Ireland was teetering on civil war in what had already been a prolonged conflict. The Irish Republic Army (IRA) was engaged in a violent, deadly campaign in support of Northern Ireland leaving the United Kingdom and joining with the Republic of Ireland for a united country. British troops were deployed.
“She said it (conflict and war) was a sad reality of life and that the terrorists needed to understand that this was not the way to get what they wanted,” Moore said. Not too long after her memorable encounter, Moore received a personal thank you note from Thatcher for her question.
MIKHAIL GORBACHEV
A few years later, with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology in hand, Moore moved to Ada, Okla., from Iowa to work as a research scientist for the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It just so happened that in 2005, Mikhail Gorbachev, the former president of the Soviet Union, visited East Central University on his lecture tour “Perestroika: 20 Years Later.”
“Through a friend of a friend type of situation, I was able to attend,” Moore said. “I was a political nerd.” She said she wished she would have been able to meet Ronald Reagan also, as then she would have met the three major world leaders involved in the Cold War.
BIOLOGIST
Moore’s rural, agricultural upbringing in Iowa may have contributed to her love for the environment and biology. “I grew up about as rural as rural could be. The town closest to us had a population of about 250 people. The biggest town near us had about 2,500 people. Duncan is more urban than where I grew up,” she said.
Moore is a third-generation American, as both sets of her great-grandparents immigrated to the United States in the early 1900s around the time frame of World War I. Her dad’s side of the family was from Germany and her mom’s side was Dutch. Fate landed both sides of the family in Iowa and farming became a way of life. She has a younger brother who is still in agriculture in Iowa.
DIFFERENT PATH
Sitting in an exhibit room at the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center, Moore reflected on her journey from an Iowa farm to earning a degree in biology to moving to Oklahoma due to the influence of friends to developing a career she enjoys.
“I was a biologist and I’m still fascinated with math, engineering and biology but it’s not quite the path my life took. As a biologist, I loved genetics. It was fascinating to work in a lab after school, but I realized I didn’t want to do it all day every day.
“My bosses got me into doing computer models and that transitioned into modeling for cities and towns – community modeling.
“And then someone said, ‘I bet you could do strategic planning and that led me into the nonprofit world,” she said.
Before stepping into the role of executive director at the museum, Moore worked as a Rural Economic Development Specialist for the Oklahoma Department of Commerce in Oklahoma City and as a Resource Conservation and Development (R&D) Coordinator in Duncan.
CONGRESSIONAL ACCOMMODATION
In 2011, Moore was given a Congressional Accommodation from Representative Frank Lucas for her work in bettering Oklahoma’s quality of life and industry. In 2013, she was a member of the Leadership Arts Graduate Class VI through the Oklahoma Arts Council. She began working at the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center in 2011 and under her leadership, over the last eight years, the museum has received prestigious recognition, including Best of America Attraction, True West Top Ten Museum in the USA, Oklahoma’s Arts & Humanities Nonprofit of the Year and Oklahoma’s Tourist Attraction of the Year.
The heritage center is also Oklahoma’s only nonprofit to be certified as a Great Expectations Model School.
OTHER INTERESTS
Moore mentioned that if the upcoming weekend ended up being rain-free, she and her seven-year-old daughter, Lyra, would be working on a deck. “Home improvement is relaxing. I like power tools,” she said. “I’ve built a couple of decks and shelving. Woodworking is something I enjoy. Moore and her husband, Chris, are also pet lovers. The family includes two dogs and a cat. She enjoys reading and names science fiction author Dan Simmons as one of her favorites.
INTERNATIONAL VISITORS
Moore brings all of her education, skills, training and interests together as a director of an international tourism attraction. It fascinates her that of the many thousands of visitors that visit the center each year, many international visitors plan a trip to Duncan to experience the history of the Chisholm Trail and Oklahoma’s cultural history. “Visitors are here from all over the world. Oklahoma has a unique history. We are so young and the history is so real,” she said.
Once again, the world comes to Moore.
COFFEE WITH ...
Having met some famous and notable people, the question came up of who she would have coffee with today if given the opportunity. Moore pondered her options. “It would be Bill Gates,” she answered. “He is truly a self-made man. It would be fascinating to have a conversation with him. He is trying to use his money - his wealth - for good and good things are happening.”