East Texas Oil Museum displays art from Nacogdoches native Charlotte Baker Montgomery

KILGORE, Texas (KLTV) - Artwork from the great East Texas oil fields is on display at the East Texas Oil Museum.

The works were created by Nacogdoches native Charlotte Baker Montgomery, depicting the oil field community in Kilgore back in the boom days through her eyes.

Montgomery was an artist, author, poet, teacher, naturalist and humanitarian. She was born in Nacogdoches in 1910 and earned a master’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1930. In 1950, she returned to Nacogdoches and became a full-time writer and illustrator.

“It really transcends, even if you are not from Kilgore or you are from Kilgore — just East Texas in general,” said Museum Director Olivia Moore. “They can speak to you for a lot of different reasons, whether it is the country escape, the derricks, the small town. Whatever it is, people can connect to it for a lot of different reasons.”

The exhibit is on loan from the Museum of East Texas in Lufkin. It will be on display at the East Texas Oil Museum through Oct. 28.

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