The Wizard of OZ author, L. Frank Baum is seen here in PMA uniform at the age of 13 or 14.
Click here to learn more about Baum's works.
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LYMAN FRANK BAUM
The Peekskill Museum is one of the American institutions that works to continue the legacy of Baum and his work and communicates with people like Eilza Murphy who contributes a fasincating account of Mr Baum and his works.
This summer is an important milestone for The Wizard of Oz as it marks the 70th anniversary of the film. The release of The Real Wizard of Oz by Rebecca Loncraine (August 20, 2009, Gotham, $30) gives us yet another reason to celebrate Baum this summer! The Real Wizard of Oz is the first full biography—from birth to the years following his death—that looks at the people, places, history, culture, and literature that influenced this incredible storyteller.
L. Frank Baum is as fascinating as his characters and his life has more twists and turns then a cyclone. From the Civil War to women’s suffrage, from amputation to modern medicine, from psychics to industrialization, Baum saw it all and it was reflected in his writings.
John Curran (Our city Historian) adds:
His name was "Lyman Frank Baum" but he hated "Lyman" and usually called himself "Frank Baum." The Museum has been working with author Evan Shwartz who also has a new book "FINDING OZ".
There is a photo of the yellow brick road (or what's left of it) in Peekskill, but it wasn't recognized as such, and B. Lapetina wrote:
When L. Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz, was 12 years old, his father sent him to the Peekskill Military Academy. He traveled alone from Syracuse, where he lived at the time, first by train and them by steam boat up to Peekskill. In those days many of the streets in Peekskill were paved with yellow bricks that had been used as ballast on Dutch ships. Frank Baum was not sure where PMA was so he asked a man for directions and he was told to "follow the yellow brick road." I wonder if deep down under the many layers of black top, there might still be some of that road or if the story is even accurate.
We asked L.A. Augustowski, President of the Peekskill Museum (and also President of the PMA Alumni Assn), and he replied:
The last visible remains of the "Yellow Brick Road" is at the foot of Hudson Avenue and the corner of Water Street. It lies behind an historic building called the Standard House. The road once extended to the dock on the Hudson where steam boats would discharge their passengers and cargo. I doubt the story about Frank asking directions to PMA and being told "follow the yellow brick road". It is more likely that as he dreamed about getting out of PMA and returning home, he recalled the yellow bricks and the road that would take him back to the dock and the boat that would take him home.
He adds:
Rebecca Loncraine also came to visit me a year and a half ago, to learn about PMA and the kind of treatment Baum would have received from the teachers and fellow cadets at the school. She spent a few hours here and I was able to show her our former campus and describe cadet life in 1868. I also showed her the segment of the Yellow Brick Road that still exists by the river front. She met John and he outlined what Baum might have seen in Peekskill during his 2 year tenure. She has produced a detailed biography that is very interesting.
Evan Schwartz (also) published a recent book about Baum and will give a talk about some of the highlights of Baum's life. When he was gathering background information for his book he visited us and John and I gave him an overview of Peekskill and the PMA experience that was a traumatic period for the young Baum.
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1998-2009 The Peekskill Museum
Last modified: August, 2009
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