Bob Workman, director of the Ulrich Museum of Art, once shook the hand of history.

“I was a student here in 1978, and we brought Gordon Parks in then,” Workman said. “We did an exhibition called ‘Moments Without Proper Names’ with Gordon, and I remember meeting him, and I actually have a copy of that book which he inscribed to me.”

Thirty-five years later, Workman is one of many working tirelessly to acquire 125 of Gordon Parks’ photographs for the university.

The collection of photographs the university seeks to add to its holdings includes works from Parks’ entire career. The work encompasses his pieces from the civil rights era, his time in Brazil for Life Magazine, some fashion photography and selections which feature the Chicago Black Muslims and Malcolm X, Workman explained.

“It’s an exciting body of work,” he said. “Exciting for its contribution as art work, but also very exciting for what it documents, what it’s about historically.”

This potential acquisition of Parks’ work will not be the first for WSU. In 2008, the university secured the papers of Parks’ estate. Those papers include letters, manuscripts for books and even his high school yearbook.

Patricia McDonnell, director of the Wichita Art Museum and former director of the Ulrich, remembers when the university purchased the papers.

“The minute that that occurred, it meant our university and our university archives became the center of the universe for anybody who was going to study and be a scholar of Gordon Parks,” McDonnell said.

However, though they had Parks’ manuscripts and personal writings, something was still missing.

“At the time Gordon Parks’ papers came to the university, the university art museum had five photographs,” McDonnell said. “Well, if the university became importantly a center for any interest in study of Gordon Parks, having four or five photographs was not respectable.”

At that point McDonnell and the university began collecting Parks’ photographs a few at a time, eventually accruing 45 pieces total.

After celebrating the centennial anniversary of Parks’ birth last year, the university wasn’t sure if they could secure the financial means to grow the collection. However, Barry and Paula Downing stepped forward with a $150,000 challenge grant, providing an opportunity many had thought much further off.

Ted Ayres, vice president and general counsel at WSU, gives primary credit to the Downings for turning the dream into a tangible possibility.

“They really got the effort to campaign seriously started,” Ayres said. “I mean, they really turned the ignition with a challenge gift of $150,000. And that really puts a lot of wind in your sails and creates a lot of energy.”