JACKSONVILLE — As orginally reported by Brett Buckner with th JSU media department, the life and legend of Elmer McCurdy, a notorious early 20th-century outlaw, will be reimagined at Jacksonville State University during its Kaleidoscope: A Festival of the Arts.
On Monday, August 25, from 6:30–7:30 p.m. in Mason Hall Room 350, puppeteer Blair Thomas will perform two short-form pieces, including Cowboy Outlaw, based on the Brian Dewan ballad of the same name. Thomas is the founder and artistic director of The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival. Admission is free.
The performance holds a unique connection to Jax State. Vice Provost Dr. Staci Stone recently learned through family genealogy that McCurdy, often remembered as “The Outlaw Who Wouldn’t Give Up,” is a distant relative. “I can’t wait to see this adaptation on campus, and those sponsoring this event had no idea of my connection,” Dr. Stone said.
Stone first heard of McCurdy through her grandparents’ research, published in The McCurdy Family: Early Settlers of DeKalb County, Alabama. She and her daughter have even visited McCurdy’s gravesite in Oklahoma and attended the Broadway musical inspired by his story.
McCurdy’s life ended after a failed 1911 train robbery in Oklahoma, but his story gained notoriety in death. Embalmed and displayed as “The Embalmed Bandit,” his body traveled with sideshows for decades, even appearing in crime exhibits, haunted houses, and films. By the 1970s, his remains surfaced in a California funhouse, where a prop crew discovered he was not a mannequin but a mummified human. He was finally laid to rest in Guthrie, Oklahoma, in 1977, with two feet of concrete poured over his grave to prevent further disturbances.
Through Thomas’ puppetry performance, the tale of McCurdy continues to fascinate audiences — this time with a surprising family connection to JSU leadership.
