The month of May is just another memory. For some recent graduates the month of May marks an important milestone in their lives. One hundred years ago in 1912 a group of students at Union College were celebrating their graduation as we can see in this
photo of their commencement in Nebraska Memories.
There is a small but interesting collection of items relating to
graduations in Nebraska Memories. We can see the first graduating class from the
Nebraska State Normal School at Kearney from 1906. There is also a picture of
four marshals from the 1948 commencement at the Nebraska State Teachers College in Wayne.
The collection also includes a number of
programs from commencement exercise. Looking at the program for the
19th annual commencement of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln from June 7, 1888 I was surprised to see two names I recognized. The first name was Frank Henry Woods. Frank Woods and his brothers Mark W. and George J. formed the Woods Brothers Companies in 1889. Today in Lincoln their company
name can still be seen written in stone on the façade of a building on 13th street between N and O. Also when driving around Lincoln you may see the family name in front of a property being sold by the Woods Bros Realty company. Frank Woods is also known for starting the Lincoln Telephone & Telegraph in 1904. The
Frank H. Woods Telephone Museum, which is located in Lincoln, bears his name.
The other name I recognized in the same
commencement program was Roscoe Pound. Pound was a legal scholar and educator. He served as the Dean of the University of Nebraska College of Law and later as the Dean of Harvard Law School. Lincolnites may also recognize the Pound name because of Pound Middle School which was named after the Pound family including Judge Stephen Bosworth Pound, Roscoe, Louise and Olivia Pound.
When looking at the
1888 Lincoln High School Class-Day Exercises program I spotted the name Mark Woods. Mark M. Woods was listed as speaking about “Our Nation’s Coast Defenses” while Mark W. was listed as being part of the Class of 1888 and completed the Latin Course. Could this be Frank Woods brother? Unfortunately it’s not a question I was able to answer. Do you know the answer? Leave me a comment if you know!
Visit
Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from photographs, negatives, postcards, maps, lantern slides, books and other materials.
Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska-related historical and cultural heritage materials and make them available to researchers of all ages via the Internet. Nebraska Memories is brought to you by the Nebraska Library Commission. If your institution is interested in participating in Nebraska Memories, see
http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx for more information, or contact
Beth Goble, Government Information Services Director, or
Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.
