Author Archives: Devra Dragos

Have you ever needed a ride to the hospital? Or emergency medical care? Consider the medical care available 80-100 years ago. It used to be that ambulances simply transported a person to the hospital (or the morgue). Check out the image of this ambulance used in Lincoln in 1922. (Hodgman ambulance, Townsend Studio collection) You might not get much medical aid on the trip, but there are curtains to close for privacy.

No matter how you reached the hospital all those years ago, you might still have a problem getting into the building. At the Ord Hospital (and others), you had to navigate quite a few stairs to the front entrance. (Ord Hospital, Nebraska State Historical Society collection)

Once inside the hospital, there weren’t many bells and whistles like today. In this image from the Alegent Health Immanuel Medical Center collection, the operating room is plain and simple. A basin for the staff to wash up in, a table that could be raised and lowered, a single light fixture above the table–but hey, there were large windows for extra light, and they opened for fresh air, too.

Other mechanical improvements, such as the incubator in the image to the left, may look clunky and out-of-date to us, but you can’t argue with success. The image to the right shows Nancy Lonn, the baby in the incubator, at age four with her older sister Belva Joy. (Thorpe Opera House Foundation/Boston Studio Project collection)

Check out more medical-related images or 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.

On September 27, 1908, the first Ford Model T left the factory. Henry Ford’s Model T changed the transportation industry by supplying affordable cars to everyone at $850 per car as opposed to $1,000-$2,000 from other manufacturers. Ford accomplished this by developing assembly line manufacturing which speeded up production and, in turn, helped lower prices.

Nebraskans were no different than the rest of the world when it came to an interest in automobiles. A number of them tried their hand at designing and/or building their own motor vehicles. Some were big and bulky as you can see in this image of the M.H. Miller vehicle, from the Townsend Collection.

Others were sleek and racy, such as the car shown in these images with just its chassis and then the completed vehicle in front of Central Auto Repair and Machine Works from the Townsend Collection. In addition, to manufacturing companies and auto repair shops, other automobile-related businesses opened, too, such as dealerships, services stations, automobile associations, etc.

W.L Huffman Auto Company was one of many car dealerships that sprang up around the state to sell these new machines—and not just those from the big three American automobile companies that are around today. This dealership, for example, sold Hupmobiles and Detroit Electric cars as shown in this photograph from the Townsend Collection.

And people had fun with their new vehicles—using them for racing, endurance tests, or decorating them for parades—like this Decorated automobile image from the Nebraska State Historical Society Collection. To see many more automobile and automobile-related images, check out Nebraska Memories.

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.

“The building was completely destroyed by fire on October 31, 1947. The fire started about 11:00 p.m. in the projection room after the second show. About 100 people were in the building. Everyone got out unharmed.” (Opera House, Valley, Neb. from the Valley Public Library collection)

When we talk to new and prospective participants to the Nebraska Memories Project, we ask that the images contributed be identified with the basic who, what, where, and when for a general description. But, as we have heard time and again, people especially enjoy the additional stories or information that participating institutions gather about their items. Where does the information come from—the basic as well as extra? Well, participants often use the traditional research tools such as old newspapers, local history books and census records. But many of them also tap into people’s knowledge and memories.

The Valley Public Library, in addition to questioning people individually, organized a coffee and cookies event at the local café. According to Gerri Nordell, invitations were mailed out and transportation arranged to bring in about twenty folks from their homes or the local care facility. Magnifying glasses helped with the small details in photographs, and one person’s memories nudged another’s. After two hours, “they left … still talking about the ‘good old days’.”

In Sidney, people’s memories had already been tapped for a book on local history. But two volunteers in particular who ran the Cheyenne County Historical Society and Museum added extra details when working with Commission staff. In small communities, these older people often know all the local businesses, families and their homes. And the information, as is found in the record’s Historical Notes field for this image (George and Mabel Jung farm with early wind power from the Cheyenne County Historical Society and Museum collection), can provide insights into the lives and living conditions of people in Nebraska and the Midwest during those earlier times.

Another volunteer-run project, the Butler County Gallery collection (which consists mostly of studio portraits), used a different approach in tapping people resources. Whenever they heard a family reunion was to be held, they would reach out to promote their collection and ask for information. Feedback included people’s names, birth and death dates, professions and activities, and personal stories. And, of course, corrections! Such was the case with this photograph of Lyle, Fay and Garth Osterhout.

So, if your Nebraska institution has Nebraska-related historical materials that others could enjoy, learn from, or contribute stories to, consider becoming a Nebraska Memories participant. The Nebraska Library Commission hosts the database and will work with your staff on selection of appropriate materials, scanning the items and gathering information to create descriptive records. For more information about participating, see http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx, or contact Beth Goble, Government Information Services Director, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.

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. 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.

Planning a road trip this summer? Taking along a GPS device? Check out this old-fashioned positioning system— Huebinger’s Map and Guide for Omaha-Denver Trans-continental Route : with Supplement Showing Overland Trail Connecting Omaha-Denver Trans-continental Route at Lincoln with the Waubonsie Trail at Nebraska City (1911) from the Hastings Public Library Collection in Nebraska Memories.

If you are driving east and coming up on Harvard, Nebraska, (page 136) be on the lookout for the green-painted house on the left and then a school where you would turn north. Then, after you pass a pond on the left and a batten-board barn on the right, be ready for a right-turn to head east again. Of course, it helps if you have a navigator along to read off the landmarks.

Once you’ve made it to Harvard (480.4 miles from Denver and only another 151.9 to Omaha) , do you need a hotel for the night? Try Hotel Harvard—only two dollars on the American plan. Or perhaps you need a garage to top off the gas tank? Two choice are listed. Would you like more information about Harvard and its residents? Check out page 22.

Another book of maps in this collection, Official Road Book of the Nebraska State Automobile Association (1913), includes a digest of states’ auto laws, telling motorists that in Nebraska, they must register with the Secretary of State in Lincoln for a fee of $2 per year and supply their own tags. And keep a light foot on the gas pedal because the speed limits are “10 miles an hour in business section; 15 miles in residence district; 20 miles elsewhere.”

Now, as you pull out of Harvard and head on down the road toward Omaha, keep an eye out for the danger sign ahead by the red barn …

Visit Nebraska Memories to search for or browse through many more historical images digitized from maps, photographs, negatives, postcards, 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.

The U.S. flag has been displayed for many different reasons and occasions. In Nebraska Memories, some photographs and postcards show flags on regular display both outside and inside buildings. An example is this colorful postcard of the “Old People’s Home, Fontenelle Boulevard, Omaha, Nebr.” from the Omaha Public Library collection. On some of the larger images of the flag, try counting the stars—many of these flags would have had only 46. Here are more images.

More photographs show the flag being used to decorate buildings, cars and floats for celebrations and special occasions. If one flag is good, more must be better, as in the “Decorated automobile” to the left, right? And, of course, you can always borrow the design, as the “Man and woman wearing flag print clothing” to the right have done. Both photographs are from the Nebraska State Historical Society collection. Also see these special occasion images.

The flag is also used for ceremonial purposes or solemn occasions by the military and other groups. Several Nebraska State Historical images show the American flag at Native American gatherings including “Tipis of chiefs” from 1911. See more ceremonial images.

Before “The Star-Spangled Banner” became the U.S. national anthem in 1931, other patriotic songs were also written using our flag as a rallying point to protect “the republic for which it stands”. The musical score, “The Memory of You Will Be a Flag, Dear” from the Polley Music Library collection, is one of several available in Nebraska Memories.

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://www.nlc.state.ne.us/nebraskamemories/ for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Government Information Services Director, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.

The practice of honoring mothers has been around for centuries, but Mother’s Day was not an official holiday in the United States until President Woodrow Wilson signed legislation in 1914 establishing the date as the second Sunday in May.

Some people buy cards, flowers, or jewelry to honor their mothers. Others have said it with music, as in this piece, “Sweet Little Mother.” This score and other Mother-related musical materials can be found in the Polley Music Library collection.

Cherished photographs bring back memories of mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers, and more, like this photograph of four generations in Clara Zellinger’s family from the Butler County Gallery collection. Nebraskans must be a hardy bunch as other photographs in Nebraska Memories show multiple generations. Formal and informal photographs of mothers with their children and family groups show a variety of family combinations. And check out the size of some of those families in past years. In comparison, the Census Bureau reports that the average number of births per woman in the United States had dropped to two in 2009.

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://www.nlc.state.ne.us/nebraskamemories/ for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Government Information Services Director, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.

Nebraska was still a territory when the first shots of the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865) were fired 150 years ago at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, on April 12, 1861, and no battles were fought here. However, being a slavery-free region, a Nebraska volunteer regiment was raised and sent to fight with Union forces. Many veterans of that regiment returned after the war, while other veterans moved here to take advantage of the available land under the Homestead Act.

The shared experiences of the war led many of the Union veterans to join the Grand Army of the Republic, a fraternal organization which eventually became a strong lobbying voice for the rights of veterans. Members, like the gentlemen in the picture to the right, belonged to regional “Departments” and often attended the annual National Encampments. Descendants of veterans formed their own organizations such as Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War.

The first Sailors' and Soldiers' Homes in Nebraska, like this one outside of Grand Island in 1887, housed not only veterans of the Civil War but also their widows and mothers. And the first Decoration Day (later Memorial Day) was celebrated to honor Civil War veterans. Other Civil War materials such as cemetery monuments and records, musical scores, and portraits can be found in Nebraska Memories.

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 nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/ for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Government Information Services Director, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.

“American women, the first quarter of the twentieth century, have won two rights: the right of exercising the suffrage and the right of participation in sport.” So said Glenna Collett, one of the greatest female golfers, in 1924.*
To kick-off Women’s History Month, consider some of the sports and physical activities that women and girls have enjoyed. Can you imagine playing basketball wearing dresses and mob caps like these Nebraska high school girls? (“Sacramento basketball team“, Phelps County Historical Society collection, 1913)
See other images available in Nebraska Memories of girls and women who have participated in sports and enjoyed the outdoors.
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/ for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Government Information Services Director, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.
*Glenna Collett, “Sports for Women”, Woman’s Home Companion, 51 (September 1924), 21.

There have been three state capitol buildings in Lincoln. The latest one, designed by Bertram G. Goodhue, took about ten years and $9.8 million to build. A photograph of a model of this third building can be found in Nebraska Memories (Thompson, Alva C., Nebraska State Capitol Building, model, Townsend Studio collection, 1925). If you are traveling to Lincoln for NLA’s Legislative Day later this week, take a look at the image and compare it to the completed version. Do you notice any differences?
All three capitol buildings have been popular backdrops for photographs over the years. Check out more images of the state capitol buildings as well as some past governors and state senators in Nebraska Memories.
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/ for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Government Information Services Director, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.

Have you visited Nebraska Memories lately? If you are interested in Nebraska history, culture, or genealogy, visit Nebraska Memories again, as we have added some things you may not have seen. Images of Chautauqua performers, floods, students, government buildings, athletes, store displays, family portraits and much more can be found in Nebraska Memories.
Nebraska Memories now has collections from 30 participants which include images digitized from photographs, glass plate negatives, postcards, maps, scores, books, and other formats attached to 4,957 records. Among our newest participants are Union College, Ella Johnson Crandall Memorial Library; Townsend Studio; Cheyenne County Historical Society and Museum; and Mitchell Public Library. New images have also been added to the Dodge County Historic Society Collections, Omaha Public Library and Alegent Health Immanuel Medical Center collections.

An example of how Nebraska Memories can help you: Do you have patrons interested in President’s Day? In addition to naming the state capital after President Abraham Lincoln, statues of Lincoln have been erected in, on or by various Nebraska buildings over the years. Here’s one tribute to President Lincoln at the Nebraska State Normal School at Kearney (Abraham Lincoln statue in Auditorium, University of Nebraska at Kearney collection, 1917).
Check out other representations of President Lincoln in Nebraska Memories and browse or search for images of the city of Lincoln.

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/ for more information or contact Beth Goble, Government Information Services Director, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.