Category Archives: Nebraska Memories

Throwback Thursday: Adah May

It’s time for another #ThrowbackThursday!

This 4″x6″ glass plate negative, dated 3/11/1910, is a full-figure portrait of child Adah May sitting in a baby carriage. She is wearing a long-sleeved sweater with large white collar and a white cap that ties under the chin. The child is seated on a long-haired fur blanket that covers her legs. Adah J. May was born in Nebraska in 1908, the daughter of Edwin & Jeanette May. According to the 1910 census, her father was a traveling salesman and her grandparents ran a hotel in David City and according to the 1920 census the family was living in Beatrice, Nebraska, where her parents ran a hotel.

This image is published as part of the Boston Studio Project collection, and is owned by both them and the Thorpe Opera House Foundation. The Boston Studio Collection consists of over 68,000 negatives that record life in and around David City, Nebraska from 1893 to 1979.

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive 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.

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Throwback Thursday: Fremont Public Library

Consider visiting your library this #ThrowbackThursday!

This week we have a black and white, real photograph post card of the 1903 Fremont Public Library, dated 1910. “Fremont Public Library” is cut in stone above the entry and a portion of the lettering may be seen. The building was built in 1902-1903 for $15,000. Featured interior details include quarter-sawed oak trim, marble entry walls and a tiled entry floor. The building was eventually razed some time after the library contents were moved to the newly constructed Keene Memorial Library in 1971.

This image is owned by the Dodge County Historical Society, and published by Keene Memorial Library. Both are located in Fremont, Nebraska, and they worked as partners to digitize and describe content owned by the historical society. The collection of photographs documents life in Fremont in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive 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.

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Throwback Thursday: “A Lantern in Her Hand” Quilt

Make sure you’re staying bundled up this #ThrowbackThursday!

This photograph shows a handmade patchwork quilt depicting images from the novel, A Lantern in Her Hand including a string of pearls and the box used to carry the McKenzie family treasures as the family moved West. The title and some musical notes are embroidered across the top.

The quilt was made in 1988 by a group of quilters from the Elmwood area to be raffled as a fund-raiser for the Aldrich Foundation. The quilt is in a bedroom of the Bess Streeter Aldrich House in Elmwood, Nebraska. The bedroom has been named after the Aldrich novel A Lantern in Her Hand and in addition to the quilt contains a collection of lanterns and reproductions of items described in the novel. The bedroom was shared by the oldest Aldrich son, Charles, and youngest son, Robert, when the Aldrich family lived in the home.

This image is published and owned by the Bess Streeter Aldrich Foundation. All items in their collection are on display at the Bess Streeter Aldrich House and the Bess Streeter Aldrich Museum in Elmwood, Nebraska

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive 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.

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Throwback Thursday: Great Cathedral Choir in the State Capitol

Do you hear the music #ThrowbackThursday?

Taken around 1925, this photograph shows the Great Cathedral Choir with director John Roseborough on a staircase in the Nebraska State Capitol. The choir was organized by him in 1919.

This image is published and owned by the Polley Music Library (Lincoln City Libraries, Lincoln, Nebraska), which contains just over two hundred fifty pieces of Nebraska sheet music, as well as concert programs, manuscripts, theatre programs, photographs, and other Nebraska memorabilia which features an element of music. You can also listen to a dozen performances of selections from this music collection performed by local musicians. 

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive 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.

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Throwback Thursday: Exterior View of Brick House

Are you staying warm this #ThrowbackThursday?

This 3-5/8″ x 4-3/4″ black and white acetate negative is dated around 1935-1945 and shows an exterior view of a one-story, cross-gabled brick house. The house has a garage underneath part of the first floor, and there are retaining walls on each side of the driveway leading up to the garage. A tree stands in front of the house, and there is snow on the ground. This house is located at 812 N. 38th Street in Omaha, Nebraska.

This image is published and owned by the The Durham Museum. The William Wentworth Collection at The Durham Museum consists of 4663 negatives of images that document life in Omaha, Nebraska from 1934 through 1950. William Wentworth worked as both a freelancer and a commercial photographer, providing a unique view of architecture, businesses, and community life in Omaha.

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive 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.

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Throwback Thursday: Party at Elks Club

Happy New Year #ThrowbackThursday!

Dated November 1, 1937, men and women are gathered in a large group inside an Elks Club building in this 8″ x 10″ black and white acetate negative. There are streamers strung from the ceiling and some on the wooden floor. Some of the partygoers are wearing masks, while others have party hats. This image was taken for Safeway Stores.

This image is published and owned by the The Durham Museum. The William Wentworth Collection at The Durham Museum consists of 4663 negatives of images that document life in Omaha, Nebraska from 1934 through 1950. William Wentworth worked as both a freelancer and a commercial photographer, providing a unique view of architecture, businesses, and community life in Omaha.

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive 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.

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Throwback Thursday: Robert S. Somers Residence Christmas Tree

Happy Holidays #ThrowbackThursday!

The center of this image at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Somers, 1015 North Somers Avenue, is the Christmas tree and the two small boys posed beneath its branches. The tree lights are wax candles in tin holders with ball weights for counter balance. Ornaments of German blown glass and paper or pasteboard are scattered throughout the branches. Discernable shapes include a fish, a crescent moon and a mandolin. The small child at the right of the image is Lester A. Somers and his movement has slightly blurred a wheeled toy. The child on the right is unidentified. A marble fireplace front and the cast iron grate are partially visible. This photograph is dated around 1901-1902.

This image is owned by the Dodge County Historical Society, and published by Keene Memorial Library. Both are located in Fremont, Nebraska, and they worked as partners to digitize and describe content owned by the historical society. The collection of photographs documents life in Fremont in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive 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.

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Throwback Thursday: Woman Shopping

Have you finished your holiday shopping #ThrowbackThursday?

The interior of a department store filled with a crowd of women can be seen in this 3-5/8″ x 4-3/4″ black and white acetate negative. Dated 9/29/1938, a display counter with merchandise can be seen on the floor, along with a filing cabinet with floral arrangements on top of it.

This image is published and owned by the The Durham Museum. The William Wentworth Collection at The Durham Museum consists of 4663 negatives of images that document life in Omaha, Nebraska from 1934 through 1950. William Wentworth worked as both a freelancer and a commercial photographer, providing a unique view of architecture, businesses, and community life in Omaha.

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive 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.

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Throwback Thursday: Bird in a Cage

Happy #ThrowbackThursday!

A bird in a cage is sitting on top of a display of Geisler’s bird seed in this 3″ x 5″ black and white acetate negative. A sign on the birdcage reads: “Geisler’s Authoritative Bird Foods”. This image was taken for Geisler Max Bird Company, located at 113 N. 16th Street in Omaha, Nebraska.

This image is published and owned by the The Durham Museum. The William Wentworth Collection at The Durham Museum consists of 4663 negatives of images that document life in Omaha, Nebraska from 1934 through 1950. William Wentworth worked as both a freelancer and a commercial photographer, providing a unique view of architecture, businesses, and community life in Omaha.

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive 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.

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Throwback Thursday: Mr. and Mrs. Oren Thayer

Put on your winter coats this #ThrowbackThursday!

This 4″x6″ glass plate negative is full figure portrait photograph of Oren and Tinnie Thayer, from David City, Nebraska. Oren is wearing a three-piece suit with white shirt and knotted tie, a long-haired full-length fur coat with wide collar and a wide-brimmed, felt hat. Tinnie is dressed in a floor-length skirt and white stand-collar blouse, ankle-length, dark wool overcoat with bodice embroidery and wide cuffs on the gathered sleeves with a dark fur collar and fur scarf, wide-brimmed hat with ostrich feather and ribbon trim and black leather gloves, holding a box-style purse.

Oren Mortimer Thayer was born December 4, 1855, in Winnebago, Illinois, to Elbridge & Mary Thayer. He married Mary “Polly” Farrell about 1876. They were divorced about 1905. Oren married Tinnie Belle Van Matre, December 12, 1906, in Schuyler, Nebraska. The photograph is probably their wedding picture. Tinnie was born January 21, 1873 in Illinois. Oren died October 29, 1932, in Dawson County, Nebraska, and Tinnie died January 21, 1934, in Kearney, Nebraska. They are both buried in the David City Cemetery.

This image is published as part of the Boston Studio Project collection, and is owned by both them and the Thorpe Opera House Foundation. The Boston Studio Collection consists of over 68,000 negatives that record life in and around David City, Nebraska from 1893 to 1979.

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive 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.

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Throwback Thursday: Family in Shop

Happy Thanksgiving #ThrowbackThursday!

This postcard shows a black and white photograph of a family standing in a general store or butcher shop. There are sausages and cuts of meat hanging on the walls. The man and woman both wear aprons and stand behind a counter with a large scale on it, weighing a turkey, while two children stand in front of the counter.

This image is published and owned by the History Nebraska. They digitized content from the John Nelson and the J. A. Anderson collection. John Nelson came to Nebraska with his parents at the age of seventeen from Sweden. His photographs tell the story of small town life in Nebraska during the first decades of the twentieth century.

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive 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.

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Throwback Thursday: Sioux Indian Museum Interior

Let’s celebrate Native American Heritage Month this #ThrowbackThursday!

This composite of two black and white photographs shows the interior of the Sioux Indian Museum. Both photographs show a room with glass showcases on the floor and wooden display cases along the walls. Animal heads hang on one of the walls of the room. The top photograph was taken with the camera facing the back wall of the room, while the bottom photograph was taken facing a corner of the room. The Sioux Indian Museum was located in Rapid City, South Dakota. It housed John Anderson’s collection of Native American items.

This image is published and owned by the History Nebraska. They digitized content from the John Nelson and the J. A. Anderson collection. John Nelson came to Nebraska with his parents at the age of seventeen from Sweden. His photographs tell the story of small town life in Nebraska during the first decades of the twentieth century.

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive 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.

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Throwback Thursday: Jack Best

Lets look back on history this #ThrowbackThursday!

This 8″ x 10″ glass plate negative photograph is of Jack Best in 1921. He’s wearing a University of Nebraska letter sweater with “N 1888” sewn on it. Jack Best was born and raised in England, where he boxed for a time under the name “Jimmie Grimes.” In the late 1880’s, he and his family moved to Nebraska. He started work as a tanner but eventually became an athletic trainer at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.

This image is published and owned by the Townsend Studio, which has been in continuous operation since its foundation in 1888 in Lincoln, Nebraska. The studio holds a collection of glass plate and acetate negatives of early Lincoln and its residents.

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive 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.

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Throwback Thursday: Eda Nelson Holding a Cat

We’re back with another #ThrowbackThursday!

This black and white photograph is on a postcard. It pictures Eda Nelson, the niece of the photographer John Nelson. She’s wearing a light colored dress and two ribbons in her hair, and is holding a small cat in her arms. This photo was taken around 1911 – 1915.

This image is published and owned by the History Nebraska. The collections include material on the history of libraries in the state of Nebraska, items from the 1930s related to the Nebraska Public Library Commission bookmobile, as well as items showcasing the history of Nebraska’s state institutions.

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive 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.

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Throwback Thursday: Palm Reader Tent

Embrace the spooky and mysterious this #ThrowbackThursday Halloween!

This black and white photograph is on a postcard, dated around 1907-1917, picturing a palm reader’s tent at a fair. A sign on the tent reads: “Madam Seero: Temple of Palmistry”. Men and women stand around outside the tent and a woman in costume stands in the entry to the tent.

This image is published and owned by the History Nebraska. They digitized content from the John Nelson and the J. A. Anderson collection. John Nelson came to Nebraska with his parents at the age of seventeen from Sweden. His photographs tell the story of small town life in Nebraska during the first decades of the twentieth century.

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive 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.

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Throwback Thursday: Nebraska Corn

Have you been to a corn maze this season #ThrowbackThursday?

This black and white stereoscopic photograph is on a postcard, and pictures a close-up of ears of corn. Information printed on item: 506 Nebraska Corn, 1905; John Nelson, Commercial Photographer, Ericson, Neb. U.S.A.

This image is published and owned by the History Nebraska. The collections include material on the history of libraries in the state of Nebraska, items from the 1930s related to the Nebraska Public Library Commission bookmobile, as well as items showcasing the history of Nebraska’s state institutions.

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive 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.

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Throwback Thursday: Chief American Horse (Wasicu Tasunke)

We’re celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day this #ThrowbackThursday!

This black and white studio photograph shows Chief American Horse (Wasicu Tasunke) wearing an animal skin shirt and a feathered headdress. He wears both a presidential peace medal and a bear claw necklace around his neck. The photograph was taken at the Rosebud Reservation. During the Ghost Dance Uprising of 1890, American Horse tried to diffuse confrontations between Native Americans and whites. In 1891, he led a delegation of Sioux chiefs to Washington, D.C., to try to bring about better treatment of his people. The Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation is located nine miles north of Valentine, Nebraska, in South Dakota.

This image is published and owned by the History Nebraska. The collections include material on the history of libraries in the state of Nebraska, items from the 1930s related to the Nebraska Public Library Commission bookmobile, as well as items showcasing the history of Nebraska’s state institutions.

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive 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.

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Throwback Thursday: Library and Reading Room, State Industrial School, Kearney

Are you reading this week #ThrowbackThursday?

This 6-1/2″ x 4″ black and white plate from around 1916 shows the library and reading room in the State Industrial School located in Kearney, Nebraska. A number of boys in uniform sit in chairs reading while others look at books in wooden bookcases that line one long wall. The remodeling and refurbishing of the library in the 1915-1916 biennium (at a cost of $287.40) included new bookcases. At the end of the biennium, the collection included “1,080 volumes of choice literature.

This image is published and owned by the Nebraska Library Commission. The collections include material on the history of libraries in the state of Nebraska, items from the 1930s related to the Nebraska Public Library Commission bookmobile, as well as items showcasing the history of Nebraska’s state institutions.

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive 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.

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Throwback Thursday: “When the Frost is on the Corn”

Autumn is finally settling in #ThrowbackThursday!

Dated 1908, “When the Frost is on the Corn” is a song written by George Bigger, a barber who lived in David City, Nebraska. The sheet music lists the words as being by Merlin Baker, music by George Bigger, and arrangement by Emery Marshall.

Verse 1:

When the skies are turning gray,
Then my tho’ts begin to stray,
To that home down on the farm where I was born;
And my sweetheart’s face I see,
As I hear her say to me:
“You’ll come back, dear, when the frost is on the corn.”
When the autumn leaves are flutt’ring o’er the meadow,
And the robins for the south begin to fly;
Then in memory I roam back to you, and home, sweet home,
I’ll come back dear, in the happy bye and bye.

When the frost is on the corn,
And from all the autumn morn,
Mem’ries come that call me back, no more to roam;
I will come and see you, dear,
In the fading of the year,
When the frost is on the corn, I’ll come back home.

Verse 2:

Many years have passed away,
Since that happy summer day,
When we parted in the freshness of life’s morn;
And tho’ I am growing old,
Still my heart is never cold;
I’ll come back, dear, when the frost is on the corn.
Time’s cold hand has left the frost upon my forehead,
But in mem’ry still your smiling face I see;
And thro’ all the cruel years, still your voice my fancy hears:
“When the frost is on the corn, come home to me.”

When the frost is on the corn,
And from all the autumn morn,
Mem’ries come that call me back, no more to roam;
I will come and see you, dear,
In the fading of the year,
When the frost is on the corn, I’ll come back home.

This image and musical performance is published and owned by the Polley Music Library (Lincoln City Libraries, Lincoln, Nebraska), which contains just over two hundred fifty pieces of Nebraska sheet music, as well as concert programs, manuscripts, theatre programs, photographs, and other Nebraska memorabilia which features an element of music. You can also listen to a dozen performances of selections from this music collection performed by local musicians. 

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive 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.

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Throwback Thursday: U.P. Depot and Motor Car, Valley, Nebraska

It’s another #ThrowbackThursday!

This 5-1/4″ x 3-1/2″ colorized photograph shows the east side of the Valley Union Pacific depot with local passengers boarding the McKeen Motor Car for a trip to Omaha. The luggage car on the end held suitcases, luggage, boxes and mail. The McKeen Motor Car made two trips a day to the city. The car was built in Omaha, in early 1906, at the Union Pacific yards located where the Qwest Center is today. The motor car, invented by William R. McKeen for the U.P., was used to carry passengers. The car ran on gasoline which made it much cheaper than a steam engine. Nicknamed the “knife nose”, the cars were maroon enamel over a steel body. The motor car was discontinued in the mid-1930s and the depot was demolished in the 1980s.

This image is published and owned by the Valley Public Library. The Friends of the Valley Public Library, Valley, Nebraska, have digitized and described a collection of photographs depicting businesses and members of the local population between the late 1800s and 1900s in Valley.

See this collection and many more on the Nebraska Memories archive!

The Nebraska Memories archive 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.

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