Category Archives: Nebraska Memories

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. 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: 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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Throwback Thursday: 1906 Football Team

It’s football season #ThrowbackThursday!

This 9-1/2″ x 7-1/4″ black and white photograph shows the Nebraska State Normal School football team at Kearney, in 1906. It shows sixteen men, most wearing football apparel. One of the seated players holds a football marked ’06 and a white dog in the lap of another. This team compiled a record of 3-4-2 on the season, scoring a total of 28 points. The coach was Wynfred E. Allen.

This image is published and owned by the University of Nebraska at Kearney, Archives, Calvin T. Ryan Library. UNK was founded in 1905 as the Nebraska State Normal School at Kearney, became Nebraska State Teachers College in 1921, was renamed Kearney State College in 1963, and joined the Nebraska University system in 1991. The collection shows faculty, students, buildings and activities from the first dozen years of the school’s existence.

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: Art Deco Elevator

Going up, #ThrowbackThursday?

This 8″ x 10″ black and white acetate negative shows the lobby of a building, decorated in Art Deco style. The floor is tiled in a bold angled pattern, and the walls are made of marble. At the back of the room are doors with ornate metal work, and two elevators can be seen on the left side of the lobby.

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: Panorama View of McCook, Nebraska

Look at this view #ThrowbackThursday!

Dated 1923, this 3 x 5 inch colorized postcard panorama view of McCook, Nebraska with the C.B.&Q. Railroad train yard in the foreground of the photo as the picture was taken from the South facing North. Photo by Fearn, published by M.L. Rishel, card numbered on the front “11235”.

This image is owned by the High Plains Historical Society and Museum and published by the McCook Public Library. They worked in partnership to digitize photographic images from the historical society’s collection. These images document early growth of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad in McCook, Nebraska, and the surrounding area. The collection spans a time period from the early 1880s through the 1960s.

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: Silence Required

Quiet down, it’s #ThrowbackThursday!

This 5″ x 3″ card explains Whitin Library’s policy on noise in its reading rooms and corridors. The front side lists the offenses and their consequences, and the back lists the student’s signature and the date of their warning. Doane College built Whitin Library in 1894. It served as the campus library until 1970, when the college constructed a new library.

This image is published and owned by the Doane University Library, which is home to a vast archival collection containing a variety of items related to the history of Doane University. Founded by Thomas Doane in 1872, Doane College became Doane University in May 2016 and is the oldest private liberal arts and sciences college/university in 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: Nebraska Federal Writers’ Project Workers

Take note, it’s #ThrowbackThursday!

This is a 5″ x 7″ black and white photograph of a group portrait of Works Progress Administration Nebraska Federal Writers’ Project workers, made in August, 1937 in Lincoln, Nebraska. Pictured from left to right in the back row are: Fred Christensen, Arthur Bukin, Judson Miner, Glen Miller, Margaret Lund, Ethel Schaible, Lelia Hallock, Weldon Kees, Norris Getty, Robert Carlson, Rudolph Umland, Allen Kennedy, Mrs. McNulty, Dale Smith, Dorothy Kasselbaum, and Lavicia Langley. Pictured from left to right in the front row are: Elaine Barret, Margaret Killian, Corrine Larrimore, J. Harris Gable, and Eunice Jennings.

This image is published and owned by the Jane Pope Geske Heritage Room of Nebraska Authors. The collection of the Heritage Room at Lincoln City Libraries includes digitized items from the Rudolph Umland Papers relating to the Nebraska Federal Writers’ Project. Umland served as an editor and from 1936-1941, as Assistant State Director of the WPA’s Nebraska Federal Writers’ Project.

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: McKinley Kindergarten Class

School is back in session this #ThrowbackThursday!

A group of kindergarteners and two female teachers from McKinley School are posing on a porch in this 6-3/4″ x 4-3/4″ black and white photograph from around 1900-1915. McKinley School was located at 230 S. 15th Street in Lincoln, Nebraska from 1902 to 1927. It was used as an elementary school until 1915 when it became a “special school with grades 1-9 with prevocational and evening classes.”

This image is published and owned by Lincoln Public Schools. Over the past 15 years, the Library Media Services Department has made a deliberate attempt to collect, preserve, and archive the history of Lincoln public schools and make various items available to the staff and also the public.

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: Dr. Frank Brewster’s Last Airplane

This #ThrowbackThursday is soaring through the skies!

A propeller-powered airplane stands on a grassy field in front of a hangar in this 9″ x 7″ black and white photograph. Dr. Orwall of Brewster Clinic stands in the cockpit, Dr. Frank Brewster stands on the plane’s wing, and Verna Brewster stands on the ground with a suitcase next to her. This four-seater Ryan-Navion was Dr. Brewster’s last airplane. He gave up his flying practice in 1937, but in 1943, he went to Yankton, South Dakota, to learn to fly at age 71.

This image is published by the Holdrege Area Public Library and owned by the Phelps County Historical Society who partnered together to digitize a collection of images portraying the history of Phelps County since the mid 1880’s.

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: Lily Pond at Hanscom Park

Happy August #ThrowbackThursday!

This 14 x 9 cm color postcard shows a lovely view of a lily pond in Hanscom Park, located at 3201 Woolworth Avenue in Omaha, Nebraska. The 50-acre tract was donated to the city in 1872 by Andrew J. Hanscom and James Megeath. It is one of Omaha’s oldest parks.

This image is published and owned by the Omaha Public Library. They have a large collection of 1,100+ postcards and photographs of the Omaha area.

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: Mill and Electric Light Plant, Cedar Rapids, Nebraska

Nebraska Memories is here with another #ThrowbackThursday!

This postcard has a colorized photograph from 1907-1917 that shows the mill and electric light power plant in Cedar Rapids, Nebraska, along with its surrounding landscape.

This image is owned and published by 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: Dog Walking on Tight Rope

Gather ‘round for this #ThrowbackThursday!

This black and white photograph postcard is from around 1907-1917. It shows a crowd of people standing around a stage, watching a dog walking across a tightrope suspended from a frame and placed over a stage set up on a city street. A man on the stage stands below the dog, looking up as it crosses.

This image is owned and published by 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: Hodgman Ambulance

We’re back with another #ThrowbackThursday!

This 8” x 10” glass plate negative shows a Hodgman ambulance from the year 1922. The ambulance is white with black trim, white wheel tires, and curtains in the back. A plaque just under the window of the front passenger door reads “Hodgman” and another plaque over the windshield reads “Ambulance.”

This image is published and owned by 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: Flag Print Clothing

Happy fourth of July #ThrowbackThursday!

This black and white photograph on a postcard shows man and a woman walking together. The woman is wearing an American flag printed skirt and hat and the man has an American flag print hat. Perhaps they are celebrating the 4th of July!

This image is owned and published by 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: Epworth Lake Park

Hope you’re keeping cool this #ThrowbackThursday!

This 14 x 9 cm color postcard shows a view of Epworth Lake Park in Lincoln, Nebraska from around 1901-1907.  In the lake are people in a row boat near a dock and wooden house to the right. The lake is surrounded by trees and other buildings are seen beyond the trees. The name Epworth is misspelled on the card as “Epsworth Lake Park, Lincoln, Nebr.”

The Epworth Association was formed in 1897 with ties to the Methodist Church and patterned after the program and meeting grounds at Lake Chautauqua, New York. A large area southwest of Lincoln, Nebraska, along Salt Creek was purchased and Epworth Lake was dredged near its center and filled by the creek. Buildings erected included a dormitory, hotel, four restaurants, post office, an amphitheater seating 500, and a huge, roofed, open-sided amphitheater which seated between 2,500 and 3,000 people. Many small cabins and 857 wooden, raised tent bases were also built to accommodate vacationing families. The park could provide accommodations for 2,500 and by 1910-11 it was in full swing. The Burlington Railroad built a spur line from Lincoln to the park offering summer specials. Because evening programs and Chautauqua were popular, it was common for 25 railroad cars to wait outside the gates to return attendees to Lincoln after the shows. Daily admission was 25 cents or an 8-day pass for $1. Speakers included Booker T. Washington, Enrico Caruso, Theodore Roosevelt, William Jennings Bryan, and Howard Taft. During the summer daily attendance ran from 2,000 – 2,500. With the advent of the automobile and the ability of city dwellers to go anywhere, in 1930, only 13,682 admissions were recorded for the entire year. In 1935 torrential rains nearly destroyed the camp grounds and in 1940 the Epworth League moved its programs to Bethany Park. In about 1966 the land was willed to the City of Lincoln and became Wilderness Park.

— McKee, James L. “Remember When: Memories of Lincoln”. Lincoln: J & L Lee Co., 1998, p. 17.

This image is published and owned by the Omaha Public Library. They have a large collection of 1,100+ postcards and photographs of the Omaha area.

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: Welcome Sign, Crawford NE

Take some time to enjoy the great outdoors this #ThrowbackThursday!

This 4″ x 6″ black and white postcard shows the now-famous sign that was erected at the entry of Pinney Ranch along White River in Dawes County. It reads, “Notice: Hunt and Fish all you Damn please! When the bell rings come to dinner. B.G. Pinney, First Erected in 1887.” Just below the sign the postcard reads “Greetings from Crawford, Nebr.” The ranch was owned by Bailey G. (“BG”) Pinney from 1864-1938.

This image is published by the Crawford Public Library, and owned by the Crawford Historical Society and Museum. They partnered together to digitize a number of images of the Crawford area 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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