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Category Archives: Preservation
Call for Speakers: Big Talk From Small Libraries 2025
The Call for Speakers for Big Talk From Small Libraries 2025 is now open!
Submit your proposal by Friday, December 13, 2024.
This free one-day online conference is tailored for staff from small libraries; the smaller the better!
Small libraries of all types – public, academic, school, museum, special, etc. – are encouraged to submit a proposal. We’re looking for seven 50-minute presentations and four 10-minute “lightning round” presentations.
Do you offer a service or program at your small library that other librarians might like to hear about? Have you implemented a new (or old) technology, hosted an event, partnered with others in your community, or just done something really cool? The Big Talk From Small Libraries online conference gives you the opportunity to share what you’ve done, while learning what your colleagues in other small libraries are doing.
Here are some possible topics to get you thinking:
- Unique Libraries
- Special Collections
- New buildings
- Fundraising
- Improved Workflows
- Staff Development
- Advocacy Efforts
- Community Partnerships
- That great thing you’re doing at your library!
Speakers from libraries serving fewer than 10,000 people will be preferred, but presentations from libraries with larger service populations will be considered. Speakers must be from small libraries or directly partnered with a small library and submitting a proposal to co-present with the library.
Big Talk From Small Libraries 2025 will be held on Friday, February 28, 2025 between 8:45 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (CT) via the GoTo Webinar online meeting service. Speakers will present their programs from their own desktops. The schedule will accommodate speakers’ time-zones.
This conference is sponsored by the Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL) and the Nebraska Library Commission.
Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Posted in General, Nebraska Memories, Preservation
Tagged Hanscom Park, Omaha, Omaha Public Library, Postcard, Throwback Thursday
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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.
Posted in General, Nebraska Memories, Preservation
Tagged Cedar Rapids, History Nebraska, Postcard, Throwback Thursday
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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.
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.
Posted in General, Nebraska Memories, Preservation
Tagged glass plate negative, Hodgman, Throwback Thursday, Townsend Studio
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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.
Seeking Nebraska Yearbooks!
Do you know of or have access to free digital collections of Nebraska yearbooks? We would love to link them in our collection! We’re looking for both High School and College yearbooks!
Comment below or email us if you have a free digital collection of Nebraska yearbooks you’d like to share with us!
You can see the current collection at https://nebraskaccess.nebraska.gov/websites/Yearbooks.asp
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.
Posted in General, Nebraska Memories, Preservation
Tagged Epworth Lake, Epworth Park, Lincoln Nebraska, Postcard, Throwback Thursday
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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.
Throwback Thursday: Linotype NPG
We’re back with another #ThrowbackThursday!
This 8” x 10” glass plate negative was taken in June of 1915, as shown by the calendar in the back of the room advertising the Nebraska State Fair in Lincoln. The negative shows off a wooden room with two linotype machines, one currently in use.
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.
Throwback Thursday: New Moon
Happy #ThrowbackThursday, did you know there’s a new moon tonight?
This black and white photograph on a postcard shows a photo of the night sky, taken by John Nelson, focusing on the new moon with stars through the treetops. The photographer’s initials appear in the lower right corner, with the J imposed on the N, and the title “The New Moon” is written in the lower left hand corner.
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.
Throwback Thursday: Bookmobile at Nehawka Public Library
Let’s take a drive down memory lane this #ThrowbackThursday!
This 4-1/8″ x 2-1/2″ black and white photograph dated 11/09/1937 shows several woman standing beside a bookmobile parked on Maple Street outside of the log cabin building of Nehawka Public Library, which continues to serve as a library to this day. The panel doors on the truck are open, showing books on shelves inside, and several of the woman are either reading or posing with a book. Among the woman are Isadore Sheldon Tucker on the far left and Evelyn Wolph on the far right. Isadore Sheldon Tucker’s father built Sheldon General Store in 1888 and Miss Wolph was a long time 4-H leader in Cass County.
This image is published 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.
Throwback Thursday: Edwin Lyndon May Jr. and Dog
This #ThrowbackThursday is extra adorable!
This 4″x6″ glass plate negative is a portrait photograph of Edwin Lyndon “Ned” May Jr. and a small dog. Edwin was born in Nebraska, December 15, 1904, and the photograph is dated October 16, 1906 making him just under two years old in the portrait. He was the son of Edwin and Jennette May, and according to the 1920 census, the family was living in Beatrice, Nebraska, where his parents ran a hotel. Later in life Edwin married Evelyn Johnson on October 8, 1942, in Jackson County, Missouri. He died at the age of 89 on May 9, 1994, in Pierce, Nebraska.
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.
Throwback Thursday: The Rose Bower at Hanscom Park
Remember to stop and smell the roses on this #ThrowbackThursday!
This 13.5 x 8.5 cm color postcard shows a lovely view of a rose bower at Hanscom Park, one of Omaha’s oldest parks. The 50-acre tract was donated to the city in 1872 by Andrew J. Hanscom and James Megeath. There is a long bower covered in pink roses with a woman standing to the right in an off-white skirt, jacket and hat. The reverse is postmarked 1912 over a one cent stamp featuring Benjamin Franklin in profile (attached upside down) along with a handwritten message:
Postmark 1912
Miss Veda Wenstrand
Essex
Iowa
Rt #3
Hello how you was I am fine and dandy what are you doing now days I am working hard all the time are you coming down this way sun will are you game [unreadable due to fading writing] I am game all the time [unreadable]
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.
Posted in General, Nebraska Memories, Preservation
Tagged Color postcards, Hanscom Park, Omaha, Omaha Public Library, Throwback Thursday
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Throwback Thursday: Edward Blewett Residence
We’re back with another #ThrowbackThursday!
This is a 14” x 10.5” photograph of the home of Edward and Carrie Blewett, dated around 1900 – 1903. Located at 1217 Nye Ave. in Fremont, Nebraska; the home was built in 1884 and seems to suggest an eclectic style Victorian home with some loosely based Chateauesque influences. Some of the Chateauesque details include: very tall and ornate chimneys, the iron cresting and finials on the roof, the pyramid shaped hipped roof on the tower, the double belt courses which band the home, and the canopied entrance door. This home was purchased in 1903 by Frank Fowler and was heavily remodeled to create his Neoclassical style Westfield Acres.
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.
