Honoring Those Who Served

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.