Author Archives: Allana Novotny

The month of May is just another memory. For some recent graduates the month of May marks an important milestone in their lives. One hundred years ago in 1912 a group of students at Union College were celebrating their graduation as we can see in this photo of their commencement in Nebraska Memories.

There is a small but interesting collection of items relating to graduations in Nebraska Memories. We can see the first graduating class from the Nebraska State Normal School at Kearney from 1906. There is also a picture of four marshals from the 1948 commencement at the Nebraska State Teachers College in Wayne.

The collection also includes a number of programs from commencement exercise. Looking at the program for the 19th annual commencement of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln from June 7, 1888 I was surprised to see two names I recognized. The first name was Frank Henry Woods. Frank Woods and his brothers Mark W. and George J. formed the Woods Brothers Companies in 1889. Today in Lincoln their company name can still be seen written in stone on the façade of a building on 13th street between N and O. Also when driving around Lincoln you may see the family name in front of a property being sold by the Woods Bros Realty company. Frank Woods is also known for starting the Lincoln Telephone & Telegraph in 1904. The Frank H. Woods Telephone Museum, which is located in Lincoln, bears his name.

The other name I recognized in the same commencement program was Roscoe Pound. Pound was a legal scholar and educator. He served as the Dean of the University of Nebraska College of Law and later as the Dean of Harvard Law School. Lincolnites may also recognize the Pound name because of Pound Middle School which was named after the Pound family including Judge Stephen Bosworth Pound, Roscoe, Louise and Olivia Pound.

When looking at the 1888 Lincoln High School Class-Day Exercises program I spotted the name Mark Woods. Mark M. Woods was listed as speaking about “Our Nation’s Coast Defenses” while Mark W. was listed as being part of the Class of 1888 and completed the Latin Course. Could this be Frank Woods brother? Unfortunately it’s not a question I was able to answer. Do you know the answer? Leave me a comment if you know!

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.

As many of you may know 1940 is an important year to genealogists and historians right now. On April 2, 2012 at 9 AM EDT the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration will make the 1940 Census available to the public online. This is the first time the 1940 Census can be made available because of the 72-year rule. This rule basically states that the U.S. government cannot release personally identifiable information about a person until 72 years after it’s been collected.

As some of us anxiously wait for April 2 I thought it would be fun to look at the faces of people from 1940 as documented in Nebraska Memories. To start off the year it appears they had more snow in the early months of 1940 then we did this year. A photo from January 1940 shows a large group of children bundled in their winter coats sitting and in the back of a pickup truck on a snow covered road. Another photo from February shows a boy outside in his coat and hat shoveling snow.

Photos taken in March of 1940 give us a glimpse of the workers at the Falstaff Brewery. The brewery was located at 25th and Vinton in Omaha. In contrast to the brewery works dressed in overalls most of the business men of Bertrand and Loomis are pictured wearing ties with jackets or vests. According to the note this group of businessmen was on an outing to the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District. The 10th grade class of Bruno High School got their picture taken on April 30, 1940. The four young men in the class look dashing in their dark suites.

The latter half of 1940 appeared to be the time for fun just by looking at the photos in Nebraska Memories. I have no idea who George Turner was but it sure looks like he knew how to through a party. One photo from the party shows a number of party goers proudly holding up their mugs of beer. I have to wonder if it’s Falstaff beer. The party goers even had a mock shotgun wedding at the party.

The other fun event documented was Laurel and Hardy appearing in person at the Orpheum Theatre in October of 1940. I bet that would have been a fun show to attend.

 I hope you enjoyed looking at some of the faces of 1940 as you wait to view the 1940 Census. You can learn more about the 1940 Census by visiting the National Archives 1940 Census website. If you’ve never explored a historic U.S. Census Nebraskan’s have access to the 1790-1930 Census through the HeritageQuest Online databases. This database is made available at no cost to all Nebraskans through NebraskAccess.

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.

I spent a bit of time over the holiday weekend telling family members to smile and say cheese. As usual some of them were more cooperative then others. The other day, as I was looking at the photos I took, I wondered if there were any interesting Christmas photos in Nebraska Memories and I’m happy to report I wasn’t disappointed. Here are a few of my favorites.

My favorite Christmas picture has to be the photo titled “Family by Christmas tree“. Unfortunately we don’t know the name of the family featured in this photo from the early 1900’s but the looks on their faces are priceless. As the description states none of the six people in the photo are looking in the same direction. In some ways it is a typical family photo however with two of the boys messing around, the third one facing the wrong direction and the fourth one looking very unhappy. Thankfully I don’t think any of my family photos turned out quite this bad. The lack of names on this photo however does serve as a good reminder. I need to take the time to add names to all of my family photos so a hundred plus years from now folks will know the names of everyone in the photo including the person who was making bunny ears.

I really have to admire the photographer, children and anyone who helped with this photo of the “Immanuel Children’s Home at Christmas“. Somehow they managed to get eight small children to sit facing the camera, have fairly happy looks on their faces, stop playing with their toys, and hold still long enough to snap a photo. I find that pretty impressive! It’s also a cute picture.

I also enjoyed looking at all of the Christmas trees in the different photos. Some of them are pretty scraggly compared to the artificial trees I’m used to seeing today. And finally what would a set of Christmas pictures be without a picture of Santa Claus with his sleigh and reindeer.

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.

Last week I had the opportunity to drive through Tilden NE. For those of you not familiar with Tilden it is located about 20 miles west of Norfolk on highway 275 along the Elkhorn River. As I drove through town I thought about the “Tilden Woman’s Club project of local historical remembrance” that can be found in Nebraska Memories.

This 120+ page type-written manuscript with hand-written corrections was compiled by Violet E. Garrison of Tilden for the Tilden Woman’s Club project. It covers the history of Tilden, which was originally named Burnett, from 1870 to 1902. The paragraph on the front cover of the document states: “At the beginning of each year–we “fit” the Tilden Community Story into the larger framework of American history to help the reader “place” the period we describe.”

The document is very interesting to read. It paints a great picture of what life in Nebraska was like in the late 1800’s. I can only imagine what the land looked like back then with buffalo, antelope, elk, deer, beaver, wolves, badgers and wild cats roaming the land.

I knew that Tilden currently is located in both Madison and Antelope County, but I didn’t realize this divide dated back to at least 1885. The Village of Burnett was incorporated in 1885. There was one small problem however; the first corporate limits did not include any territory in Antelope County. This split in 1885 left about 1/3 of the population free from city tax and not controlled by city ordinances. “This situation was novel in that public peace could be disturbed on the Antelope side of Tilden, and those offending could not be arrested by the Burnett Marshal under city laws.” “This condition was to prevail until 1894 when the Antelope side of Tilden was annexed.”

To learn more about the history of Tilden and Nebraska in the late 1800’s spend some time reading the “Tilden Woman’s Club project of local historical remembrance”.

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.

With the Nebraska State Fair ending earlier this week and many county fairs only distant memories I thought it would be a great time to view some photos of past fairs.  As I was looking at the  photos of past fairs in Nebraska Memories it’s interesting to see how fairs of the past compare with my current fair memories.

One of the items included in Nebraska Memories is a ticket for the fourth annual fair of the Sarpy County Agricultural Society. It was held in Papillion on September 21-24, 1886. As you can see, the ticket is quite fancy with a decorative boarder and a picture of a man and steer printed in red ink. What I find interesting however is the fact that the printed portion of the ticket clearly states it admits the person whose name has been written on the line along with “his wife and children under 18 years of age”. That sure doesn’t look like any fair ticket I’ve ever used.

Have you ever had your palm read at a fair? This early 1900’s photo shows Madam Seero Temple of Palmistry tent. There is a woman dressed in a costume standing in the entry of the tent who might be Madam Seero herself. Do you think we will ever see a palm reader’s tent at a fair in  Nebraska?

A few things have appeared to stand the test of time. The merry-go-round in this photo from the 1900’s looks a lot like modern-day merry-go-rounds. At a fair this year I saw a number of very nice looking produce exhibits however none of them contained anything as creative as this corn cob log cabin.

Take a few minutes and browse the other fair items in Nebraska Memories and think about how fairs of the past compare with your current fair 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.

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of traveling to the Nebraska panhandle. After returning from my trip I took a few minutes to explore the items included in Nebraska Memories from the panhandle region. This was easy to do using the Browse by Location map. Looking at the map you can see that the state is divided into six regions. Clicking on a region will display all of the items in Nebraska Memories that have been identified as being from that specific region of the state.

I’d like to issue a challenge to everyone reading this blog post. Using the Browse by Location map select a region of Nebraska and view all of the items from that region. As you are viewing the items make note of an item or two that catches your attention. When you are done return to this blog post and leave a comment sharing what region you selected and the title of the item or items that stood out to you.

I’ll get things started. I selected the panhandle region. Here are three different photos that caught my attention.

1. Welcome sign, Crawford, NE – I liked this photo simply because it made me smile when I read it.
2. Millinery Department of the Sidney Mercantile Company – The hats are beautiful and I’m sure the ladies who made them were proud to have their photo taken with them. Looking at the photo however all I can think is how happy I am that those hats are no longer in style because I’d hate to have to wear them.
   
3. McNair Hardware – Look at the great rockers in this photo. I wonder if any of those rockers are still being used today.

If you’re up for the challenge use the Browse by Location map to browse the Nebraska Memories collection and then leave a comment sharing the title(s) of the item(s) that caught your attention. I should warn you I found it hard to limit myself to only three items!

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.

As the temperature and heat index are reaching the 100+ degree mark for many of us this week I thought it would be the perfect time to think about snow, lots of cold snow. Depending on your viewpoint the thought of snow may make you appreciate the recent hot temperatures or it could give you something cold to dream about.

If you are a snow lover like myself let’s think about how cool life will be in four or five months and the snow is flying. Hopefully the weather will be perfect like it was in the early 1900’s for a little girl and her dog to go skiing and for the Boston sisters to enjoy a sled ride. If you’re a bit adventures you may even enjoy some football like the 1909 Nebraska State Normal School at Kearney football team. Anyone interested in a snowball fight?

For those of you who do not share my love for snow take a look at these photos of the 1927 and 1949 blizzards that hit Crawford or the large snow fall at Fort Niobrara in the late 1880’s. Think about how cold it must have been when these photos were taken. Does looking at these photos and thinking about past snow falls make the hot temperatures of this week a bit more bearable? Enjoy the heat while you can because before you know it you too may be shoveling snow.

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.

This past May 29th marked the 100th anniversary of a deadly train wreck that happened at about 7 am a half mile west of Indianola Nebraska. There are two photos in Nebraska Memories that show the severity of this crash. Looking at these pictures it’s hard to image how hard these trains had to collide for the engines to be destroyed and to push one train car on top of another.

Over the years, as I’ve talked with people about Nebraska Memories, one comment I’ve heard multiple times is the desire to know more about the images in the collection. I completely agree unfortunately most of the time we don’t have any more then what is provided. When a photo is 100+ years old our knowledge is limited to the information that someone in the past has recorded. Maybe this desire to know more is the reason that I’m drawn to these two photos of the Indianola train wreck.

Surprisingly we know a lot about this particular crash thanks to The McCook Tribune and the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America Historic American Newspapers project. This project is an effort to digitize newspapers from all U.S. States and territories and make them available online. Luckily for us one of the papers included in this project is the May 30th 1911 edition of The McCook Tribune. On the front page of this issue is a story all about the “Appalling Accident” near Indianola.

If you share the desire to know more, take the time to look at the images of the wreck in Nebraska Memories and read about this “Appalling Accident” that happened 100 years ago. You will learn a lot about the accident including the engine numbers of the trains involved, a list of people killed and even the names of people “not expected to recover”.

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.

Spring is here and many folks are busy working in their flower gardens. If you need a bit of inspiration for your garden maybe some photos from the early 1900’s can help.

One source of inspiration is Hanscom Park in Omaha. Hanscom Park was donated to Omaha in 1872 and is one of city’s oldest parks. The 58 acre park is still in existence today and is located in the area of 32nd and Woolworth Ave. If you have a large yard maybe you want to consider adding a fountain and some flower beds. If that’s not your style how about creating you’re own rose bower or “Lovers lane” as one person noted on a postcard.

In addition to the images of the park there are also images of some smaller gardens. The Nye residence in Fremont had a formal garden complete with a gazing ball. The Christensen home, also in Fremont, had two circular flower plantings in the yard. There was even a flower garden in front of South Hall on the Union College campus. If you would rather keep your garden simple you could always take inspiration from J. F. Rosenfield Peony Gardens and just plant twenty-five acres of peonies.

If you are not into gardening and the heat of summer you can always wait for the snow to fly turning Hanscom Park into a winter beauty.

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.

As we celebrate National Library Week and National Bookmobile Day on April 13th, it’s the perfect time to explore the history of Nebraska’s first bookmobile. The Nebraska Public Library Commission purchased their first bookmobile on July 28, 1936. I assumed that this bookmobile was purchased to deliver books to patrons around the state, however after doing a bit of research I realized I was wrong.

The Commission documented the purchase of the bookmobile in their 1935-1936 biennial report to the governor: “One of the most important aids in the program of the Library Commission has been the new Bookmobile purchased during the summer of 1936 and first displayed at the State Fair. The Library Commission is indebted to Mrs. R. L. Cochran for her interest in this project and to a group of Omaha business men for their gift of money which made the purchase of the book truck possible. The Bookmobile, which is a specially constructed half ton truck, is used for demonstration purposes and carries a carefully selected collection of three hundred books. It has done much to create interest in library extension.” *

It was reported in the September 4, 1936 issue of the State Journal that “The Nebraska bookmobile will be used for the present of demonstration. Following the state fair it will be on exhibit at some county fairs and will also be taken to several state conventions. . . . The books carried will be duplicates of books which may be borrowed from the library commission, chosen to show the type of service given by the commission. . . . It is hoped plans can be made to use the bookmobile for delivery of books within a limited territory.”

The bookmobile made many stops across the state as is documented by the photographs in Nebraska Memories. In the next year’s biennial report (1936-1938) it was documented that “Eighty-six of the ninety-three counties in the state have been visited by the Bookmobile.” ** In another report by the Commission it states “This “library on wheels” has traveled 4,000 miles over the state. . . and has been a big factor in making people in Nebraska aware of the service which is available to them through the Library Commission. It has resulted in an increased number of requests for books.”

There were a few other interesting things I noticed and wanted to share:

• Looking at the back of the bookmobile, there appears to be a AAA logo above the license plate. What type of emergency road service was needed and offered in the late 1930’s?
• Five of the bookmobile photos were taken in front of public libraries. What’s interesting is that the Commission has modern pictures of three of these libraries.
  • Davenport Public Library – 1937 – 2001
  • Eustis Public Library – 1938 – 2001
  • Nehawka Public Library – 1937 – 2005

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.

* State of Nebraska Report of the Nebraska Public Library Commission to the Governor, August 26, 1935 to November 30. 1936 – Page 11 (The full text of this document is available as part of Commission’s State Publications Clearinghouse Service.)

** Biennial Report of the Nebraska Public Library Commission, December 1, 1936, 10 November 30, 1938 – Page 11 (The full text of this report is also available online.)

With April 1st fast approaching it’s a good time to explore some of the humorous items that can be found in Nebraska Memories.
Over the years I’m sure all of us have talked to a fisherman or a fisherwoman who’s had a tale of the one that got away. If they have been out fishing on Pibel Lake, located about 70 miles north of Grand Island, you might want to believe them. Looking at this postcard you can see that there are some big fish in Pibel Lake.
Not into fishing, maybe Laurel and Hardy is more your style or how about a man dressed as a woman? In 1944 at the prisoners of war at Camp Atlanta, near Holdrege, Nebraska, a man dresses as a woman for the theatrical production of “Lovers“.
If your funny bone is still not tickled, maybe you’re not looking at things the right way. This group of folks state that “We are all right when you look at us the right way.”
Before you plan any April Fool’s Day pranks, take a minute to read the lyrics of April First by Thurlow Lieurance and keep in mind “A chap who’s foolish but one day is doing well.”
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.

“At least 150 people were killed and over 350 people were injured as a tornado swept through Omaha this Easter Sunday causing thousands of dollars of damage.”

Ninety-eight years ago on March 23 that would have been the lead story on the 10 o’clock news, if there had been TV in 1913. The historic Easter Tornado hit Omaha around 6:00 p.m. Sunday night. Even though there are no TV clips from this time there are many photos in Nebraska Memories documenting the destruction the tornado caused.


The path of the tornado started at 49th & Poppleton and continued through Carter Lake and Council Bluffs, Iowa. Areas suffering the heaviest damage were Bemis Park, Sacred Heart Academy and 24th & Lake Streets.* According to the article in Wikipedia the storm’s path was 40 miles long and ¼ to ½ mile wide.
The exact amount of damage this storm system caused varies a bit from source to source. The Commoner newspaper reported on March 28, 1913 that over 150 people died, 350 were injured and the property loss was estimated at near $6,000,000. The story also states that 1,200 houses, five public schools and seven churches were wrecked or demolished.

Looking at the photos in Nebraska Memories it’s interesting to think about how today’s media would cover this disaster. What would this woman standing in a pile of rubble say to a reporter about the tornado and how it impacted her life?
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.
* Source: Driscoll, Charles. Complete Story of Omaha’s Disastrous Tornado, Omaha: Mogy Publishing, c1913.