Author Archives: Devra Dragos

The practice of honoring mothers has been around for centuries, but Mother’s Day was not an official holiday in the United States until President Woodrow Wilson signed legislation in 1914 establishing the date as the second Sunday in May.

Some people buy cards, flowers, or jewelry to honor their mothers. Others have said it with music, as in this piece, “Sweet Little Mother.” This score and other Mother-related musical materials can be found in the Polley Music Library collection.

Cherished photographs bring back memories of mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers, and more, like this photograph of four generations in Clara Zellinger’s family from the Butler County Gallery collection. Nebraskans must be a hardy bunch as other photographs in Nebraska Memories show multiple generations. Formal and informal photographs of mothers with their children and family groups show a variety of family combinations. And check out the size of some of those families in past years. In comparison, the Census Bureau reports that the average number of births per woman in the United States had dropped to two in 2009.

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.

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.

“American women, the first quarter of the twentieth century, have won two rights: the right of exercising the suffrage and the right of participation in sport.” So said Glenna Collett, one of the greatest female golfers, in 1924.*
To kick-off Women’s History Month, consider some of the sports and physical activities that women and girls have enjoyed. Can you imagine playing basketball wearing dresses and mob caps like these Nebraska high school girls? (“Sacramento basketball team“, Phelps County Historical Society collection, 1913)
See other images available in Nebraska Memories of girls and women who have participated in sports and enjoyed the outdoors.
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.
*Glenna Collett, “Sports for Women”, Woman’s Home Companion, 51 (September 1924), 21.

There have been three state capitol buildings in Lincoln. The latest one, designed by Bertram G. Goodhue, took about ten years and $9.8 million to build. A photograph of a model of this third building can be found in Nebraska Memories (Thompson, Alva C., Nebraska State Capitol Building, model, Townsend Studio collection, 1925). If you are traveling to Lincoln for NLA’s Legislative Day later this week, take a look at the image and compare it to the completed version. Do you notice any differences?
All three capitol buildings have been popular backdrops for photographs over the years. Check out more images of the state capitol buildings as well as some past governors and state senators 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 http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/ for more information, or contact Beth Goble, Government Information Services Director, or Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.

Have you visited Nebraska Memories lately? If you are interested in Nebraska history, culture, or genealogy, visit Nebraska Memories again, as we have added some things you may not have seen. Images of Chautauqua performers, floods, students, government buildings, athletes, store displays, family portraits and much more can be found in Nebraska Memories.
Nebraska Memories now has collections from 30 participants which include images digitized from photographs, glass plate negatives, postcards, maps, scores, books, and other formats attached to 4,957 records. Among our newest participants are Union College, Ella Johnson Crandall Memorial Library; Townsend Studio; Cheyenne County Historical Society and Museum; and Mitchell Public Library. New images have also been added to the Dodge County Historic Society Collections, Omaha Public Library and Alegent Health Immanuel Medical Center collections.

An example of how Nebraska Memories can help you: Do you have patrons interested in President’s Day? In addition to naming the state capital after President Abraham Lincoln, statues of Lincoln have been erected in, on or by various Nebraska buildings over the years. Here’s one tribute to President Lincoln at the Nebraska State Normal School at Kearney (Abraham Lincoln statue in Auditorium, University of Nebraska at Kearney collection, 1917).
Check out other representations of President Lincoln in Nebraska Memories and browse or search for images of the city of Lincoln.

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.