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Category Archives: Nebraska Memories
Throwback Thursday: Superior Carnegie Library
Exterior photo of the Superior, Nebraska Carnegie Library built in 1909.
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Trees, Trees and More Trees!
Since moving to Nebraska I have discovered many new and interesting facts. For example, Nebraska was the first state admitted to the United States after the Civil War. Nebraska is also home to both the National Museum of Roller Skating and the International Quilt Center and Museum. It’s also the site of the first American commemoration of Arbor Day. According to the Arbor Day Foundation, Arbor Day was first celebrated in 1872, in Nebraska City.
While J. Sterling Morton, who the Arbor Day Foundation credits with organizing that first Arbor Day, is not included in Nebraska Memories, there are many tree-filled photographs and postcards. Browsing through the collection, it seems as though trees pop up everywhere – in front of churches, libraries, schools, government buildings, and private homes. Trees even stand adjacent to Nebraska’s legendary cornfields!
In many of the images, the trees appear to have been deliberately planted. That is, I didn’t see a lot of pictures of broad forests, similar to those found in western Montana. For 
example, the trees surrounding Green Terrace Hall, on the campus of the Nebraska State Normal School in Kearney, grow in neat rows. This does not hold true for all the photographs and postcards I found. A postcard featuring two young women in Omaha’s Hanscom Park, depicts a meadow crowded with trees; while a postcard of Big Saddle Butte, near Crawford, shows trees scattered around a butte.
I’m sure in the coming months and years, I’ll learn many more fascinating bits of trivia. Here’s one more: Arbor Day is the last Friday of April. You don’t need to plant a tree to celebrate, but take a moment to enjoy the beauty of a tree. 
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, contact Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.
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Throwback Thursday: South Omaha Carnegie Library
Exterior of the South Omaha, Nebraska Carnegie Library.
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Cats Rule and Dogs Drool
According to my coworker, cats rule and dogs drool. I’m not sure I agree with him but don’t tell him that. He is one of many cat lovers who work at the Library Commission. If you work with a cat lover, are friends with a cat lover or are a cat lover yourself you probably see or are sent cute cat pictures and videos on a regular basis. The internet is full of cat related pictures and videos and social media has made it easy for folks to share their favorites.
People taking pictures of their cats is nothing new. In Nebraska Memories, I found 11 photos that included at least one cat. Photographer John Nelson took pictures of his nieces Alice, Mildred, Eda and Henrietta all holding cats or kittens. You can’t go wrong with pictures of kids with cats.
John Nelson also took a picture of a cat in a hardware store. I find it amusing to see the cat sitting on top of the glass display case. I’m not sure if he intended for the cat to be the focus of the picture but the cat is more visible then the humans in the picture.
The other photos in Nebraska Memories that included cats were taken by William Wallace. William Wallace served as a vice president for the Omaha National Bank for many years, and it appears he was also an avid photographer.
It’s obvious that William meant for the cats to be the focus of his pictures. I’m guessing that the cats might have ruled the house. The cat looks content lying on the family’s kitchen table. Because the photos are black and white, it’s hard to tell if the cat on the table is also one of the cats sleeping on the bed. Do you think the cat on the bed 
with the white fur on his face and neck is the same cat playing on the banister? Are they the same cats that are providing entertainment in these three pictures taken in the Wallace’s library?
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, contact Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.
Windmills of Nebraska
In early January, I moved from Montana to Nebraska. This is not necessarily the best time of the year for a road trip. It’s cold. It’s bleak. Fortunately, my mom decided to make the trip with me. We entertained ourselves by talking about the landmarks, odd formations, and abandoned structures we glimpsed along the freeway. For example, as we drove from Scottsbluff to Lincoln, we saw a lot of windmills. It seemed like there were windmills popping up all over the place. Looking for windmills helps make that last leg go a little faster!
Now, we have windmills in Montana. We even have a few wind farms, but you do not see a lot of windmills standing alone in a field. Most are adjacent to a farmhouse or a barn, and may still be operational. For those living off the grid, windmills serve as an excellent power source. Wanting to see 
more of Nebraska’s windmill heritage, I searched Nebraska Memories for images and publications.
As you may know, homesteaders used windmills to convert wind into energy that could be used to pump water wells. In areas where there are few rivers, it makes sense that farmers and ranchers used the energy generated by windmills to bring water to the surface. Looking through Nebraska Memories, I found a few photographs of windmills. However, rather than featuring a solitary windmill in a field, most of the images depicted windmills standing adjacent to a homestead or lurking in the background. This makes sense. After all, the windmills my mom and I glimpsed as we sped across the Nebraska plains were the remains of abandoned homesteads.
If you would like to see more photographs of windmills, 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, http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nebraskamemories/participation.aspx For more information, contact Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.
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Throwback Thursday: Scottsbluff Carnegie Library
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Dressed to the Nines
The origin of the phrase “to the nines” is debatable; however, the meaning or intent seems to be consistent, as in to perfection or to the highest degree. When combined with the word dress, it can mean smartly or flamboyantly.
Formal dress was de rigueur for photographs taken in a photographer’s studio, even in small town Nebraska. Florence Martin Stevens, dressed in a trim two-piece fitted top and matching skirt, posed for the photograph, at left, taken by A. C. Strauss in Osceola, Nebraska, probably in the 1890s. The only embellishment on her tidy costume appears to be a bow at the collar. Margaret Meister’s costume, on the other hand, is a bit looser fitting, embellished with flowers, and topped by a very large frilly hat. Mrs. Meister’s photographer, Harvey Boston of David City, perhaps contributed the flowers as some of the women in other photographs taken by him are also decked out in a similar manner (Butler County Gallery Collection).
In the following decade, Dora Lane dressed just as fine but her costume is a two-piece suit made of a lighter colored pinstripe material and worn over a white blouse with lace at its collar. The jacket, while fitted around the body, has puffed sleeves and insets of darker cloth at the cuffs which match the attachment on her collar. Her large hat of a dark color isn’t quite as frilly as Mrs. Meister’s; it has a bit of frill at the back and some type of ornamentation on the front brim. Harvey Boston also took this photograph.
A few decades later, during the Great Depression, hemlines had risen and clothing tended to be less bulky. However, in Mr. and Mrs. Victor Barta’s wedding picture, the bride, Helen, wears a dark dress lightened by a wide, white lace over-collar and calla lilies pinned at the center of her neckline. Her soft hat is much smaller than the other two, more like a cap, but it has a wide woven ribbon around the edge and a short piece of netting attached to the back edge. This photograph was taken by Harvey’s daughter, Edith Boston Proskovec in 1936.
So where would these ladies have gotten their fine outfits? The first three were most likely made at home or by a dressmaker specifically for the wearers. Into the beginning of the twentieth century, even in institutions, like the Nebraska Hospital for the Insane, clothing had to be sewn (Section of sewing room in Industrial Building, Nebraska Hospital for the Insane. Lincoln, Nebraska Library Commission Collection).
Mrs. Barta, Helen, may have had her dress specially made, too. Or it’s possible she made the trip to one of the larger towns in Nebraska to shop at a store such as Virginia Dare Women’s Apparel in Omaha. William Wentworth’s night time photograph from the late 1930s or early 1940s shows lots of wonderful costumes and accoutrements. The Brandeis Store was another popular department store in Omaha, and Wentworth’s photograph at right shows one of their models wearing a ready-to-wear print dress in 1939. (The Durham Museum Collection)
It is also possible that Helen shopped in her local dress store the A to Z Dress Shop in David City, shown below. Small to be sure, but customers were certain to receive personal service.
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, contact Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.
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It’s High School State Basketball Time
The Nebraska High School State Basketball tournaments are well under way in Lincoln. Last week the girl’s teams were in town for the championship games and this week the boy’s teams are here. Last night, as I watched the news coverage of the games, I wondered if there were any historical photos of high school basketball teams in Nebraska Memories. I was happy to find a few photos of basketball teams although I’m not sure they were all high school teams.
Two of the photos I located are of girls’ basketball teams. The first photo is of the 1909 Nebraska School for the Deaf (NSD) basketball team. Most the girls have a smile on their face and look happy to be having their picture taken. NSD was a school for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. It was located in Omaha from 1869 to 1998 when it closed.
The second photo is of the Sacramento basketball team. I must admit that the first time I saw this photo I had to consult a map. I had no idea there was a town named Sacramento in Nebraska.
Today I think Sacramento it what some folks may refer to as a wide spot in the road. It is located about six miles southeast of Holdrege. According to the Nebraska State Historical Society, the town was established sometime between 1876 and 1878 with a population of around 200. School District No. 8 was located there from 1876-1952. While there was a school in town at the time this photo was taken in 1913, we don’t know if it was a school team.
I do have to admire the caps that the girls have on. Can you imagine all of the girls who played in the games last week wearing caps like that?
In the Nebraska Memories collection, there are two photos of basketball teams from Loomis. One photo is from 1916 and the other is from 1918. According to the description of the photos Roland Bragg, Frank Johnston, and Gordon Linder appear in both photos. Again, I’m not sure if these are the high school basketball teams.
I thought some of the boys looked young so I did a quick search the 1910 US Federal Census for the boys. (Nebraskans can search this census and many other genealogy resources through the MyHeritage database, which is available through NebraskAccess.) I was easily able to locate Ronald and Reuben who were both 9 in 1910. I was also easily able to find Phil who was 10 and Gordon who was 11. That would make them 15, 16 and 17 in the 1916 photo.
The last photo I want to highlight is that of the 1924 Bertrand High School basketball team. Unlike the girls from NSD these guys aren’t smiling. As you can see, they all have their arms crossed and most of them are trying to look tough.
I was curious to see if this group of boys from Bertrand played in the Nebraska High School State Basketball tournament in 1924. I looked on the Nebraska School Activities Association’s (NSAA) website and found some historical information about the basketball championships. They have information for the boy’s teams going back to 1911 however; the information about the girl’s teams only goes back to 1977.
Here’s what I learned after reading the information on the NSAA’s site. In 1924 the boys state tourney was made up of 248 teams and they were divided into 16 classes. That year Bertand was in Class L. Assuming I’m reading the information correctly, Bertrand played in only one game against Papillion. They lost 11-12. Papillion then played Stockville and lost. Stockville then lost to Valley. In the last game Valley lost to Henderson. That made Henderson the 1924 Class L champions.
Do want to see more? 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, contact Devra Dragos, Technology & Access Services Director.
Throwback Thursday: Ponca Carnegie Library
Exterior photo of the Ponca, Nebraska Carnegie Library built in 1912.
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