Bicentennial Tapestry by the Nebraska Council of Home Extension Clubs, 1976

One popular way to celebrate a national anniversary is to look at the heritage of your own community.

At the 1975 annual meeting of the Nebraska Council of Home Extension Clubs, country representatives were presented with a bicentennial challenge. Each representative was given a piece of 12″ x 12″ canvas, a needle, and stitch instructions. The challenge: represent your county on a square foot of fabric.

How would you represent your county? What few images would you select to convey the essence of what your community is about? What defines you and your neighbors? What are you most proud of?

Many people participated in the design and sewing. Some folks did only a few stitches just to be part of it. After the panels were complete, the NCHEC president spent three months piecing the blocks together. 

Altogether the tapestry includes an estimated 11,700 yards of yarn and 1.4 million stitches. It was unveiled at Scottsbluff on June 8, 1976, and traveled the state for three years after that. Eventually it was donated to the Nebraska State Historical Society. See your county’s panel (and all the others) below.

To learn more about each panel (and to see who made them), click the catalog number above each picture.

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–David Bristow, posted 6/25/2025