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Semicentennial of Nebraska

The semicentennial celebration of the admission of Nebraska into the Union took place in 1917 under the auspices of the Nebraska State Historical Society. Society President John L. Webster of Omaha was the instigator of the event. As 1917 approached, he proposed a celebration to the members of the Historical Society. The chief feature was to be a historical pageant to symbolize not only the development of Nebraska but the relationship of the state to the opening and settlement of the West. A committee of one hundred members was appointed to take charge of the celebration. Businessman Gurdon W. Wattles of Omaha was chairman.



The plans for the celebration included a pageant at Omaha in October 1916 in connection with the Ak-Sar-Ben events for that year. Ceremonies there were witnessed by more than 100,000 people. President and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson were present and reviewed the pageant, and President Wilson made an address. The celebration in Lincoln took place in June 1917 at the time of the University of Nebraska commencement. An address by ex-President Theodore Roosevelt was a significant feature.



Semicentennial observances were statewide. General or county celebrations were held March 1, 1917, by schools, commercial clubs, historical societies, churches, women’s clubs, men’s clubs, Daughters of the American Revolution, and other civic societies. February 12, 1917, was the date set for observances in Nebraska’s rural and village schools. Appropriate exercises were held in Nebraska churches and Sunday schools on February 25, the Sunday nearest Washington’s birthday.



To stimulate interest in the celebration John D. Haskell of Wakefield, Nebraska, offered a prize of $100 in 1916 for the best poem adapted as a state song for Nebraska. (“Beautiful Nebraska,” composed by Jim Fras, has been the state’s official song since 1967.) One condition was that the 1917 poem to Nebraska should be written by some person who was then living in the state. The prize winner was the Rev. William H. Buss of Fremont for his “The Ode to Nebraska.” Haskell also gave a prize of $100 for the best musical arrangement for the poem, won by John Prindle Scott of New York City.

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Other Publications

The Bachelors’ Protective Union of Kearney

When the Bachelors' Protective Union gave a gala reception for two of its newly married, former members and their brides in March of 1890, the social club for young, ...

U.S. Weather Bureau in 1890s Nebraska

The U.S. Weather Bureau was established by an act of Congress on October 1, 1890. It took over the weather service that had been established in the office of the Chief ...

Canning the Way to Victory

During American participation in World War I the U.S. Food Administration, under the direction of Herbert Hoover, launched a massive campaign to persuade Americans to ...

The Shoemaker’s Ashes

"Edward Kuehl, one of the most peculiar characters that ever lived in Omaha, or anywhere else, was found dead in his bed last night in the back room of his place of ...

Crazy Horse Surrender Ledger Foreward

Red Dog, an Oglala Lakota who lived at the Red Cloud Agency, Nebraska, 1876-77 (Nebraska State Historical Society RG2955.ph).   In the summer of 1876, following the ...

Darryl F. Zanuck

Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl F. Zanuck (1902-1979), a native Nebraskan, produced some of Hollywood's most important and controversial films. He helped found 20th Century Fox ...

The Burlington’s Profitable Pork Special

Nebraska railroads were much concerned with developing an adequate economy in the areas they served. The Burlington, for example, had a long history of caring for the ...

Bungalow Filling Stations

After the giant Standard Oil Company was broken into thirty-four separate companies in 1911, the newly independent Standard Oil of Nebraska dominated the state's market ...

The Bull Fight

This is the perfect time of year for a visit to the old fishin' hole. But a group of fisherfolk from Plainview discovered that this bucolic pastime sometimes has ...

Buffalo Soldiers West

African-American soldiers on the western frontier are the focus of an exhibit at the Nebraska History Museum in Lincoln. Buffalo Soldiers West, on loan from the Colorado ...

Protection for Buffalo

The extermination of the buffalo on the Plains occurred largely between 1870 and 1885. The Nebraska State Journal of Lincoln on February 1, 1874, editorialized in vain ...

Buffalo Hunting

In late October 1877 young Rolf Johnson and three friends left their homes in Phelps County, Nebraska, for a buffalo hunt in northeastern Colorado. The hunt was not very ...
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