History Nebraska

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History Nebraska announces 2023 awardees from across the state

LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) — History Nebraska has announced its 2023 awardees from across the state to Nebraskans in Beatrice, Hastings, Lincoln, Peru and Omaha. This year, History Nebraska will present five awards at an April 26 event at the Nebraska History Museum in Lincoln. The awards recognize people who provide “significant contributions to the preservation and interpretation of Nebraska history,” according to the organization.

The 2023 honorees:

Champion of History Awards: Richard “Dick” Witt of Hastings; Debora Heard and Claire Du Laney, both of Omaha.
History Nebraska Excellence in Teaching Award: Sara Crook of Peru.
Nebraska State Historic Preservation Award: Main Street Beatrice in Beatrice.
James L. Sellers Award: Gail Blankenau of Lincoln.

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Four buildings constructed as part of the New Deal added to National Register of Historic Places

LINCOLN — Four structures built as part of the Depression-era New Deal are among those added recently to the National Register of Historic Places. History Nebraska, which reviews applications, said six properties were recently approved for the Register by the National Park Service.

WPA projects

Included were four project built via the Works Progress Administration, which employed thousands of people on construction projects during the Depression and through the early years of World War II.

Those were:
- The art deco York Auditorium in York, built in 1940. The concrete structure remains an auditorium and sports venue today and also houses a local museum.
- The Agricultural Society Building in Weeping Water, which hosted the Cass County Fair until 1967. The two-story Streamline Moderne style building sits in Weeping Water’s business district.
- The Inavale Community Center in Inavale, in rural Webster County. Builders used salvaged concrete blocks from a building in neighboring Red Cloud in 1942. The building was a roller rink until 1979 but is now vacant.
- The Bohning Memorial Auditorium in Ravenna, a brick structure built in 1934. It remains in use for community events.

Other structures added to the Register were:

- The Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church in Beatrice, built in 1930. The structure represents Late English Gothic Revival church architecture with its tall, turret-topped tower, buttresses, arched art glass windows and arcaded arches.
- The Iowa-Nebraska Light and Power Company Plant in Lincoln, an Art Deco structure built in 1930. Now known as the K Street Power Plant, it is scheduled for rehabilitation.

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Law says historic Kennard House should be maintained as ‘statehood memorial,’ but is it happening?

LINCOLN — Built in 1869, the stately Kennard House was intended as a show of confidence in the selection of Lincoln as the capital of the then-2-year-old state of Nebraska. It was one of three brick homes built for the three members of a commission that picked Lincoln over Omaha as the seat of government for the fledgling prairie state. Now the home, a half block from the State Capitol, is closed and nearly empty. A couple of hallway lights remain on, attesting that the power is not turned off. It’s sparking a debate about whether the 2½-story brick home is being maintained as required by a law passed after the state bought the old home in 1961, saving it from demolition.

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History Nebraska:
Crime and a crime boss in 20th century Omaha