Red Cloud, NE

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Restoration of Cather childhood home in Red Cloud, Nebraska, set to begin soon



Restoration work will soon begin on the historic home in Red Cloud where Pulitzer Prize-winning author Willa Cather spent most of her teenage years. Cather had an attic bedroom in the 1 1/2-story, wood-frame vernacular house at 245 N. Cedar St., living there between the ages of 10 and 16. She left for college in 1896. The 143-year-old childhood home is considered the “crown jewel” of the multiple historic sites in Red Cloud that are associated with Cather. The author mentions the house in at least three of her books: “The Song of the Lark,” “Old Mrs. Harris” and “The Best Years.”

Visitors from across the world

“Visitors from all over the world remark that walking through the doors of Cather’s Childhood Home and into her tiny attic bedroom is an unforgettable experience,” said Ashley Olson, executive director of the National Willa Cather Center. The nearly $1 million in restoration work is the first in 50 years on the structure. It will begin Aug. 15 and is projected to be completed by next year. Along with rehabilitating the wooden structure, improving access and adding climate controls, the work will include restoring, and possibly replicating, the rose-colored wallpaper Cather herself installed in her attic bedroom. The paper was payment for her work at a Red Cloud drug store. “It’s a pretty special place,” said Catherine Pond, marketing coordinator for the Cather Center. The childhood home has been open for public tours since 1967. The Cather Center took possession of the house in 2019 from History Nebraska. The restoration work is being made possible in part by a $415,000 Save America’s Treasures grant from the National Park Service.

Shovel-ready funds

The project is part of the Cather Center’s ambitious “Campaign for the Future,” which has raised more than $7 million toward restoration of several Cather-related properties. It would also be used for expansion of educational programming, development of visitor amenities and growth of an endowment. The center was recently awarded a $2.3 million “shovel-ready” grant from the State Legislature, using funds supplied by the American Rescue Plan Act, to help restore a historic hotel in Red Cloud. The shovel-ready grant, as well as the federal grant to restore the childhood home, require matching, private funds. The Cather Center is seeking to raise another $200,000 in private gifts to help finance the restoration work at the childhood home.

For more information, contact the Cather Center at WillaCather.org.

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Willa Cather Childhood Home under restoration for first time in 60 years

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Willa Cather’s 150 years to be celebrated throughout 2023

LINCOLN — Acclaimed Nebraska novelist Willa Cather, who would have marked her 150th birthday in 2023, will be celebrated throughout the year with a series of events. The National Willa Cather Center will host events locally and nationally for Cather’s 150th birthday and also the 100th anniversaries of her Pulitzer Prize for “One of Ours” and the publishing of “A Lost Lady” and “April Twilights and Other Poems.” Cather is celebrated, the center explains, for her discovery and use of a “distinctive American language” that included authentic immigrant experiences. Novels such as “O Pioneers!” and “My Antonia” (published in 1913 and 1918) marked the “wellspring” of Cather’s youth in Nebraska. After winning her Pulitzer Prize, Cather continued to have a successful and prolific career.

‘One voice’ of Nebraska’s history

Ashley Olson, executive director of the Willa Cather Foundation, said it’s important to read and know about Cather, especially for Nebraskans, because her work elevated the state. Cather’s body of work is known nationally and internationally, Olson explained, and people identify Nebraska and Cather’s hometown of Red Cloud with the author. “I think it’s important that as residents of the state we know our own history and culture, and Cather is one voice that can help us learn and study those topics,” Olson said.

Journey to Washington

One event this year will be the unveiling of a statue in Cather’s likeness in the National Statuary Hall collection of the U.S. Capitol. Cather will join Chief Standing Bear as Nebraska’s two honorees in Statuary Hall. Cather’s statue and replace that of J. Sterling Morton in the hall. Fewer than a dozen women are represented in the collection. Littleton Alston of Omaha, who created the statue, will also be the first African American artist with work represented in the collection. “As much as it is a celebration of Willa Cather and her incredible legacy, it’s a wonderful connection that a Nebraska artist has done incredible work to represent her in the collection,” Olson said, adding she is confident the statue will be unveiled this year.

Additional events

A significant restoration of Cather’s childhood home in Red Cloud, where she lived between the ages of 10 and 16, is also underway.



According to the Cather center, this National Historic Landmark is notable for its preserved vernacular style and original wallpaper in Cather’s attic bedroom and will reopen to visitors in the latter half of 2023.

Additional events this year include:
- The 68th annual Willa Cather Spring Conference — “Complex and Brilliant: Cather at 150” — in Red Cloud, June 1-3.
- The 18th International Willa Cather Seminar — “Bright and Beautiful and Alive: Willa Cather’s New York Intersections” — in New York City, June 21-23.
- The National Willa Cather Center Teacher Institute — in Red Cloud, July 6-10.
- A two-week National Endowment for the Humanities Institute for Higher Education Faculty event — in Lincoln and Red Cloud, July 16-28.
-The inaugural Willa Cather Residency Program — in Red Cloud, Oct. 15-29.
A complete list of updated events is available here.

Book clubs and teachers nationwide can explore discussion questions and curriculum support resources or download the National Willa Cather Center app for virtual tours.

The center is also available to help communities organize speakers or events.

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Nebraska icon sculpture unveiled in National Statuary Hall collection



A sculpture of Willa Cather was unveiled in the National Statuary Hall collection Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

Willa Cather sculpture to be unveiled today



KETV's Jonah Gilmore talks to Professor Littleton Alston, whose sculpture of Willa Cather will be unveiled at the National Statuary Hall Collection in Washington DC today.

Letters give insight to Willa Cather's life



Hundreds of personal letters Willa Cather wrote to family and friends shed new light on an acclaimed Nebraska author.

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'Great day to be a Nebraskan' as statue of author Willa Cather unveiled in D.C.



June 7 (UPI) -- A bronze sculpture of Pulitzer Prize winning author Willa Cather is now on display inside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Wednesday. The statue was unveiled inside the National Statuary Hall on Wednesday. Cather, who died in 1947, is remembered for stories about the Great Plains and her novels O Pioneers!, The Song of the Lark, and My Ántoni. She won the 1923 Pulitzer for One of Ours, a novel partially set in Nebraska during World War I, and she later spoke during the 1933 Pulitzer Prize ceremony in New York City.

Cather was a student at and graduated from the University of Nebraska while the school's military department was run by Gen. John J. Pershing, who headed up American forces during World War I. She famously prohibited any film adaptations of her work and publishing of her personal correspondence letters. The bronze statue honors both Cather and her home state of Nebraska. "It's a great day to be a Nebraskan," Nebraska Gov. James Pillen said during Wednesday's ceremony, later quoting the famous author: "Where there is great love, there are always miracles."

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Willa Cather Editorial



A ceremony this past week should serve as a point of pride for all Nebraskans. We witnessed the dedication of the Willa Cather bronze sculpture in the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall.

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Willa Cather Childhood Home restored



RED CLOUD, Neb. (KOLN) - After 16 months of being closed for renovations, the Willa Cather Childhood Home in Red Cloud is open again, and ready for public tours. We visited with Ashley Olson about the big project. She is the executive director of the National Willa Cather Center.

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Storms hit Red Cloud, knocking out power for most of the town



RED CLOUD, Neb. (KSNB) - Rain and powerful winds hit the town of Red Cloud last night causing quite the mess, and that storm knocked out power for most of the town. Crews were out just after midnight on Thursday morning starting to get power back on for residents, and once the sun came up residents saw massive damage to trees and power lines, with even collapsed sheds and onings.

City councilman Kevin Daehling said getting energy back on was a tall task because of the power of the storm, and how much of the town lost electricity. “Hearing the winds hitting against the house,” Daehling said. “My family went down in the basement at that time not knowing what was going on. We didn’t have any warnings going off, but woke up this morning early and found out about 80% of the town without a power. School was called off early this morning due to a lot of power lines being down throughout the streets.”

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Potter-Wright Rehabilitation Project continues to make strides



Thanks to efforts from the Willa Cather Foundation and other organizations in Red Cloud, the Potter-Wright Rehabilitation Project in downtown is close to being complete.

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Willa Cather Foundation holds ribbon cutting for home dedication in Red Cloud



RED CLOUD, Neb. (KSNB) - A Nebraska legend’s childhood home was fully renovated and now open to the public. The Willa Cather Foundation held a ribbon cutting on Saturday for Willa Cather’s home dedication. The renovations included a new basement and HVAC, refreshed wallpaper with the same wallpaper Will Cather installed in the 1800s. The foundation felt it is important to honor their legend.

“Of all the houses that the foundation owns this is kind of the star,” said Robert Thacker, Member of the Willa Cather Foundation. “It’s on the National Historic Registry for good reason because of Cather. She wrote about the rooms in this house in a variety of ways.” Thacker said this house is the place Cather lived when she launched her career as a writer, and Cather is still inspiring writers today.