UNK Special Collections is comprised of materials on select subject areas, such as the history of Nebraska and the Great Plains. For this collection the Library is committed to assembling primary and secondary scholarly materials on specific topics that support UNK's curricular and research needs.
Select digitized materials are available here.
Statement on Harmful Material: Materials in UNK Archives and Special Collections are historical in nature and reflect the society in which they were produced. As such, they may contain racial, gender, sexual, religious, and other language and imagery that are offensive by today's standards. The documents, images, publications, and other materials have been retained in order to fully represent the materials in their original format. If the offensive text is not in the original, but in a finding aid, catalog record, or other description created by library employees, please contact Archives and Special Collections to bring this to our attention. Archives & Special Collections is guided by the core values of the Society of American Archivists. If you have questions about this statement or about Archives and Special Collections’ work, we welcome your feedback. Please contact us at archives@unk.edu or 308-865-8593.
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State of Nebraska vs. Ella Bloor and Others
Sherman County District Court
State of Nebraska vs. Ella Bloor, Harry McDonald, Carl Wicklund, Portius Sell, John Squires, Floyd Booth and Loretta Booth. Trial of some of the people involved in the 1934 Loup City Riots.
Digitized from Nebraska Historical Society microfilm.
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Memories of the Old West
Thaddeus J. Foley
Booklet of stories about personal experiences in Nebraska and Nebraska place names, compiled at the request of J.T. Link.
Publication date approximate.
More information on Foley available at http://libraries.ne.gov/northplatte/2021/thaddeus-foley-and-his-grand-victorian-house/
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Early Days at Santee
Mary B. Riggs
History of the first 13 years of the Santee Normal Training School, written by one of the founders of the school. The Riggs family lived with and interacted with members of several indigenous groups while setting up and operating the school; the book records the traditions and customs of this with whom the Riggs' interacted.
Contains numerous images and drawings. Drawings were made by Reuben Dorian, a Santee student.
The book was printed by students at the Santee Normal Training School.
Content Warning: Contains period typical racism, violence, mentions of disease.
Statement on Harmful Material
Materials in UNK Archives and Special Collections are historical in nature and reflect the society in which they were produced. As such, they may contain racial, gender, sexual, religious, and other language and imagery that are offensive by today's standards. The documents, images, publications, and other materials have been retained in order to fully represent the materials in their original format. If the offensive text is not in the original, but in a finding aid, catalog record, or other description created by library employees, please contact Archives and Special Collections to bring this to our attention. Archives & Special Collections is guided by the core values of the Society of American Archivists. If you have questions about this statement or about Archives and Special Collections’ work, we welcome your feedback. Please contact us at archives@unk.edu or 308-865-8593.
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The History of Fort Kearney
Lillian M. Willman
Thesis Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College of the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts Department of History
History of Fort Kearny, Nebraska. Traces the history of the fort, both the original at Table Creek and the later one on the Platte River. Also discusses some of the initial 1920s conversion of the fort into a historic site.
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Chadron : a chronological view of the early history of the old-home-town
H. D. Mead
History of Chadron, Nebraska from 1885-1925, with the bulk of the time spent on 1885-1910.
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A History of Kearney, Nebraska
Ella L. Bessie
History of Kearney, Nebraska written for the Kearney Woman's Club. Primarily personal reminiscences covering 1871-1884.
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The Battle of Massacre Canyon
J. W. Williamson
Full title: The Battle of Massacre Canyon - The Unfortunate Ending of the Last Buffalo Hunt of the Pawnees; An Account of the Last Battle by Indians
Account of the last Pawnee buffalo hunt, which ended with a battle with the Sioux. The hunt departed from the Pawnee Agency at Genoa, Nebraska. The battle occurred northeast of Trenton, Nebraska.
Statement on Harmful Material: Materials in UNK Archives and Special Collections are historical in nature and reflect the society in which they were produced. As such, they may contain racial, gender, sexual, religious, and other language and imagery that are offensive by today's standards. The documents, images, publications, and other materials have been retained in order to fully represent the materials in their original format. If the offensive text is not in the original, but in a finding aid, catalog record, or other description created by library employees, please contact Archives and Special Collections to bring this to our attention. Archives & Special Collections is guided by the core values of the Society of American Archivists. If you have questions about this statement or about Archives and Special Collections’ work, we welcome your feedback. Please contact us at archives@unk.edu or 308-865-8593.
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Pioneer Sketches Nebraska and Texas
W. Straley
Chapters on white colonization of Nebraska and Texas, pulled together by W. Straley, editor of the Nuckolls County Herald in Nelson, Nebraska and the News-Review in Hico, Texas.
Contents
- Ox Team Days
- Trying Times in 1873
- Early Days in Nuckolls County
- Recollections of Pioneer Life
- Some First Things
- Reminisences of 1873-4
- Death of James Parkerson, Aged 118 Years
- The Famous Dove Creek Fight
- Murder of Ann Whitney and Amanda Howard's Bravery
- The Beautiful Steer
- Interesting Events of Early Days
- First Wagon Though Town of Indian Gap
- First Election Held in Bosque County
- Early Schools of Dublin, Texas
- Death of Prof. Albert D. Wallace
Statement on Harmful Material
Materials in UNK Archives and Special Collections are historical in nature and reflect the society in which they were produced. As such, they may contain racial, gender, sexual, religious, and other language and imagery that are offensive by today's standards. The documents, images, publications, and other materials have been retained in order to fully represent the materials in their original format. If the offensive text is not in the original, but in a finding aid, catalog record, or other description created by library employees, please contact Archives and Special Collections to bring this to our attention. Archives & Special Collections is guided by the core values of the Society of American Archivists. If you have questions about this statement or about Archives and Special Collections’ work, we welcome your feedback. Please contact us at archives@unk.edu or 308-865-8593.
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Letter from Robert Henri to Horace Traubel, June 1913
Robert Henri
Letter from Robert Henri to Horace Traubel
Part of the Robert Henri Correspondence Collection
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Letter from Robert Henri to Art Young
Robert Henri
Undated letter from Robert Henri to Art Young.
Part of the Robert Henri Correspondence Collection
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Letter from Robert Henri to Horace Traubel, June 1909
Robert Henri
Letter from artist Robert Henri to Horace Traubel
Part of the Robert Henri Correspondence Collection
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Souvenir of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry : commemorating old boys' reunion at Cornwall, Ontario, August 11-15, 1906
The Freeholder
"It is particularly fitting that an Old Boys' Reunion should be held in the old Town of Cornwall. Such gatherings have become very popular of late years, and much younger towns in Canada and the United States have invited former residents to revisit their old homes and renew the associations and friendships of their youth."
History of Cornwall, Ontario, with numerous photos of the area, local groups, and more.
Albert Lewis is a Kearney, Nebraska resident when this booklet was created.
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Letter from William C. Booth to Thomas Fenton Taylor
William C. Booth
Letter from William C. Booth to Thomas Fenton Taylor describing his relationship with Walter Whitman, Sr., and his son, Walt Whitman, the poet.
The letter is pasted into the front of Taylor’s copy of John Burroughs, Whitman: A Study. Volume Ten of the Riverby Edition of the Writings of John Burroughs (Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1905). The Burroughs set was presented to Taylor by the publisher on March 8, 1906 per the bookplate in the first volume.
Held in a private collection; access to the original available upon request.
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Concert Exercise on Our Indian Work at Santee Agency, Nebraska
S. I. Hanford
Booklet with various poems and readings about indigenous peoples and mission work. Includes children's rhymes about life at Santee. All were meant to be recited as part of programs to raise money for the Santee Mission.
Content Warning: Contains period typical racism and death of an infant.
Statement on Harmful Material
Materials in UNK Archives and Special Collections are historical in nature and reflect the society in which they were produced. As such, they may contain racial, gender, sexual, religious, and other language and imagery that are offensive by today's standards. The documents, images, publications, and other materials have been retained in order to fully represent the materials in their original format. If the offensive text is not in the original, but in a finding aid, catalog record, or other description created by library employees, please contact Archives and Special Collections to bring this to our attention. Archives & Special Collections is guided by the core values of the Society of American Archivists. If you have questions about this statement or about Archives and Special Collections’ work, we welcome your feedback. Please contact us at archives@unk.edu or 308-865-8593.
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Civilization Among the Sioux Indians
Herbert Welsh
Full title: Civilization Among the Sioux Indians. Report of a Visit to Some of the Sioux Reservations of South Dakota and Nebraska
Description by Herbert Welsh of his travels in South Dakota and Nebraska, focusing particularly on the conditions on reservations as well as interactions between various indigenous groups and the settler-colonial state. Welsh critiques the abuses of the Indian Administration, speculators, off-reservation boarding schools, and more. His proposed solution includes an end to the political spoils system in the Indian Administration, "the word 'no,' emphatically said and maintained, to the schemes of land grabbers and speculators", and the development of a plan to provide (Western) education.
Content Warning: Contains period typical racism in describing indigenous groups.
Statement on Harmful Material
Materials in UNK Archives and Special Collections are historical in nature and reflect the society in which they were produced. As such, they may contain racial, gender, sexual, religious, and other language and imagery that are offensive by today's standards. The documents, images, publications, and other materials have been retained in order to fully represent the materials in their original format. If the offensive text is not in the original, but in a finding aid, catalog record, or other description created by library employees, please contact Archives and Special Collections to bring this to our attention. Archives & Special Collections is guided by the core values of the Society of American Archivists. If you have questions about this statement or about Archives and Special Collections’ work, we welcome your feedback. Please contact us at archives@unk.edu or 308-865-8593.
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Illustrated Edition of the Hastings Exchange Journal
Queen City Land Company
Illustrated Edition of the Hastings Exchange Journal; Hastings, Nebraska; The Queen City of the West. Booklet designed to sell Hastings to potential land buyers.
From the book:
"Brief resume of her possessions, needs, and probabilities. Reliable facts and figures worthy of consideratio. Read it and preserve it for future reference."
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Song of the Great Blizzard : "Thirteen were saved" : or, Nebraska's fearless maid
William Vincent
Song based on the story of Miss Minnie Freeman, a teacher who saved 13 children during the Schoolhouse Blizzard of 1888.
From the introduction:
Miss Minnie Freeman, the plucky little school teacher at Mina Valley, whose heroism, care and presence of mind saved from death her thirteen little pupils during the terrible storm last week, was in this city to-day. When pressed, she told the following story: "The storm came on very suddenly and struck the school-house just about the time for closing. I knew from indications that it was going to be a regular 'blizzard,' and told the children to all wrap up well. While I was attending to them the door blew in, and then the windows. I put my cloak on and was wondering what I was going to do. I had made up my mind that the building would not lasl long. Then I happened to think of a ball of twine I had taken away from a little fellow named Frankie Gibben, who was playing with it during school hours. I began tying the children together, and when I had completed this task I awaited developments. Very soon the roof of the building blew off and I said, 'Come on, children,' and we started. The nearest house was three-quarters of a mile away, and in order to reach it we had to face the storm for about one third of the distance. I thought at one time we should be lost, and I came near losing hope, for I was nearly exhausted. You see, I was carrying the smallest child- a little girl-and my talking to the children and urging them to keep up their spirits, tired me very much.'"
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Evidence of the Character of Government Surveys, in the State of Nebraska
A. F. Wilgocki
Series of correspondence between individuals and the Surveryor General of Nebraska and Iowa regarding poor land surveying and the impact that has on settler colonialism.
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No Slavery in Nebraska. The Voice of God Against National Crime
Joseph P. Thompson
Antislavery sermon speaking against allowing slavery in Nebraska.
Statement on Harmful Material
Materials in UNK Archives and Special Collections are historical in nature and reflect the society in which they were produced. As such, they may contain racial, gender, sexual, religious, and other language and imagery that are offensive by today's standards. The documents, images, publications, and other materials have been retained in order to fully represent the materials in their original format. If the offensive text is not in the original, but in a finding aid, catalog record, or other description created by library employees, please contact Archives and Special Collections to bring this to our attention. Archives & Special Collections is guided by the core values of the Society of American Archivists. If you have questions about this statement or about Archives and Special Collections’ work, we welcome your feedback. Please contact us at archives@unk.edu or 308-865-8593.
