John G. Neihardt State Historic Site

09/03/2026

With apologies, the Neihardt Center is closed today because of illness. We hope this doesn’t cause any inconvenience.

09/01/2026

Congratulations to all! We're especially pleased to see Larkin Powell, a speaker at the 2026 Neihardt Spring Conference, win for Nonfiction Nebraska as Place Award: "The Best of Intentions: A story of landscape Change in the Heart of the Great Plains." Publisher: University of Nebraska – Lincoln.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2026 Nebraska Book Awards! 🏆 Celebrate the winners with author readings and an awards presentation ceremony at the Nebraska Celebration of Book’s (NCOB) literary festival, held at the UNL City Campus Union on November 14th. See the list of this year's winners on the ➡️ https://buff.ly/XfuS0Xv

08/26/2026

Read at the 2026 Neihardt Day by Randy Lukasiewicz.

Written by Duane Krause, longtime friend of the Neihardt Center, for Hilda Neihardt.

When it’s time to go, will we be prepared?
Will we have done what we needed to do or dared?
Will we be in harmony with our spiritual side?
Will we leave this world with nothing to hide?

What will it be like when we are gone?
Will that place be like a new dawn?
Is there a place where our soul will go?
Will it be a place without a foe?

When we get there, will we be aware
of what the place is or who else is there,
or will it be a movement of merging force?
Will we be aware of the source?

Will that force join with those left behind?
Will we have feelings, if so what kind?
Will we actually be looking down from above?
Will we be able to send down our love?

08/26/2026

Mark your calendars! Sunday at the Museum, the Neihardt Center's popular monthly humanities program, starts again in September! We've got a great lineup for the fall season!

From a discussion about the widely known book "The Antidote" that we just HAVE to talk about (Sept 27); to a first-person program about Mari Sandoz's life by one of her cousins (Oct. 4); to an author reading of a historical novel reimagining the Wounded Knee Massacre through the eyes of a young teacher against the backdrop of 1890s Pine Ridge (Dec. 13) - you'll want to be here for all of it!

Everyone is welcome. Admission is free, though donations are appreciated. Programs start at 2 p.m. (building opens at 1:30), at the Neihardt State Historic Site in Bancroft. Coffee and snacks are available after the program.

More details at: https://www.neihardtcenter.org/events

08/20/2026

Thank you, Nebraska State Historical Society, for installing new lights in our hallway! John Neihardt could come up with something poetic, but our reaction is simply "WOW!" The lights make such a big difference and make the approach to the museum more welcoming (and safer). We are grateful for NSHS' partnership, hard work, and excellent caretaking. Our next program is Sunday at the Museum, September 27, 2 p.m., when we'll host a presentation and discussion of the book, “The Antidote,” by Karen Russell. But don't wait until then to visit us! We're brighter than ever!

08/14/2026

Let there be light! Despite storms, floods, and power outages, Nebraska State Historical Society's facilities management team (John Craven, manager) was here yesterday to light our hallway. They did all of the electrical work and put in the light panels. Next, a local contractor will replace the ceiling tiles. What a difference it makes already! Thank you!

Shout-out to Rod Peters, our own facilities manager, who (despite it being the first day of school at Bancroft-Rosalie Community Schools and being a teacher, coach, and athletic director there) managed to coordinate everything around a power outage. We couldn't do it without you, Rod! Thank you!

08/13/2026

Wishing everyone at Bancroft-Rosalie Community Schools a great school year! We hope to see a lot of you this year!

🎉 We’re BACK—and we couldn’t be more excited! 🎉

Our staff is back in the building, students are back in the building, the energy is high, and we are excited to have our students back with big smiles and even bigger excitement! 💙📚

The halls are filled with laughter, learning, friendships, and so many great memories being made. We’ve been getting everything ready, and we are so excited to see our students walk through those doors! 🏫✨

It’s going to be an AMAZING year! Let’s make it the best one yet! 🎉🙌

08/13/2026

We are closed today because of a combination of storms and construction. We would be delighted to see you another day!

08/13/2026

Because of this morning’s storms, there is no power at the Neihardt center. We will update this page when it has been restored. 

08/12/2026

Mark Metcalf, retired high school literature teacher (lucky students!) and current Neihardt board member (lucky us!) shared the poem, "Anymore in Nebraska," from his book of collected poems, "Living Room." This book is available at the Neihardt Center for a free-will donation that benefits our work. Thanks, Mark!

Anymore in Nebraska (Mark Metcalf)

Anymore, or nowadays,
Why a guy don’t seem to have
Much hand in it no more,
Like, hell, this house
And that damn auger over by the,
That too, new John Deere.
And even Harolds,
Which we didn’t tell them
When they came over Sunday
After Bill stopped by,
That beef of ours they ketchuped up
And iced tea down—
Boughten.

BE A GOOD PERSON - SHARE THE POST, BUT DON'T PLAGIARIZE THE POETRY -JGNF