National Willa Cather Center News

On February 28, 2019, Willa Cather Foundation staff members accepted a special delivery as History Nebraska deaccessioned their Willa Cather Pioneer Memorial Collection. Consisting of approximately eight thousand archival pieces and museum artifacts, much of the collection is made up of items that were donated by Cather family members and acquaintances in our early years and later gifted to the Nebraska State Historical Society in 1978 with the Willa Cather Historic Sites.

After a several decades-long collaboration dedicated to preserving the sites and artifacts related to Pulitzer Prize winning author, Willa Cather, History Nebraska and the Willa Cather Foundation are pleased to announce the transfer of ownership of the Willa Cather State Historic Site to the Willa Cather Foundation. Located in Red Cloud, Nebraska—where Cather spent her formative years—six historic properties and supporting collections will be transferred to the Willa Cather Foundation on January 24, 2019.

As we began celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the publication of Cather’s My Ántonia in the first 2018 issue of the Willa Cather Review, we asked thirty widely varied readers—fans, scholars, neighbors, students, Cather and Pavelka relatives, and many others—to send us their Ántonia stories, telling us why this beloved novel is important to them.

The Willa Cather Foundation Board of Governors and staff wish you all the joys of the season. This year's holiday card was reproduced from an undated Christmas card Willa Cather sent to her lifelong friend, Anna Sadilek Pavelka, the Webster County woman who inspired Cather's beloved character Ántonia. In the card, Cather wrote "Wishing Annie a Happy Christmas."

On December 7, we celebrated Willa Cather's birthday complete with a festive cake and an open house at the National Willa Cather Center. Visitors from near and far attended the events, with afternoon tours of Cather's Childhood Home and the National Willa Cather Center. Executive Director, Ashley Olson, discussed the spring 2018 passage of Nebraska legislative bills LB 379 and LB 807 and how these bills will contribute to a busy and important year ahead. 

As the world remembers the end of the Great War, we at the Willa Cather Foundation would like to share—again—Telling War Stories: The Rhetoric of the Great War, an exhibit that was created in conjunction with our 61st annual Spring Conference.

The Willa Cather Foundation was honored to receive a Governor’s Arts Award for Organizational Achievement at the Nebraska Arts Council’s celebratory event on May 8th. The biennial Governor's Arts Awards is Nebraska's premier event in recognizing individuals and organizations that shape Nebraska’s artistic landscape. The impact of the arts, and the honorees, is felt in the classroom, the economy and in the community.

As we commemorate the centennial of My Ántonia, the Willa Cather Foundation would like to announce a special project that examines the life of the woman behind Cather’s beloved character, Ántonia Shimerda. We are pleased to introduce Anna Pavelka through the tender memories of her descendants, Paula Hempel Daharsh, Kent Pavelka, and Antonette Willa Skupa Turner. Each interview allows the viewer to gain a small, but significant look into the life of a strong, hardworking, and loving woman.