Current Special Exhibits
100 Years of Scottsbluff National Monument
May 9 – September 30th, 2019
December 2019 marks the centennial of the establishment of Scottsbluff National Monument. Each year, this unit of the National Park Service draws in thousands of visitors from across the globe with its history, recreation, and natural beauty. This National Monument celebrates the unique geology and history of the bluff, sharing a story unique to Western Nebraska. This exhibit will feature William Henry Jackson sketches and paintings, history on the formation of the National Monument, and more!
Coming Soon!
Understanding Our Indian Neighbor
July 7 – 14, 2019
“Understanding Our Indian Neighbor” consists of ten cases of 56 paintings & four title paintings that tell the history of the American Indian from early times to 1961. The paintings were painted from 1955 to 1961 by Levi Black Bear (also known as Levi Mato Sapa). Levi was a full-blood Sioux Indian who was born in 1899. The paintings are accompanied by scripts created by Harold Shunk (Sioux – South Dakota), Barney Old Coyote, Jr. (Crow – Montana), and Robert Bennett (Oneida – Wisconsin). The entire project was developed and commissioned by Reverend Earl L. Bailey who spent 25 years in Indian Mission work in Alliance, Nebraska, Wounded Knee, South Dakota, and Scottsbluff, Nebraska.
Previous Exhibits
WaterWays
Sponsored by the Smithsonian’s “Museum on Main Street” program and Humanities Nebraska
February 23 – April 12, 2019
WaterWays is part of the Museum on Main Street, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and State Humanities Council nationwide. Water is the giver of life, providing all life systems with the things it needs. It also is a substance of great parallels that people have been inspired by for millennia. WaterWays is a scientific-based exhibit that explores our relationships with water and how it interacts with the world around us. It also addresses issues . This traveling exhibit is made possible by Humanities Nebraska. For information, go here.
Horses in the Valley
January 15 – February 15, 2019
Humans have used horses for thousands of years across the globe. They began as a living tool, utilized for transportation, power, war, and a source of income. Over the centuries, they were involved in leisurely activities. Today, most horses are used for either work, such as on ranches or in Amish communities, leisure, or sports. One of the most competitive and lucrative sports involving horses in today’s world is horse racing. This exhibit explored the use of horses in the North Platte Valley, both today and historically. A large part of the exhibit showcased John A. Nerud, a local man that became a horse racing legend in the 20th century.
Trees Along the Trail
December 1 – December 22, 2018
Trees Along the Trail is a popular, annual Christmas tree decorating contest and nonprofit/service club organization fair rolled into one. Organizations provide and decorate a Christmas tree in the museum, often reflecting the group’s mission in the theme of the decorations. Visitors may purchase $1 vote tickets to vote for their favorite trees or organizations. Half of each vote ticket benefits the nonprofit or service club organization, and half benefits the museum. If your organization would like to be involved in this year’s Trees Along the Trail display, please give us a call.
Lakota Sioux Ledger Drawings
October 1st – December 20th 2018
Thirty-six color drawings reproduced from a ledger book obtained from the Lakota Sioux in
1891 made up this traveling exhibit. Subjects included war episodes, horse captures, and the
Ghost Dance. This exhibit was produced by the Milwaukee Public Library and the Wyoming
State Museum.
Veterans Day: The Centennial
November 2 – 20 2018
2018 marked the 100th Anniversary of Veterans Day as well as the end of World War I. In honor of the centennial, and all veterans as well as active service members, there was a display of uniforms, history of Veterans Day, lists of soldiers that served, and more! We also featured our popular Veterans Wall for the second year in a row and introduced the Veterans Roster, a list of names
Celebrating UNL Panhandle Research & Extension Center
August 18th – October 11th 2018
The University of Nebraska – Lincoln Research & Extension Center is an incredibly valuable resource within our community that has been present for over a century. In conjunction with 2018’s Harvest Festival, we displayed the history of the UNL Research & Extension Center and featuring a few individuals, including Charlie Fenster, that contributed to its success.
And the Bride Wore…
May 10 – July 17, 2018
Summer is wedding season and Legacy of the Plains Museum honored this long-standing tradition of weddings in “And the Bride Wore…” exhibit. This display features an array of wedding dresses and other attire from the 1890s to today. Artifacts and archival materials were also a part of this exhibit!
Commemorating Western Nebraska’s WWI Legacy
February – May 2018
This exhibit commemorated the centennial of WWI. The museum showcased artifacts and memories of Western Nebraska during 1918. The exhibit focused on the process of drafting, life in the trenches for service men, and other information highlighting their time overseas. A wall of local men who served in the war was featured on the back wall. Life on the Home Front during the war included information on Miss Bish, the Spanish Influenza epidemic, the Red Cross, and propaganda posters. A special display of German artifacts were also on display thanks to Dave Christian.
Glamorous Furs
February 20 – March 31, 2018
This display in our lobby featured fur coats that kept people warm, and also glamorized them, throughout the 19th century. With coats ranging from monkey hair to skunk to ermine, this special exhibit was on loan from Glenda Larsen.
Empire: Traces of Vanished Dreams
March 7 – April 28, 2018
This display in our lobby told the story of Empire, Wyoming. Empire was founded by African Americans in 1908 and was only a town for less than two decades. Thanks go to the Wyoming State Museum and the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center for providing the materials for this exhibit!
91 Years of Plymouth Congregational Church
January 18 – February 15, 2018
An exhibit celebrating Plymouth Congregational Church’s history in light of it’s 91st anniversary. Scrapbooks, artifacts, and documents made up the bulk of this display. The alter from the church was used as the centerpiece of this exhibit.
Trees Along the Trail
December 2 – December 22, 2017
Trees Along the Trail is a Christmas tree decorating contest and nonprofit/service club organization fair rolled into one. Organizations provide and decorate a Christmas tree in the museum, often reflecting the group’s mission in the theme of the decorations. Visitors may purchase $1 vote tickets to vote for their favorite trees or organizations. Half of each vote ticket benefits the nonprofit or service club organization, and half benefits the museum.
To Never be Forgotten: Veterans Day
November 3 – November 22, 2017
Every year, Veterans Day is celebrated on November 11th. In commemoration of Veterans Day, Legacy of the Plains created an exhibit that told the stories of the panhandle’s veterans. There was a display of uniforms, a wall of veterans’ photos, and a full display in our temporary gallery.
Vintage Halloween
October 1 – October 31, 2017
This 1920’s era exhibit featured Halloween and how it was celebrated in the early 20th century. Interactive activities were a major highlight of the exhibit and provided a fun experience for people of all ages!
Nebraska’s Sesquicentennial
March 1 – September 29, 2017
This special exhibit marked Nebraska’s 150 year legacy. Planned to be up until November 2017, the exhibit features a map display, courtesy of the Croft Brothers, a photo wall filled with historic images, and several exhibit cases which showcase artifacts and memories of Western Nebraska.
Western Nebraska Community College’s 90th Birthday
September 11 – November 22, 2016
In collaboration with Western Nebraska Community College
Western Nebraska Community College (WNCC) was not always called by that name. 90 years ago on September 13th, 1926, Scottsbluff Junior College first opened its doors and since then, the college has left an impressive mark on the North Platte Valley area. This exhibit features a timeline with ephemera, yearbooks, a video feature and a wall of well-known graduates.
Commerce and Trade on the Oregon Trail
In collaboration with Western Nebraska Community College’s History Department and Fort Laramie National Historic Site
It’s hard in today’s modern age to imagine trekking thousands of miles to find a new home in the West, but that is exactly what over half a million people did. With research by WNCC’s History class taught by Professor Brian Croft, figures have been calculated showing just how much people spent for supplies – and what those supplies would cost us today! We also have some currency as well as artifacts which would have been found along the route, sometimes discarded by families to lighten the load. Kids can try on bonnets and hats and pose for pictures in a wagon or by the large wagon wheel.
The Way We Worked
Sponsored by the Smithsonian’s “Museum on Main Street” program and Humanities Nebraska
With their hands and minds hard at work and sweat on their brows, American workers perform a diverse array of jobs to power our society. Whether we work for professional satisfaction and personal growth or to ensure the well-being of ourselves and our families, work is a part of nearly every American’s life. Office workers, factory workers, homemakers, truckers and the millions more who keep the nation going through their work make great contributions not only to industry, but also to American culture.
The diversity of the American workforce is one of its strengths, providing an opportunity to explore how people of all races and ethnicities identified commonalities and worked to knock down barriers in the professional world. And, finally, the exhibition shows how we identify with work – as individuals and as communities. Whether you live in “Steel Town, USA” or wear a uniform each day, work assigns cultural meanings and puts us and our communities in a larger context.
The Way We Worked, adapted from an original exhibition developed by the National Archives, explores how work became such a central element in American culture by tracing the many changes that affected the workforce and work environments over the past 150 years. The exhibition draws from the Archives’ rich collections to tell this compelling story.
Nebraska’s Miss America: Teresa Scanlan
How does a small-town Nebraska girl get named Miss America? Born and raised in Gering, Scanlan was named Miss America for 2011. At just 18 years old, she was the youngest winner in nearly a century. The exhibit featured clothing from Scanlan’s pageant career, along with memorabilia and gifts from her year-long reign as Miss America. In addition, the exhibit explained how Scanlan used her platform as Miss America to promote rural values. The exhibit came to Legacy of the Plains after a long run at the Nebraska State Historical Society in Lincoln.
Free Land: The Homestead Act
The Homestead Act of 1862 has been called one of the most important pieces of Legislation in the history of the United States. Signed into law in 1862 by Abraham Lincoln after the secession of southern states, this Act turned over vast amounts of the public domain to private citizens.
This panel exhibit on loan from Homestead National Monument explored the Homestead Act and its effect on the land and people of the United States.
“Barn Again! Celebrating an American Icon”
Sponsored by the Smithsonian’s “Museum on Main Street” program
Like the town hall and the skyscraper, the barn is a symbol of America. To traditional farmers, barns are the soul of the farm. To the general public, barns represent both our rural past and our agricultural present. They are monuments in the American landscape.
Nevertheless, modern barns are no longer the centers of industrial and community life they once were. Traditional barns were not designed to store the enormous machinery and harvests of today’s large-scale farms.
Barn Again! explored the barn as both a cultural and agricultural icon. It examined the building as an architectural structure and as a means of expressing beliefs about what our country was and could be. It looked at the origin and fate of the barn in its roles as warehouse, factory, and legend.
“Yesterday’s Tomorrows”
Sponsored by the Smithsonian’s “Museum on Main Street” program
This exhibition offered a unique history of popular expectations and beliefs about the shape of things to come. Using toys, books, movie stills, World ’s Fair memorabilia, car designs, advertisements, and architectural designs, the exhibit examined ways that Americans of yesteryear envisioned the future.
Visions of the future have fluctuated between secular utopias characterized by breathtaking leaps of science and technology and urban chaos fraught with danger and disintegration. Though many of the predicted futures never came to pass, other visions still challenge our concept of the future.
Mexican American Heritage in the North Platte Valley
This exhibit featured a collection of personal artifacts and historical memorabilia from the former Mexican-American Museum in Scottsbluff, including items commonly used in a Mexican home, religious items, and photographs and paintings of famous Mexicans and Mexican Americans.
Another part of the display featured local families and provides some history about them, their culture and their contributions to the North Platte Valley.
Japanese Heritage in the North Platte Valley
This exhibit, sponsored by many of the descendants of the original Japanese settlers in the valley, highlighted unique elements of Japanese domestic culture including clothing and kitchenware.