National Willa Cather Center News

The Cather Quilt, a collaborative work by Vicki Seeger and
Sue Wood made its public debut recently. The vibrant quilt
honors the life and work of Willa Cather through textile art
and brings to life the many places Cather spent time or called
home: Jaffrey, New Hampshire; Gore, Virginia; New York City;
and Grand Manan Island, while anchored in the landscapes of
Red Cloud, Nebraska, which inspired much of her writing.

In 2021, the National Willa Cather Center received a gift of several objects that originated from Edith Lewis’s estate, which were likely fixtures of the home during Willa Cather’s lifetime. These personal effects included a small gilded bird cage that looked both well-loved and fragile. On its car ride to the archives in Red Cloud, the archivist Tracy Sanford Tucker was startled when it burst out in loud—albeit brief—birdsong. This musical, mechanical objet d’art may have originated in France. Maison Bontems was one well-known maker

Holiday traditions during Willa Cather’s childhood were modest compared to today's. Archival research helped us to develop our holiday tours and suggest the ways the Cathers might have observed Christmas at home and with their neighbors.

The National Willa Cather Center has received the 2025 Rising Star Award from the NEBRASKAland Foundation, presented on December 3 by board president John Zimmer. Established in 1999, the award honors outstanding tourism attractions that strengthen Nebraska’s economy and embody the spirit of the Good Life. The Foundation recognized the Center for its innovative educational programs, dynamic arts initiatives, and preservation efforts that continue to revitalize Red Cloud’s historic literary landscape. The Center views this honor as inspiration to advance its mission as a guardian of literary heritage and a vital force in Nebraska’s cultural life.

The Nebraska Center of the Book recently honored National Willa Cather Center Executive Director Ashley Olson with the 2025 Mildred Bennett Award!

Created in 1991 to recognize "an individual who has made a significant contribution to the fostering of the literary tradition of Nebraska," the Mildred Bennett Award has paid tribute to an impressive list of Nebraska's literary champions including Matt Mason, Ron Hull, Ted Kooser, and Susan Rosowski, to name a few. 

"There we have short, bitter winters; windy, flower-laden springs; long, hot summers; triumphant autumns that last until Christmas—a season of perpetual sunlight, blazing blue skies, and frosty nights. In this newest part of the New World autumn is the season of beauty and sentiment, as spring is in the Old World."

The Cather Project of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Department of English, in partnership with the Willa Cather Archive of the UNL Libraries and the National Willa Cather Center (NWCC) in Red Cloud, has announced the availability of 2026 research grants for visiting scholars.

October is American Archives Month, a time when archivists across the country focus on educating patrons and the general public about the value of archives. It’s easy to connect the archives to local history and, in our case, literary history, but the very idea of a centralized, publicly accessible archives is foundational to American ideas—after being ushered in by our revolutionary partners, the French. As we start to think about America250 next year, it's time to celebrate archives!

Willa Cather may not have been Richard Harris’s first choice for a 20th-century American novel seminar paper in 1971, but he’s been choosing her ever since. Harris recently joined the Cather Legacy Society. As he applauds the Foundation’s growing archival collection and preservation work, he shares his hopes that his future gift will support the continuation of events like the annual spring conference for the next generation.

The collections and archives at the National Willa Cather Center have always, since our founding, played a critical role in helping our visitors gain a deeper understanding of Willa Cather. Our museum's collections rotate through our historic sites, providing context and helping readers, teachers, and students to imagine the settings of Cather’s many works set in Red Cloud.