Copyright © 1988 by the Pioneer ISSN 0197-663X Memorial and Educational Foundation Winter, 1988 Villa Cather Pioneer Memorial Newsletter VOLUME XXXll, No. 4 Editor, Mildred R. Bennett RED CLOUD, NEBRASKA

Dinner Kicks Off Fund Drive Enthusiasm in New Jersey.,. Last summer Nancy Picchi and her sister took time off from their Amtrak trip across the United States to visit Red Cloud. On her return home to South Orange, New Jersey, she wrote: "It’s been difficult get- ting back to the mundane details of work after the ex- citement of the Amtrack Sisters’ Western ToUr. Again, I would like to ex- (Continued on Page 40)

Photo by Dave Meilinger -- Courtesy of Hastings Tribune Time has rolled around Long white tables decorated and daughter Antonia, Wendell again to membership dues. with late fall flowers in slim Frantz (Director of Museums, Since the 1986 tax revi- vases filled the kitchen and par- Nebraska State Historical Soci- sions, I feel it misleading to Ior of ~,ntonia’s house. Fifty-six ety) and wife, Wayne Ziebarth, suggest that your contribu- guests ate a Czech dinner ca- former state senator and wife, tion will give you any tax tered by Mark Warner. The menu John Lindahl (present Curator of advantage. Although we re- included boiled beef and dill the Cather Historical Center in main a non-profit organiza- gravy, sauerkraut and dump- Red Cloud) and wife, and Ann tion, the tax breaks for lings, parslied potatoes, rye Billesbach, former curator of the donors have been sadly di- bread, pickles, apple strudel, Cather Center. minished. This statement coffee and tea. is for the purpose of saying After dinner, the men moved -- if you’re giving for tax Among those present were the tables from the kitchen and Antonette Kort, Leo Pavelka and the group gathered in that room benefit, consult your ac- Elizabeth Boyd -- three of the to visit and tell stories. Leo Pa- countant first. four surviving children of Anna velka remembered his first Now that I’ve been pain- Pavelka (My Antonia). Also pres- glimpse of Willa Cather (ca. fully truthful, let me assure ent were Roxine Pavelka, widow 1916). Hugo, Louis and Leo you we appreciate your of Emil; grandchildren Mildred spotted an unfamiliar horse and continued support and Dvoracek Neff, daughter of Julia buggy coming down the road. have no doubts about your Skupa (deceased); Bernard Pa- The boys knew all the neighbor- loyalty and generosity. We velka, son of Lucille Pavelka; ing rigs and wondered who this could not function without and Marcie Vontz, daughter stranger might be, turning into your help, your comments of Lucille; Phyllis Stabenow, their lane. They went out and and your kind thoughts. daughter of Hugo Pavelka. greeted the lady who asked, Thank you. Other distinguished guests "Does Anna Pavelka live here?" Mildred R. Bennett were Roger and Linda Welsch (Continued on Page 40)

Page 39 Fund Drive (Continued) ings of the house and after ap- have never read a novel by proval by the State Preservation Willa Cather. I have now The boys said, ,’Yes." Committee, workmen will pro- taken to carrying copies of "When I take care of my ceed with tearing out partitions 0 Pioneers! and My An. horse, I’ll be in to see her." and replacing the original 1916 tonia with me and distri- walls. We plan to use as many buting them to these poor Hugo and Louis jumped to the volunteers as possible and souls. I feel as if I am dis- buggy. "We’ll take care of your stretch the funds as far as we tributing manna in the wil- horse." can. derness. Your East Coast The lady started for the door We are grateful to all who chapter of the WCS awaits and Leo tagged along to see helped. your instructions. what might happen. Julia came "Mary Ellen and I have to the door. The lady asked to fallen under the spell of the see ~her mother. Julia invited the Pavelka Homestead; as we lady through the kitchen into the Enthusiasm (Continued) looked into the fruit cellar, I parlor. "Mother came through could almost see the chil- the bedroom door and looked at press my appreciation to dren tumbling out of it into the stranger," Leo remembered. you for your hospitality and the sunlight. Seeing the attention. When I should be "Don’t you know me, Anna?" house stripped bare of fur- writing a grant proposal, I niture, and in need of wall- At thesound of Willa Cather’s find myself day-dreaming paper and paint, gave us an voice, Anna embraced her. This about Red Cloud. I am very inkling of the feat that you was the first of three visits to the impressed by the work that accomplished in restoring Pavelka home. you and your dedicated the Cather Homestead. The Elizabeth remembered the band of Catherites have ac- Cather Homestead restora- mink cape Willa Cather had sent complished in Red Cloud. tion provides the inspira- her -- a warm fur piece which in The restoration of the tion, encouragement, and winter she used in her cold, un- Cather Homestead is a gift rationale for bringing the heated room to cover her feet. to all of us; it preserves an Pavelka Homestead back important place in Ameri- to life. Antonette and Elizabeth recalled can literature and a special when they had to clean guineas "The restored Pavelka -- or was it pigeons -- to send time in American history. Homestead and farm would back with Willa. Roxine told how "The walking tour of Red provide Americans with a little Mildred Dvoracek asked to Cloud and the tour by car of living memory of the tri- be cleaned up before she went ’Catherland’ are very well umph of the immigrants’ home to Grandma’s because designed and presented. dreams. In fact, that’s what Willa Cather would be there My sister Mary Ellen and I Red Cloud is all about -- it (1931). were most appreciative to was conceived and built by hdve WCPMF docent Dor- women and men in search Antonette Turner spoke of een Sanders as our guide. how much Willa liked the fact of freedom and opportu- that Julia Pavelka Skupa, An- Her knowledge of the court- nity, peace and. prosperity. tryside and of local lore tonette’s mother, had named her In her Nebraska novels daughter Antonette Willa. added such a special di- Willa Cather sought to pre- mension to the drive out to serve the spirit of this As Roger Welsch said, "1 the Catherton Cemetery search; by preserving these never thought I’d eat a meal in and to the Pavelka Home- sites the WCPMF is serving Antonia’s kitchen." stead. The opportunity to both a literary and histori- Although only fifty-six guests meet My Antonia’s grand- cal purpose. As the grand- could attend, we had contribu- daughter, Toni Turner, was daughter of Italian immi- tions from all over the United the perfect conclusion of grants and as a Willa Ca- States: Connecticut, New Jer- our literary pilgrimage. ther devotee, I am enclos- sey, Oklahoma, California and "1 have begun my Willa ing a donation of $250 to others. The first activity will be Cather Society proselytiz- help with the restoration of to putty windows and replace ing and have a core of be- the Pavelka Homestead. I broken ones and paint the ex- lievers ready to sign on the also look forward to parti- terior. Next spring architects dotted line. I am always cipating in fund-raising ef- from Kansas University at Law- surprised by how many forts for this restoration. rence will make detailed draw- well-educated Americans (Continued on Page 41)

Page 40 Enthusiasm (Continued) breathed, see the hills, trees, The establishment of Willa flowers she loved. We need, Gather as one of America’s clas- "Yesterday my husband, therefore, a fitting place to sic writers is attested to by the Bern, and ! received a letter assemble, to hear lectures, to publication in a single volume of from the Statue of Liberty. discuss. the Library of America of her Ellis Island Foundation de- Harris Stone of the Kansas first collection of short stories scribing the work that has University Department of Archi- (including such memorable been done to restore Ellis tecture at Lawrence, Kansas, tales as "The Sculptor’s Funer- Island as a monument to came last summer with three al, .... The Wagner Matinee," and the immigrants that helped colleagues: Rene Diaz, Barry "Paul’s Case") in 1905 and four to build this country. A~ I Newton and Dennis Domer -- all of her novels, all from the texts read this letter, i kept think- of the American division of the as originally printed, and by the ing of Red Cloud and Ca- School of Architecture. They collection of published inter- thedand; while Ellis Island discussed building plans and views with her, dating from her symbolizes the beginning will have their students design arrival in Pittsburgh as editor of of the American dream for what each thinks would be best. the Home Monthly in 1897, to these immigrants, Red 1940; her speeches, beginning Cloud and Nebraska repre. At the same time Clark-Ener- with the oration she delivered at sent the .actual realization son, Lincoln architects, have her graduation from Red Cloud of that dream. Thanks to volunteered to make preliminary High School in 1890; and a smat- your vision and the work of sketches to give prospective tering of her letters that for the WCPMF, the materiali- donors an idea of what we need. one reason or another escaped zation of that dream has We are making fund-raising her testamentary interdiction been preserved. Your plans. We will keep you in- against the printing of her corre- dream of a Willa Cather formed. spondence. Because Cather’s Conference Center would -- M.R.B. telling of her own story is dis- provide a place for the tinguished by falsifications and study of Willa Cather’s writ- reticences that, however under- ings and of the immigrants’ standable, distort the truth, life and spirit that she so Of Interest... Sharon O’Brien’s account of Ca- beautifully captured in her ther’s early years (up to the writ- Nebraska novels. From Loretta Wasserman at ing of O Pioneers! in 1913) is all Grand Valley State College in "You have managed to the more valuable, even though Allendale, Michigan, we re- one pauses nervously over its draw me into your project; I ceived this piece which ap- am having a difficult time description as "a close study of peared in the Summer 1988 edi- gender and creativity." In trying thinking of much else. tion of "The Key Reporter," the Please let me know how I to cover the tracks to her past, Phi Beta Kappa newsletter, and Gather naturally invited the biog- can be of assistance to is reprinted, courtesy of.’~The yOU." rapher (whose intrusion she Key Reporter": feared and deplored) to write [The article reviews Early such chapters as "Divine Fem- Novels and Stories: The Troll inity and Unnatural Love." Garden. 0 Pioneers!. The Song International Cultural Arnold’s discussion of Ca- Center of the Lark. My Antonia. One of ther’s short fiction is straight- Ours. Willa Gather. Selected and forward and unpretentious. This summer Dr. Bennett and I with notes by Sharon O’Brien. Li- bought the old lumberyard -- a brary of America, 1987. full city block south of the Red Willa Gather in Person: Inter- Cloud post office and across views, Speeches, and Letters. Cather Inducted into from the city park -- to hold the Ed. by L. Brent Bohlke. Univer- site for the future International sity of Nebraska Press, 1987. National Women’s Gather Center we foresee for Hall of Fame Red Cloud. Willa Gather: The Emerging Voice. Sharon O’Brien. Oxford On November 15 Willa Gather Since Gather appeals to read- University Press, 1987. ers all over the wodd, we feel was one of four women inducted those people will want to walk Willa Cather’s Short Fiction. into the National Women’s Hall the streets where she walked, Marilyn Arnold. Ohio University of Fame in Seneca Falls, New breathe the clear dry air she Press, 1986.] (Continued on Page 42)

Page 41 Cather Inducted (Continued) so before the tragedy and asked for a gun to kill a dog. Mr. Bates York. Other inductees included went with him to his residence Ida Wells Burnett, Sally Ride and and loaned him a 38 caliber re- Gwendolyn Brooks. volver, which centained (sic) five cartridges and give (sic) him five The Women’s Hall of Fame additional ones. Bentley went began as an idea in 1968 and on home and seemed in a happy became a reality in 1979. With and contented mood. The family the inclusion of these four sat down to the noon meal, and women, 48 women from the evidence shows that it was inter- fields of the Arts, Humanities, rupted with a resume of the Business, Education, Govern- Help! quarrel. Mrs. Bentley went up ment, Science and Athletics stairs to the back bed room and have been honored. Nomina- The sheriff of Great Bend, was followed by her husband. tions for this award are made by Kansas, reports his men found He fired a shot immediately on the general public. These names the above plaque dumped on a entering the room, the bullet are turned over to a research country road three miles north entering the chin and passing on committee which compiles a list of Great Bend. through the neck. She fell on her of the nominees and information If anyone knows the location knees with her head on the bed about them. This material is sent from which this artifact was fatally shot, when the second to 25 selectors for final con- stolenl please let us know at shot entered the ear. sideration. (402) 746-2653. When sure of his wife’s death, We are pleased with this rec- Thank you. ognition of Willa Cather and her Bentley entered the front bed art. room and holding a hand mirror in front of him, sent a bullet anced over that and the loss of crashing through his brain. several thousand dollars, and The housekeeper rushed to Facts About while in one of those spells the room at the first sound of the Mr, and Mrs. Bentley’s committed the awful deed. They pistol but was ordered away had lived in this city many years under penalty of death. She gave Death coming here in the early seven- the alarm and soon the horrible Reprinted from the Com- ties, and it was here that he laid crime spread over the commu- the foundation of his fortune. nity. Drs. Sexton and Webster mercial Advertiser, Mon- However, he disposed of most day, April 15, 1912. [The were the first to enter the rooms Bentleys were prototypes of his property here and went and make the examination. The for the Wick Cutters in My south for the purpose of restor- murderer was sitting on the floor Antonia.] (Reprinted cour- ing his hea, lth and had lived in braced against the bed, his vic- Silo,~m Springs for some eight tim cold in death. Bentley was tesy of Webster County or ten years. Their tragic ending Historical Musuem.) rashionai (sic), but brain sub- caused much comment in this stance was oozing from his In our lost (sic) issue we city by those who knew them wound. He asked to be put out spoke of M. R. Bentley and best. -- What the Siloam Daily of misery. When told of his seri- wife’s death. Since then news says of the tradegy (sic): has been received from Arkan- ous condition and being asked if sas that Mr. Bentley shot and M. R. Bentley, who shot his he had a statement to make he killed his wife and afterwards wife yesterday a little after noon replied that he had none. shot himself. He was about 71 at their home on Wright Street, He was left in charge of his years of age and his wife was died at 10 o’clock last night. brother John, who lives on Flint about four years his junior. For This ended the most notable Creek who remained with him many years they had been quar- tragedy in the history of the until his death. reling over the disposition of Mr. town. Bentley, who was 71 years of age, quarreled with his wife Coroner Baldwin assembled a Bentley’s wealth, which was jury in the afternoon which took very considerable, and from time over the. division of their to time the money question was hoarded wealth and laid delib- testimony over the body of the erate plans to murder her. woman and adjourned to await the cause of unpleasant quarels the result of Bentley’s wounds, (sic) until it is thought that He went to the Bates hard- M. R. became mentally unbal- ware store yesterday an hour or (Continued on Page 43)

Page 42 Bentley Facts (Continued) Winters Hours and it will continue the investi- for Cather Museum 115th Birthday! gation this afternoon. The Willa Cather Historical On December 7 at The jury is as follows: Center changed to its winter noon the Right Reverend schedule on October 1. The Dean John Bartholomew I. L. Rice, J. S. Alexander, W. museum will be open Tuesday will give a requiem Mass T. Harmon, J. M. Cardin, L. E. to Friday, 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Collins, D. Smith, Frank Hogan, for Willa Cather’s 115th and 1:00-5:00 p.m.; weekends, birthday. J. T. McKinnon, E. J. Lee, Edd 1:00-5:00 p.m.; closed Mondays Curtis, N. B. Wilson, John Elrod, until May 1, 1989. Guests will please make W. N. Young, Dr. Webster, Dr. reservations with the Ca- Sexton. The Foundation’s Art Gallery ther Foundation, (402) 746- and Book Store hours remain un- 2653, if you wish to join us The direct cause of the tra- changed. Please call ahead if gedy was domestic trouble, in a light repast after mass. you want to verify hours of oper- Cost will be $3.00 and will growing out of the distribution ation or tour times. of the estate valued at $100,000. include the special birth- day cake. The body of Mrs. Bentley will be held pending the arrival of relatives or orders from them. Call for Papers The arrangements for the fu- Rhoda Orme-Johnson of neral of Mr. Bentley have not Maharishi International Univer- The Cather Question been made but he will be buried sity, Fairfield, Iowa 52556, an- By May Hutchinson here at his own request. nounces a call for papers for a Can we hope to know exactly He had previously outlined his seminar in the fall of 1989 of the plans for burial to undertaker Midwest Modern Language As- "Who" and "What" she was, And how the artist came to be, McCulloch and they will be car- sociation on Willa Cather’s use ried out to the letter. of myth and the classics in her When what she seemed to wish for was Mrs. Bentley was a member of work. Those interested should Successful anonymity? the Eastern Star at Red Cloud, send Mrs. Orme-Johnson a 300 Nebraska, and she will be buried word abstract by April 15, by that order. She was 65 years 1989. Who is the writerlartist of age. When master of her craft But THAT -- Mr. Bentley was a member of Creater of a world the Masonic order in Red Cloud, Cather Monologue Between two covers spent -- Nebraska, and in good standing And then two covers more, up to the time of the tragedy. He Betty Steinshouer of Black Two covers more, and on, came here several years ago, Mountain, North Carolina, will Until "THE SELF" is sacrificed, after a successful career in Ne- speak to Webster County ele- Abandoned, re-created, meta- braska, where he located in an mentary children December 4 at morphosed, early day. 2:00 p.m. at the Cather Founda- Multiplied to many, many selves. tion building. Watch for further The tragedy has cast a gloom Whom could she ask to love all announcements in the local these? over the city, as very few of their Webster County papers. She will friends and acquaintances knew also speak at the Red Cloud of their trouble. Schools the first week in De- Or would, perhaps, a hint suffice Bentley was the heaviest cem ber. From paraphrase of her own loser in the Bank of Siloam. -- words -- Thursday’s Daily Register, Si- Ms. Steinshouer has given her The artist’s admonition: loam Springs, Arkansas. monologue impersonating Willa For everything accomplished Cather to groups all over the We have to pay a price; East Coast from elementary to And, in that I was willing college, to men’s clubs and To pay so much to write, women’s societies. She will I felt myself full-justified -- make this pilgrimage to Webster TO DO SO. County to honor Willa Cather and her home country.

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Cather Fans Rejoice!!! AIMS OF THE WCPM This November Sayra Wagner (granddaughter ¯ To promote and assist in the development and preservation of George Gather and daughter of Oscar Cather) of the art, literary, and historical collection relating to the life, time, and work of Willa Cather, in association with the purchased and moved into the George Cather Nebraska State Historical Society. home southwest of Bladen. She plans to restore ¯ To cooperate with the Nebraska State Historical Society in this historic structure room by room. continuing to identify, restore to their original condition, and A ten-year-old Sayra visited here and remem- preserve places made famous by the writing of Willa Gather. bers well Grandpa George and the old homestead. ¯ To provide for Willa Gather a living memorial, through the When she arrived in Webster County earlier in the Foundation, by encouraging and assisting scholarship in the summer, she realized the importance of this site, field of the humanities. To perpetuate an interest throughout the world in the work not only to her but to all Cather scholars. of Willa Gather. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, this farmstead deserves historic and BOARD OF GOVERNORS literary importance. These notes come from the Keith Albers Robert E. Knoll Susan J. Rosowski William Thomas Auld, M.D. Ella Cather Lewis David E. Scherman Nebraska State Inventory of Historic Places: Bruce P. Baker, II Lucia Woods Lindley C. Bertrand Schultz Mildred R. Bennett Catherine Gather Lowell Madan Schultz Major features of the site include the W. K. Bennett, M.D. John Mamh Margaret Gather Shannon main George Cather house, built initially in Don E. Connors Dale McDole Betty Sherwood Josephine Fdsbie Miriam Mountford Helen Cather Southwlck the early 1880’s, and expanded and remod- David Gerwood John J. Murphy Mamella Van Meter eled through the turn of the century. ~A sub-" Ron Hull Harry Obitz stantial dwelling, the 22-room house is two stories over a brick basement banked into brick stove flues and a wide central stair hall the hillside with a sub-basement below. common to the later, Georgian-influenced I The George Cather farmstead was the houses of the Tidewater. Stylistically, the home of Willa Cather’s aunt and uncle, Mr. house proclaims its late date relative to the and Mrs. George P. Cather. Her Aunt Frances type with vernacular Neo-Georgian or Neo- (Aunt "Franc") was the prototype for Aunt Classical Revival detailing including its pro- Georgiana in "" from Ca- jecting entrance pavilion with rounded vesti- ther’s The Troll Garden. The house was also bule, the full-fronted porch, return cornices, the setting for Miss Cather’s Pulitzer Prize and its shingled front gable with elliptical winning novel, . attic light. The George P. Cather house is also sig- We suggest that Sayra Wagner can use any nificant to the architectural heritage of kind of help Cather devotees can give: blue-collar Nebraska. The house is an excellent, well- labor to clean up, skilled labor for repair and developed, if somewhat late example of the maintenance, money to pay for materials and Virginian Tidewater I-type house, which is a labor. Sayra does not ask for anything, but we relatively rare house type in Nebraska in know many of you will find a way to show her how spite of its strong Anglo associations. One delighted we are with her project. Scores of you room deep and two stories high over the have said this.house should be restored. So... basement, the house features external end let’s help!

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