“Let your fiction grow out of the land beneath your feet,” Willa Cather once wrote.
The famed literary artist first came to Nebraska at the age of nine, when her family settled in Webster County. Years later, she reflected on what it was like to first step foot in our great state.
“My deepest feelings were rooted in this country because one’s strongest emotions and one’s most vivid mental pictures are acquired before one is fifteen,” Cather wrote retrospectively.
As Nebraskans, we know the feeling Cather identified in her work. An intimate connection to the land is ingrained in each of us who spend our formative years on Nebraska soil.
Cather’s novels, including “O Pioneers!” and “My Ántonia,” give a taste of that connection to their readers. The pioneer spirit of Nebraska has been shared with people across our country, and our world, through Cather’s work.
In 1962, Cather was inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame, in recognition of her immense contributions to our state.
The talent and imagination immortalized in Cather’s fiction will resound throughout Nebraska history—and American history.
Last week, I was honored to join the rest of the Nebraska delegation in unveiling a new statue of Willa Cather that will remain in the Capitol for decades to come.
Each state is allowed two statues in the Capitol depicting figures central to the heart of its history. Four years ago, we added Chief Standing Bear to the ranks of those figures, and he is now joined by Cather. Willa Cather replaces a statue of J. Sterling Morton, the father of Arbor Day, which stood in the Capitol since 1937.
The bronze likeness of Cather clutches a walking stick as she stares out daringly at the road ahead. In her left hand are pages representing the writing that came to define her and her home state of Nebraska.
“The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman,” reads the inscription beneath Cather’s person, quoting from “O Pioneers!”
In my speech as Nebraska’s Senior Senator at the unveiling ceremony, I pointed out that Cather’s vivid, reflective writing has become synonymous with the pioneer spirit of Nebraska. Her fiction truly feels like it grew from the Nebraska soil.
Cather’s artistic excellence inspires others with a love for Nebraska’s land, including members of my own family.
At the ceremony, I shared that my sister-in-law Nadine McHenry painted a selection of paintings based on Willa Cather quotes years ago. Her art was chosen as part of the annual Willa Cather Conference organized by the Cather Foundation.
“I am a Nebraska painter and my feet stand on the same prairie grasses that Cather stood on,” Nadine wrote of her painting exhibition.
Willa Cather knew she was home when she saw, smelled, and felt those grasses.
“Whenever I crossed the Missouri River coming into Nebraska the very smell of the soil tore me to pieces,” Cather wrote as an adult.
Until her death in 1947, Cather’s writing and her own spirit were inextricably linked to the open plains of our great state.
It was an honor to unveil this incredible statue in such a historic ceremony last week. May Cather lead many Nebraskans in unleashing their creative talents for the good of future generations.
Thank you for participating in the democratic process. I look forward to visiting with you again next week.