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July 2025 by Tracy Tucker
Everything you need to know about Nebraska's most famous author! Visit her hometown, the free museum, and the book store! The bookstore is well-curated and includes all the Cather books but also an excellent Great Plains literature section and a section of field guides (local flowers, night sky, prairie grasses, etc) for visiting the prairie. The tours of all the historic sites start here, and you can book your tours online.
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June 2025 by Charles Peek
A grand national site commemorating the life and work of Willa Cather with a walk-through history, tours of the greatest number of sites celebrating any American author, and offering an extensive archive of personal, community, and scholarly materials, and boasting the restored Opera House where Cather gave her high school graduation address--center for the annual Cather Spring Conference, its board of governors sponsor international conferences and local creative workshops.
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June 2025 by Bernard Picchi
I just attended the annual conference - a delight from start to finish. Ashley Olson and her staff, Tracy Tucker and Jennifer among others, are amazingly accomplished - professionals in every sense. I had not been in Red Cloud in at least 20 years, and I was delighted to see how the town has grown in every important way.
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June 2025 by brenda shufelt
I really enjoyed the center during my time at the annual conference. The bookstore was top-notch with lots of books by and about Cather, the environment she wrote about and adjacent authors. You can choose a postcard (or two), sit down at the desk & write to friends and family. $3/card & they will post it for you! I purchased several tea towels that were hand stitched by volunteers with scenes from her novels. The permanent exhibit was comprehensive and well done. I loved my tour of the archives with Tracy who was generous with her time & knowledge.
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June 2025 by Sue Wood
Wow!! This is a must see for anyone who enjoys literature and especially the work of Nebraska Pulitzer Prize winning author Willa Cather. Enjoy everything the center has to offer.. including the city and country tour of Cather sites! It’s amazing! This is my 3rd visit!’n
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June 2025 by Elizabeth Ray
For any fan of Willa Cather’s writings, start your visit HERE. Well-presented exhibits, friendly staff, tours available to homes and buildings that appear in Cather’s works, and the most extensive museum bookshop I’ve ever seen. Highly impressed.
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June 2025 by Stelaton Mave
Great building with great history. Staff is amazing.
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June 2025 by David
The Willa Cather Center is an engaging museum: displays and video are well thought out and very educational. While it's out of the way, making the trip is worthwhile.
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May 2025 by Garrett Peck
The National Willa Cather Center is the place for all things Willa Cather. The nearly block-long facility incorporates multiple historic buildings in Red Cloud's history, including the Opera House where she was the valedictorian for her high school graduation. The staff is knowledgeable and friendly, the bookstore and gift shop excellent, and the center has both permanent and temporary exhibit spaces.
This is a great place to start for exploring Willa Cather's formative years in Red Cloud and how that influenced her writing career. From the NWCC, you can pick up guide material to explore the Farmers & Merchants Bank exhibit across the street, the Cather Childhood Home, the Pavelka Farmstead, and much more.
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September 2024 by Chris Rehberg
This is an excellent museum and exhibit in Red Cloud! Like others have posted, we were greeted warmly. The woman staffing the front desk was very knowledgeable and helpful, educating us about what we could see in the museum and the adjoining exhibit as well as the opera house.
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August 2024 by Jon Oliver
Great place to visit!
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July 2024 by Annette Marget
The museum is very nice and is free. The tours are very informative and interactive with the guide. There is a charge for the tours. We very much enjoyed our visit.
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October 2023 by Stephanie Bushey
The ladies working here that I met and spoke with over the course of two days were so kind & knowledgeable. They made my visit to see my favorite author’s town that much more memorable. Gorgeous building and a wonderful tribute to Willa Cather.
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September 2023 by Kathleen Brown
A beautiful museum that really does a great job profiling the Pulitzer Prize winning author.
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August 2023 by Shelia Sanford
Beautiful and informative.
