TECUMSEH
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MUSEUMS
The Johnson County Historical Society Museum
complex, located at 3rd and Lincoln streets, consists of three historic
buildings with the main building and the rural schoolhouse located
at one site and the Old Jail standing on its original location nearby.
The main museum is housed in the historic Christian Church that
was built in 1888 with pews from the original church, an organ,
and pulpits displayed at the front of the building. Adjacent to
the church is the restored District 73 schoolhouse. The church building includes a variety of exhibits, many of which are displayed in free-standing cases. Significant displays include a collection of farm toys, the McCrosky Collection of statuettes and fans, china and household items, quilts, and military artifacts. The basement includes collections of farm implements and tools, Indian artifacts, and an early kitchen display. Highlights of the exhibit include: • 1200-1450 AD Indian Pottery • Glass from the late 1700s • 1800 English Blue Willow dishes • 1833 Antique Clock • 1863 large Sherman Family Bible • Edison Cylinder Phonograph with horn Other items include a collection of dolls, glassware, band instruments from the Tecumseh Military Band, numerous pictures of residents, scenes of towns in the county, the Ingersoll unicycle, Frederick Prill emigrant trunk from Germany, a picture of the Civil War Andersonville prison, Donald J. Van Winkle's tractor collection, vintage clothing, biographical writings of prominent Johnson County residents, the papers of Col. Barney Oldfield, the story of Dr. Charles O. Gardner (the 17-year-old, 4-H club member who developed high-yield hybrid seed corn and was nationally and internationally recognized for his genetic research in agronomy), plus numerous other exhibits on display. Records of all Johnson County cemeteries and the obituaries from 1900 to 1939 are on file. Much of the history about Johnson County and its residents is recorded in the libraries on file. Copies of the various Johnson County newspapers are also archived. Hours: Open by appointment. For information, call 402-335-3292. On exhibit, located at
134 South 4th St., honors one of Tecumseh’s most well-known
residents, Col. Barney Oldfield. Col. Oldfield started his military career with an ROTC membership when he was attending the University of Nebraska where he graduated in 1933. He went on to serve for 30 years in the military. Col. Oldfield had the distinction of gaining the rank of Colonel in both the Army and the Air Force. He founded the NORAD band while stationed at NORAD in Colorado Springs, and retired from the Air Force in 1962. Col. Oldfield worked in more than 81 countries as a newspaper man, radio and TV scripter, magazine contributor, lecturer, international "ghostwriter" for famous persons, and Hollywood publicist, in addition to his military career. To learn more about the life and times of Col. Oldfield and his wife, Vada, an exhibit was created by Nebraska's State Historical Society's Lori Cox-Paul entitled “Believe It or Not - The Life and Times of Vada and Col. Barney Oldfield.” It was supposed to run for three months at the Society, but was so popular it was there nearly a year. It was to go into storage, but Judy Coe, Tecumseh, encouraged them to bring it to Tecumseh, Oldfield’s birthplace, on "permanent loan." Two of the display panels — one with George Foreman and one with Adolf Hitler — were considered too precious to risk leaving the Society, but have since been acquired by the Tecumseh center, as well as the enshrined uniform of Col. Oldfield. Also cherished are his bronzed paratrooper boots worn in meeting the British Royal Family in England (Queen Elizabeth was then 12) and King Christian X and Queen Fredericka of Denmark. On the display panels are actual recordings and 50 parts-for-band sheet music for the Col. Barney Oldfield March as premiered in Carnegie Hall in 1963. There are grade school copy-book stories by him and the first script that he started, "Tracking Santa Claus," that has been done every year since its mid-’50s start. “The Book About Adolf Hitler," one of only 100 published, was found by Oldfield in the rubble of the Riechschancellory Hitler office after he, as part of the first allied column, entered Berlin July 1, 1945. Hours: 12-4 p.m., Monday through Friday Other times by appointment
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