KEARNEY – The G.W. Frank Museum of History and Culture is decked out for the holiday season.
An annual tradition, the festive display features the glittering Grand Hall, as well as an 1890s Christmas tree and fruit and garland dining room décor, allowing guests to experience the holiday much like the Frank family did while learning about its long history. The exhibit will remain on display through mid-January, with free hot cocoa and apple cider served on Saturdays.
Located at 2010 University Drive on the west end of the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus, the Frank Museum is open noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Admission is free, with group tours offered at 1 and 3 p.m. each day.
The museum will be closed for the holidays Dec. 24-25 and Jan. 1.
Built in 1890 as the home of land developers George and Phoebe Frank, the beautiful Richardsonian Romanesque mansion was among the first electrified houses in the American West. Its unique story as a once modern and stylish residence turned private clinic then tuberculosis hospital offers a window into Kearney’s past – its early rise and fall, and its rebirth as a center for health and education.
Exhibits, tours and programs explore the history and culture of central Nebraska and the developing West, from the Gilded Age to the present. Learn about the industrialists, factory workers and domestic servants who experienced Kearney’s rapid boom and bust. Find out what life was like for the doctors, nurses and thousands of patients at the Nebraska State Hospital for Tuberculosis. Or simply enjoy the rotating displays of one of the state’s largest collections of decorative glass and ceramics.
For more information, call 308-865-8284 or email frankmuseum@unk.edu.
