Wayne State College

The bell-ringer was a boy. John G. Neihardt, who had moved to Wayne with his mother and two sisters in 1891, enrolled at thirteen and paid his tuition by ringing the campus bell twice every fifty minutes, from 6:30 in the morning to 6 at night on weekdays, rain or shine. He earned a teaching certificate at fifteen and a Bachelor of Science at sixteen. The poetry had started earlier: a fever vision in the fall of 1892 became The Divine Enchantment, his first book, published in 1900. Years later he burned the few remaining copies.

What the plaque says

Wayne State College The Nebraska Normal College was founded on this site in 1891 as a private institution. It was largely the creation of one man, Professor James M. Pile. The State Legislature in 1909 appropriated funds to purchase the campus, and in 1910 the College opened under State auspices. Its original mission was the same as that of its predecessor college -- teacher education in a two-year curriculum. Wayne State College became a four-year degree granting institution in 1921. It has since expanded its program to include study leading to liberal arts and Master's degrees. The cornerstone nearby came from the Commerce and Arts Building, which was located in the vicinity of this marker. The bell came from the first building of the Nebraska Normal College. John G. Neihardt, later Poet Laureate of Nebraska, rang this bell in the 1890's to signal times for dismissal and convening of classes. With this employment he earned most of his college expense money. In its present location the bell was rung for many years to announce victories in inter-collegiate athletics. Wayne State College is proud of its graduates, among them outstanding educators, members of the United States Congress, and a governor of Nebraska. Circle K and Kiwanis Clubs Nebraska State Historical Society

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Ponca State Park — 29 mi
  Oak ravines and bluffs at the downstream end of the Missouri's last unchannelized reach in Nebraska, with a three-state overlook and the river's resource and education center.

More markers nearby

• Wayne — 1.0 mi
• Stanton County — 16 mi
• St. Paul's Lutheran Church — 25 mi
• Verges Park (Norfolk Brick and Tile Company) — 25 mi