Remarks on the Works of John Huss From the Letters of John Huss by Emil de Bonuchos, translated by Campbell McKenzie. The writings of John Huss, which have been handed down to us, may be classed under four principal heads, his letters, his works and commentaries on the scriptures, his sermons, and, lastly, his moral and theological treatises. His letters have been given in this volume. His particular works on scripture are, first, a history of the life of Jesus Christ according to the four Gospels. Secondly, the history of our Lord's Passion is collected from the four Gospels and augmented by notes and commentaries from the most celebrated doctors of the church. Thirdly, the explanation of the first seven chapters of the first epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians. Fourthly, commentaries on the seven canonical epistles of the apostles St. James, St. Peter, St. John, and St. Jude. Fifthly, explanations and developments of the Psalms 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, and 118. All these writings reveal in their author a profound knowledge of the sacred books and of the works of the fathers, as well as a great zeal to diffuse the light of the scriptures and to draw from them salutary instruction. They indicate, besides, an independence of views which must have given umbrage to the clergy. It is thus that Hoss, in arranging the epistles of the apostles, names first that of St. James, who, he says, presided at the Council of Jerusalem. He assigns the first place to this epistle on account of the superior dignity which the apostle bears in the eyes of Christians by reason of three different claims. First, in addressing himself particularly to converted Jews, who were superior to the pagans, afterwards in consideration of his personal merit, for although Peter was the first of the apostles, nevertheless the first evangelical preaching is traced to St. James. And lastly, in consideration of the dignity of the place where he held his sea, which was Jerusalem, where the first preaching of God's word took place. These works of John Hoss on scriptures so different in their nature and so considerable in their extent are, however, like most of the theological writings of the epoch, prolix and diffuse. The author subdivides his matter without end, fatigues with his repetitions, and in his commentaries presents in general subtle explanations and interpretations, sometimes trifling and often forced, in order to discover in each word of the sacred books of the Old Testament the type of our Savior's words in the new one. The sermons and discourses of John Hoss collected in his works amount to about forty, amongst which several were pronounced before his rupture with the ecclesiastical superiors and his interdiction. In them might be already recognized that pure and ardent zeal for morality, and that horror for the vices of the clergy which animated his bosom in every circumstance of his life, a manifestation at once noble and rash in an age when the clergy were as powerful as they were corrupt, and which accumulated on the head of John Hoss such implacable resentment. In some sermons, delivered at a later period, and when he was already exposed to the attacks of his enemies, he expresses himself openly against the abuses springing from the doctrines of the Roman Church. He energetically censures the pomp and ostentation displayed in the festivals in honor of the saints. He reproves the lying flatteries of funeral eulogiums, and the prophet derived from them by the priest. He alludes to this verse, De Morbo Medicus Gaudet de Mortes Sacerdotes, and adds, What is the use of multiplying vigils in the house of a rich defunct unless indeed for empty praise? Neither he who pays nor he who is paid care much about the psalms that are sung. What utility is there in this pompous cortege of the rich at the burial of a corpse? Why are there so many priests sitting luxuriously on cushions around a coffin, whilst thou, O Christ, stoodst weeping over the tomb of Lazarus, and humbly invoked thy father? We do not weep, but make merry. We utter not pious groans, but vain clamors. John Hoss believed in purgatory, although he placed but little confidence in the efficacy of praying for the dead, and in the sermon already mentioned he supports his opinion on this point by the silence of the scriptures. We find no mention made of it, he remarks, except in the book of Maccabees, which is not placed by the Jews in the canon of the Old Testament, neither the prophets, nor Jesus Christ, nor the apostles, nor the saints who have followed their footsteps have explicitly taught that the dead should be prayed for, but they have publicly declared that whoever lived without crime should be deemed holy. For my part, I think that the introduction of this custom originated in the avarice of the priests, who, though but little desirous of teaching men to live well after the examples of the prophets of Christ and the apostles, carefully exhort them to make rich offerings in the hope of procuring celestial happiness and a speedy deliverance from purgatory. The first nine sermons collected in the works of John Hoss were preached by him in Prague at different periods, and are followed by 28 discourses relative to Antichrist, in which he openly designates the Pope, and when he repeats most of the arguments of the treatise on the anatomy of the members of Antichrist. The last two sermons of John Hoss are those which he composed on arriving at Constance, the one on faith and the other on peace. They breathe the desire of a reconciliation which his enemies repulsed, and he was not permitted to deliver them. The moral and theological treatises form the fourth part of John Hoss's works, and the most important of the whole, for they especially show his doctrines, and were those which furnished his enemies and judges with arguments and arms against him. The principal treatises are the treatise on the church, publicly read in the city of Prague, the refutation of the Bowl of John XXIII concerning indulgences for the first crusade, answer to Stephen Pollitz, answer to Stanislaus Genoima, refutation of the writing of eight doctors of Prague, the book of Antichrist, and the treatise on the abomination of priests and monks. All the doctrines and peculiar opinions of John Hoss are to be met with in his celebrated treatise on the church, and in his answers to Pollitz, to Stanislaus Genoima, and the eight doctors. It may be discovered on perusing them that on a great number of points which a century later separated the reformers from the Roman Catholic Church, Hoss shared the opinion of the latter, or at least did not believe that it was allowable to oppose it. He attacked it, consequently, much more for its abuses than for its errors. The horror which he felt at the sight of evil, and especially when it was committed by men who ought to set an example of every virtue to others, often carried him too far. Anger mingled its violence with his indignation, and in some treatises, amongst others the Antichrist, and the abomination of priests and monks, he forgets himself so far as to indulge in abuse and employ insulting and offensive expressions. Nevertheless, it would be unjust to see on that account an excuse for those who condemned him, for these treatises were not known to them, and were only made public after his death. Besides, the expressions to be blamed in them belong less to John Hoss than to the age in which he lived. They are to be met with in the writings of the most celebrated doctors and orthodox priests. And it seems that, in hazarding a language which astonishes our more sensitive ears, John Hoss had adopted for his authority the prophet Ezekiel, from whom he often drew his inspirations. Among the doctrines signalized as heretical in the works of Hoss are those on predestination and election. A heresy was seen in the definition which Hoss gives of the Catholic and universal church. This church, he says, is the assembly of all elect, past, present, and future, including also the angels. And lower down, he adds, no particular ty, no human election renders a person member of the universal church, but divine predestination alone. This predestination is, according to St. Augustine, election by the grace of the divine will, or preparation to grace in the present life and to glory in the future one. To these different passages has been opposed the necessity of the sacraments for obtaining salvation. And it has then been concluded that whoever admitted predestination gratuitous safety of election and grace, or communion with the universal church, could attribute no efficacy to the sacraments, to the communion of the external and visible church. Nevertheless, Hoss nowhere disputes the virtue of the sacraments, but on the contrary recommends their frequent use. This doctrine of predestination and election has often divided the Catholic church. It has been supported in every age by some of its most illustrious members, and has had for its interpreters St. Augustine and Gerson. The boldest opinions of John Hoss have almost all of them found partisans among men whom Rome venerates as saints and learned doctors. But he separated from them upon two principal points. In his eyes, as in those of Wycliffe, the authority of the church could only direct the faith and conduct as long as the decisions of the church agreed with scriptures. In the priest, whatever his external dignity might be, was not in the sight of God, the priest, bishop, or pope, and representative of Jesus Christ, but as far as he took for model and guide in his private life the example of our Savior. These two capital points on which we pose all the doctrine of Wycliffe are the real basis of all Christian descent. Hoss, as we stated in a previous work, acknowledged them without calculating their importance, without clearly understanding the abyss they opened between him and the church of which he believed himself to be a member. His opinion on this subject strongly manifests itself in all the above-mentioned treatises. Even his adversaries are forced to admit that he derived it from the unshaken conviction that morality and religion are inseparable, and that they who have the mission of representing Jesus on earth could not desire or order otherwise than what God himself had willed and commanded. On these two points he goes beyond the limits of the Roman church and openly subjects himself to the reproach addressed to him by one of the Catholic writers who judged him most impartially. It is greatly to be lamented, says the writer, alluded to, that such a man should have so frightful a destiny and so bitter a death, he who glowed with so ardent a love for Christ and his doctrine, who shown by the integrity of his life the sincerity of his heart, the ardor of his mind, his eloquence and other precious gifts, to so high a degree that he might have become an illustrious reformer. If, after the example of some very eminent men such as Gerson Daï or Clemangii, he had devoted his talents to the work of reform in the church itself and not out of its bosom, this reproach is best refuted by referring to John Huss's life and the history of his time, both form the subject of the work which this one completes and to which the reader has been often referred. It will be there seen that the reform of abuses could not be accomplished by those whose interests it was to perpetrate them, and that was the corruption of the external invisible church was then so profound that to introduce a reform in it it was necessary first to leave it altogether. Of all John Huss's treatises, that on the church is the most complete and celebrated. We must insert here an analysis of it which will terminate this work. Analysis of the Treatise of the Church John Huss devines the universal church to be the assembly of all the predestined, past, present and to come, including the angels. The church, writes he, is the most excellent thing created by God. We ought not therefore to believe in the church because it is not God, but we should believe that there is a holy universal church of which Jesus Christ is the sole chief, the entire church, and for all its parts ought to honor God, but it ought not to wish that divine worship should be rendered her. Reprobates, says Huss, are not members of the church. It may occur that one is in the church without being of the church. Such may be the case with the popes, bishops, priests, and clergy, although they style themselves the church in particular because it is possible that they are reprobate. We may also belong to the church without being exteriorly in the church, like those who commence to be converted to the faith. Huss next examines the celebrated passage of St. Matthew, Daward Peter, and on this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, and I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, etc. Matthew 16, 18, and 19. He considers in it four things. The church, its faith, its foundation, and its power. He examines first of all whether the Roman church is the universal one, as is affirmed by canon law, where the pope is called the chief, and the cardinals the body of the church. He denies this to be the case, for the reason that the pope and the cardinals do not compose the whole assembly of the elect. Daward Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, signifies, according to Huss, Daward the confessor of the true rock, which is Christ, and it is on this rock that I will raise my church by faith and grace. But this church does not consist in men constituted in powers and dignity, whether secular or ecclesiastical, because several popes have fallen into error and crime. Huss does not, however, contest great privileges to the Roman church, because St. Peter founded it, and he does not oppose the pope and the cardinals holding the principal rank in the church, provided they follow the example of Jesus Christ, and that, stripping themselves of pop and ambition, they serve with humility the common mother of all believers. Yet the Roman church can hardly be termed a universal one, because in reality it is a particular church, the first and most ancient being that of Jerusalem, and the second that of Antioch, of which the faithful were first called Christian. As to faith, Huss distinguishes several kinds. The true faith, says he, is a faith formed by charity. This, when persevered in, is the foundation of all the other Christian virtues. It ought necessarily to be founded on truth, which enlightens the understanding, and on authority, which strengthens the soul. This authority can be only that of God speaking by his word. If the Christian is convinced that a truth has been dictated by the Holy Ghost in the scriptures, he ought, without hesitation, to declare his opinion, and expose his life for it. The obligation is not the same with regard to the words of the saints and pope's bulls, one is not held to believe them, but only so far as they agree with the holy scriptures. We may, besides believing them as in opinions, because the pope and his court might err through ignorance of the truth. It is, then, one thing to believe in God because he cannot err or be deceived, and another to believe in the pope, who is liable to err, is one thing to believe in the holy scriptures, and another to believe in a bull, because the latter is of human invention. It can never be permitted not to follow the scriptures or to oppose them, but it is sometimes allowable not to believe in a bull, and even to oppose it, as, for instance, when it has originated in avarice, when it raises to dignity unworthy persons, or oppresses the innocent, in a word, when it is contrary to the instructions and commandments of God. As regards the foundation of the church, there is but one, which is Jesus Christ. If the apostles, therefore, are called the foundations of the church, it is in a figurative manner as being subjected to Jesus Christ, because it is He who has built the church, and St. Peter is only its basis and foundation, in the same manner is the apostles, His colleagues. It must be admitted that Jesus Christ, who is the cornerstone of the church, established Peter in humility, poverty, and faith, and that it was by these virtues He elevated the church which He governed. But to pretend from these words, on this rock I will raise my church, that Jesus Christ intended to found the entire church in the person of Peter, is to believe what is contrary to faith and reason. St. Peter never boasted of being the head of the whole church, because He never governed the whole of it. Yet there may be allowed to Him, with some of the fathers, a priority of order over other apostles, on account of the excellence of His virtues. And, in this sense, the words of the Blessed St. Dennis are true. St. Peter was the chief of the apostles, which does not mean the chief of the universal church. The Bishop of Rome may be looked upon as the vicar of St. Peter, and the first in the church which he governs, if he imitates the virtues of this apostle. But if he follows an opposite path, he is only the forerunner of Antichrist. Huss supports his opinions by citing several of the fathers, and amongst them St. Bernard, St. Jerome, St. Gregory, and St. Chrysostom. It is not the post which he holds that makes the priest, says the last named Saint, but the priest which makes the post. It is not the place which sanctifies man, but the man that sanctifies the place. Lastly, as relates to the power of the priests, it is purely spiritual. It consists in instructing, in condemning the culpable by spiritual punishment, in absolving the penitent, and announcing them the remission of their sins. It dwells actually in Jesus Christ, and has been given, in the person of Peter, to all the church militant. Priests are only the ministers of the church, and are not able to bind or lose, remit or retain sins if God has not previously done so. And the people greatly err if they believe that the priest first bind or unbind, and that God only does so after them. As if God executed the sentence of priests, whereas the priest ought to execute the judgment of God. Error, whereas priests ought to execute the judgment of God, only in accord with Jesus Christ. There are two kinds of power, one legitimate, which should be obeyed, the other pretended, and usurped, which ought to be resisted. Such is the power of the simoniacs, who, through interest, take advantage of the keys in order to condemn the innocent and absolve the guilty, who buy and sell holy orders, bishoprics, canonries, and livings, who make a traffic of the sacraments, who live in avarice and voluptuousness, and sully the authority of the priesthood. Huss maintains that the power of binding or loosing was equally given to all the apostles, and contests the rites of the popes to bear the title of universal bishop, and most holy. They have no right, he says, to decorate themselves with it. And he cites as proofs the example of the apostles, the canons, the councils, as well as the scandalous lives of several popes, in whom there was no holiness. As to the cardinals of whom it was said they form the body of the church, it would be necessary, in order to acknowledge it, to know by revelation that they are predestined to salvation, and that they live as becomes the successors and vickers of the apostles. But do they show themselves as such? Those men who accumulate livings gain favors by presence after the example of Gisi, who go early in the morning dressed in splendid clothing to visit the pope, mounted on horses, richly comparisoned, not on account of the distance or difficulty of the roads, but to display their magnificence to the eyes of the world, in opposition to the example of Christ and his apostles, who visited on foot, and in humble clothing, the towns and villages preaching the gospel and announcing the kingdom of God. The church, says John Huss, may be governed without the pope and cardinals, as was the case during three hundred years. It was Constantine who established, in the third century, the universal domination of the Roman Pontiff. Before the donation, the Bishop of Rome was like the other bishops, and for that reason, the Roman Pontiffs, who succeeded Sylvester, fearing to lose this preeminence, besought the emperors to confirm it. John Huss afterwards, quotes Gratian's decree, confirmed by Louis le Dubinaire, and adds Saint Peter never required that Louis le Dubinaire should bestow on him the temporal domain of Rome. He was in possession of the kingdom of heaven, and consequently greater than Louis. Would to God that Peter had replied to him, I accept not your concession. When I was Bishop of Rome, I did not envy Nero, the domination of Rome, and I had no need of it. I believe it to have been injurious to my successors. It turned them from preaching the gospel, from prayer, and observing the commandments of God, and filled them with pride. It is the law of God, and not the arbitrary will of the pope and the cardinals, that ought to regulate ecclesiastical judgment. The adversaries of Huss considered this position of his as a crime. He defends it against them, and makes it a point of honor to acknowledge only the scriptures as authority, although he respects the holy doctors when their decisions are in harmony with the Divine Word. He rejects the application to Christians of certain passages of Deuteronomy in which God orders the Israelites to have their disputes judged in the place he had chosen and sentences with death whoever should not submit himself to the pontiff and to the judge. It is here a question, says John Huss, of civil affairs rather than of religious ones, and the spirit of the gospel which, only employing persuasion, differs greatly from the ancient law, which was one of rigor. If these distinctions were not established, it would follow that Jesus was justly condemned, because the High Priest Anas and Caiaphas presided in the places designated by God himself. Huss likewise rejects the accusations of wishing to excite the people, and induce them to disobedience toward their superiors, viz, the popes, bishops, priests, and all the clergy. He distinguishes three kinds of obedience. First, spiritual obedience, which is that which all Christians, without exception, are expected at all times to render to the law of Jesus Christ. Secondly, secular obedience, which is that which is due to civil laws admitting them to be conformable to the law of God. Thirdly, ecclesiastical obedience, which is that paid to the laws invented by the priests of the Church without any express authority of the scriptures. This letter, he says, is only obligatory as far as the things prescribed or forbidden are in conformity with what is ordered or prohibited by the Word of God, and he draws this inference, that he who knows of a certainty that the commandments of the Pope are contrary to what is counseled and commanded by Jesus Christ, or tends to be the ruin of the Church, ought boldly to resist them for fear of sanctioning a crime by his consent. He invokes, in support of this opinion, the authority of the canon law, as well as the fathers from whom he quotes many passages extracted especially from Nicholas Lyra and St. Augustine. In the last chapters, Husson vays energetically against the abuse of excommunication, suspensions, and interdicts. One ought not to be excommunicated, continues Huss, but on account of a mortal sin which separates from the grace of God. The major excommunication is pronounced against a public sinner, and it is that which was pronounced against myself. But blessed be God, who has not given to this excommunication the power of taking away justice and virtue from a just man, and of making him become a sinner. I am more afraid of the greatest of all excommunications, viz that by which the sovereign pontiff in presence of angels and men will eternally excommunicate the wicked from all participation in eternal beatitude. It is on that one that he who judges should reflect through fear of excommunicating unjustly, for whoever shall excommunicate a man from temporal interest or pride, or in order to revenge himself of some injury, and against his conscience, excommunicates himself. As to suspension, it is God who pronounces it against every bad priest who lives scandalously and criminally. It follows from hence that there are but few preachers whom God does not at presence suspend from the ministry of his word, because there are few who do not reject the knowledge of the scriptures and contradict by their lives the duties which they teach unto others. Huss concludes from this that he was forced to preach against the voices of the clergy. Woe unto me, he exclaims, if I had remained silent for according to the canon law, not to oppose an error is to approve of it, and to neglect denouncing the perverse when it is in your power to do so is to show ourselves their accomplices. Afterwards, passing to the subject of interdicts a punishment which ecclesiastical dignitaries may inflict on a country or a town simply for the fault of one individual and forbidding divine service to be celebrated in the place without distinguishing the innocent from the guilty, John Huss adds, one of the manifest proofs that these censures which are called fulminations are derived from antichrist is that they are cast against those who preach the gospel and expose the corruption of the clergy. Interdicts began after the year 1000 and by the rage of Satan when the clergy had become fat on the misfortunes of the world and had grown in voluptuous pride and impatience of submitting to any restraint. Huss calls to mind the worldly motives which led the Pontiffs Adrian IV, Alexander III, Innocent III, Boniface VIII, Innocent IV and Clement IV to interdict towns and countries in the 13th or 14th centuries and concludes by quoting against this custom an admirable letter of St. Augustine to a young bishop who on account of the ill conduct of a holy father had excommunicated his whole family. This is the letter. Instruct me, I pray you, by strict reason or scripture in what case should you know of any the child should be excommunicated for the sin of the father, the wife for that of the husband, the servant for that of the master, and even the children that may be born in the house thus excommunicated. Since, as long as it remains so, it is impossible to procure for the children even when in danger of death the grace of regeneration produced by baptism. The chastisement which God inflicted on several of the empires who had despised his law and in which he included all belonging to them was an external punishment which fell only on the body in order to fill the living with dread. But the excommunication resulting from the power given us by these words that which you shall have bound on earth shall be bound in heaven falls even upon the soul and it is said of souls the soul of the father belongs to me as likewise the soul of the son and that which has sinned shall die. Perhaps you have heard of some bishops of great repute who anathematized sinners with the whole of their families but if they were asked to explain their conduct it is likely they would be embarrassed to assign a good reason for it and as I should not myself have known how to answer a similar inquiry I have never on that account dared to act in this manner however great might have been the crimes committed against the church. Nevertheless if God has revealed to you that this may be done with justice I shall not despise your youth and your little experience of the weight of episcopacy. Behold me then an old man as for many years a bishop ready to learn from a young man my colleague a year since only how I should justify myself before God and men if I inflicted a spiritual punishment on the innocent souls for the sins of others. John Haas after supporting his argument by the imposing authority of St. Augustine energetically addressed the doctors his adversaries and asked them if they believe in their conscience that it is an unimportant thing keeping the middle path between good and evil to deprive the innocent of the sacraments and of sepulchre to prohibit divine service and give rise in consequence to so much scandal calumny and hatred oh doctors he exclaims to what church belongs this language is it that of an apostolic church say whether it be the language of an apostle or of a saint assuredly it is not that of Jesus Christ of the chief of the holy church in whose word is contained every truth useful to the church Haas terminates his celebrated treatise by alluding to the condemnation of the 45 articles of wickliffe by the doctors without there being able to demonstrate that any of these articles were heretical erroneous or scandalous he expresses his astonishment at his adversaries abstaining from opposing too openly at prog wickliffe's proposition which authorizes lay lords to strip of their wealth ecclesiastics of depraved morals their silence says he like the priests and Pharisees and fear prevents them from condemning this article but what they dreaded has occurred and will again come to pass they shall lose their temporal wealth god grant they may preserve their souls end of remarks are the works of john haas and of the letters of john haas by emile de bono shows translated by cambell mckenzie


Good morning and welcome to this week's edition of Encompass Live. I am your host, a little bit in the dark here way up front, Christa Burns here at the Nebraska Library Commission. Encompass Live is the Commission's weekly online event, webinar, webcast, whatever you want to call us. We're a show, we're online, and we're here every Wednesday morning. We do the shows live at 10 a.m. central time, but if you're unable to join us on Wednesdays, that's fine. We record all of our shows and they get posted onto our website. The recording is right on YouTube and you can go and watch any of our shows. They're at your convenience. You can't join us on Wednesday mornings. And we do a mixture of things here, book reviews, many training presentations, interviews. Basically anything library related, we put it on the show. We have the Nebraska Library Commission staff that do presentations and we sometimes bring in guest speakers. And this morning, we have a mixture of that. We have a large group with us today. What we're doing this morning is our annual One Book One Nebraska show where we talk about the book of the year that everyone is reading. This year it's the Once Upon a Town, The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen by Bob Green. And I guess Mary Jo Ryan is here, our Communications Coordinator at the Library Commission and Rod Wagner, the director here. And I'm just going to pass the microphone on to you guys and you can talk about what we're doing and who we all have here today. Why don't we just go ahead and start on this side of the table and see if you would introduce yourself. Okay, I'm Nancy Johnson from Central City. And I'm here with a friend who was one of the volunteers at the North Platte Canteen and she'll introduce herself in a moment. I'm Molly Fisher and I'm a member of the Center for the Book. And I worked on discussion questions for this particular book. And that's a good point, Molly. One of the things we do of course is offer some assistance for people who want to talk about the book including Molly's discussion questions and other resources. We'll get to that later. I'm Mary Jo Ryan with the Library Commission. I'm Rod Wagner, director of the Library Commission and also an ex-officio member of the Nebraska Center for the Book, a sponsoring organization for the One Book program. And Rosalie. And I'm Rosalie Lippincott and I do live here in Lincoln now. But I'm from Central City as well as Nancy Johnson. And you had a lot of great experiences during this time as a volunteer in the canteen. Well, not as many as I would have liked to have. I would like to have been there every day. Oh boy, that would have been a commitment. It was a wonderful experience, yes. Well, thank you so much for being here with us and Nancy's going to... My pleasure. We had the opportunity to...Nancy had the opportunity to interview Rosalie for a newsletter article that we did early in the year. And so we're going to kind of reprise that interview. Nancy's going to ask you some questions later on in the show. That's okay. Good. Just to kind of go over a little bit more about One Book, One Nebraska, just to kind of fill in people who haven't been with us all these years since we've been doing this. There you go. Thank you. The goal, of course, is to encourage Nebraskans across the state to read and discuss just one book. Well, we hope they'll read many more during the year, but there's one book that's either written by a Nebraska author or that has a Nebraska theme or set it. And a committee of the Nebraska Center for the Book selected the 2014 One Book, One Nebraska from a list of 71 titles that were nominated by 141 Nebraskans from across the state. And this year, One Book, One Nebraska was sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book, as Rob mentioned, Humanities Nebraska, the Nebraska Library Association, and the Nebraska Library Commission. As you can see, since 2005, we've had 10 One Book, One Nebraska books that were chosen. There's a real range. There's quite a variety. Everything from classics by Willa Cather to a mystery by Alex Kava to a contemporary book by Bill Clefkorn. Just a whole wide range of wonderful books that people have had the opportunity to talk about across the state in book clubs and other kinds of activities in libraries, in bookstores, in people's homes. It's been a real rich 10 years of reading about Nebraska and talking about the books. Let's focus on this year's 2014 One Book, One Nebraska. And that would be, of course, once upon a town, the miracle of the North Platte canteen by Bob Green. Now, this is actually a non-fiction story. And, Molly, you were saying that this time when you read it, you'd read it before, but this time when you read it, you were kind of focusing on how it was organized. Yes, yes. I just, I don't know why I focused in on that, but I just was taken with his comparison of North Platte as it was when he was there to the interviews with people, as well as the interviews with workers like Rosalie. Rosalie appears in the book. And he would go from an interview with someone that volunteered to someone who passed through, but usually in between there would be some geographic location in North Platte that seemed to bring forth the interviews. And I got interested in that this time around. Great. Do we have a... Hi, everybody. Welcome back. Well, we had a little bit of a glitch, and we're just all back together again, picking this up again where we left off. And Molly was talking a little bit about the structure of the book where Bob Green, and how he puts the book together, where he interviews people and people who worked the canteen like you did, Rosalie, who were the volunteers, people who were on trains. Just passed through. Just passing through. And then he winds it back around to the locations in North Platte and what it's like now, right? Yes. I kept questioning it. I kept thinking that he was, he says, once upon a town, but I think he's looking for the town that was. Ah. Well, that's interesting because one of the things he says is that he set out to find the best America there ever was, and he found it in a small Nebraska town. Now, he considers North Platte pretty small. I grew up in North Platte, and we thought it was a pretty big town. Rod grew up in a town. How many people in your town? 270. 270 in Rod's town. So North Platte, we think of North Platte as kind of a big town in Nebraska. But it's a, you know, of course, it's all relative, and you live in Chicago like Bob Marine does, and I'm sure that North Platte really did seem like a very small town. Just to give you a little background, during World War II, American soldiers from every city and walk of life rolled through North Platte on troop trains in route to Europe and the Pacific. And it seems odd, doesn't it, that the trains just went through that one town. They went through a lot of towns. I got an email last week from a gentleman who was reading along with us on the book, and he was like, you know, I was one of those soldiers on a troop train, and I kept thinking, was it North Platte we went through? He said, no, we went through McCook. He remembered it was McCook. And so he contacted the Railroad Museum in McCook, and they said, yeah, we had troop trains come here, too. So really, not every single troop train went through North Platte, but a lot of them did, because North Platte's kind of a hub for the Union Pacific Railroad, which was a passenger railroad at that time, isn't anymore. But the railroad depot, thanks to volunteers like Rosalie, was transformed into the North Platte canteen. And even years later, long after the war when I was growing up there, it was famous in our town. It was like a thing we did that everyone remained proud of for their whole lives. And it was always something that people pointed to to show how important volunteerism was, and that kind of thing. So every day of the year, every day of the war, the canteen staffed and funded entirely by local volunteers was opened from 5 a.m. until the last troop train of the day pulled out after midnight. And the volunteers provided welcome words, friendship, baskets of food and treats to more than 6 million GIs by the time the war ended. So it's a pretty impressive roster of events, isn't it? And especially done at a time when people's minds were on other things. I know that a lot of women were working outside the home for the first time in their lives because they'd been called to work in the ammunition factories in Denver and Grand Island. And I also know that a lot of people were living on a lot less rations than what they were maybe used to cook with ingredients they'd never used and here they were doing all this as volunteers with all these ingredients and the book points all that out. So it's a very interesting book to read and a very interesting book to talk about in book groups. And people, by the way, are still... There we go. People, by the way, are still, of course, because 2014's not over, they're still talking about this book, they're still doing events. I apologize for the quality of this slide that you're looking at, but it just points out that on our website, and we'll go to our website later, I'll show you where, we do have a roster of events and you can see that here in October and coming up in November there's a number of activities still going on. And they're all across the state. I'm seeing one in Atkinson, Gordon, Lincoln obviously. I think it's Brewell, I think it's Brewell and Arthur and Hastings. So you're going to see people coming together and continuing to visit about this book and to challenge themselves to think about what they might have ever done in their lives that would compete or not compete, but would equal this kind of an effort. And I think that that's one of the things that happens when people talk about this book that you find that young people, particularly challenging themselves, what can they do to show that they care about someone they don't know. Which, gosh, you know, what more could you want out of the book, right? How did this all happen? Well, we did some publicity and, um, grossly you were there at the Capitol when the governor signed the proclamation and that was kind of a lovely event, wasn't it? Well, it was. I felt very honored to be in that group. Well, we were honored to have you. Believe me. That is a something we do every year with one book on Nebraska. The governor does a proclamation and proclaims that everyone should read the book all across the state. And of course, since we all do exactly what our elected officials tell us to do, we all are reading the book. And no, we are also putting together book club kits and we've got a website to help people talk about it. There are also other resources that I wanted to point out that are not things that this particular group has put together, but other people put together. For example, in the Nebraska Studies website, there's quite a lot of information about the canteen experiment and the canteen spirit. That's the name of a program that Nebraska Educational Television did, NETV, the canteen spirit and it's actually on the web. There's resources from the Nebraska State Historical Society and quite a few resources from Humanities Nebraska, including presenters and funding for programming. And those presenters are still available through the rest of 2014 and hopefully they're still funding available from Humanities Nebraska to support that. The next thing we were hoping to do is Nancy, if you would be willing to kind of reprise your interview that you did with Rosalie and see if we could ask Rosalie to remember some things for us to have some memories she might want to share. Like right about there? And you can tell if we're losing sound. So that'll be kind of a fun thing for us if you wouldn't mind doing that, Nancy. Rosalie, I know that when you were married to your husband, Dick, you lived at Central City on the farm for over 60 years. But when you worked at the North Black canteen, where were you living at that time and how old were you? My first visit to the canteen, I was a sophomore in high school, 15 years old. I lived, of course, with my parents and on the farm there was northeast of Shelton small town between Shelton, between Grand Island and Carly. So when we talk about the volunteers then that helped at North Platte, we're not talking only about people that lived in the North Platte area, we're talking about people who lived many miles away. Nancy, 125 little towns contributed in the hell and many of them sent people those miles with rationed gas and rationed tires. And didn't you also go on the railroad on the rail? Well, the Union Pacific offered us from Shelton. I don't know whether they pertained to other towns but from Shelton if we were at the railroad station at 3.30 in the morning we could have a free ride to North Platte. So, that way the railroad contributed in more than bringing the soldiers in. Absolutely. They also helped to take the volunteers to North Platte and many people may not realize that. Yes. So, what jobs did you have at the canteen and what foods did you help prepare? Well, my first job was to arrange books and magazines on a long table and make those books and magazines look appealing for the fellas to pick up and let's see that took a couple hours maybe to do that because after I got done with the books then my job was to crack hard boiled eggs peel them and make egg salad sandwiches and you see the what I'm telling you is absolute fact because I saved a letter happened to save a letter that I had written to my boyfriend who was stationed in Germany at the time and the letter is dated March 1945 I guess it was and this the things I'm telling you are the things that I had written in that letter so I know that they were facts and continuing about the egg salad sandwiches that particular day we made the bushel baskets of sandwiches and you know put them in the old fashion bushel baskets lined the baskets with clean tea towels that covered the sandwiches with another tea towel and suck them under the table waiting for the train to come in no ziplock bags in those days no plastic bags and still somehow you've got a long mind I'm not sure how many you know they say that there were as many as 7000 troops go through a day how many would 20 bushel be well I'm sure that probably didn't feed 7000 but it was a start yeah my letter said that we served 8 troops trains that day and that there were probably 5000 people and it wasn't just the egg salad sandwiches there were bushel of apples whatever you could get cakes name it you know coffee milk in little pint I guess so sour little glass glass glass someone had to watch those when one train would leave they fill them up again for the next group they carried them on the train at the next stop the conductor would have collected those sub bottles and send them back on the next train coming back into Norfolk and would have cups and bottles and little plates because there were absolutely no paper products at that time and that's one of those things that we don't think about and hey you know what what I think about it we didn't work rubber gloves would you stand up please it's the one that we didn't well you probably washed your hands good though in the book you mentioned that there were some romances that you had heard about that it started among the military people that came and some of the girls at the station well yeah the one in particular that I know about came about between a soldier and a young girl who grew up in Trion, Nebraska Trion is up in the Sandhills 75 miles or so from North Platte it's way out there in the booties but it's a wonderful little town and those ladies you know made popcorn balls and then they put the name in the address of single girls in that community and passed them out well one romance developed between a soldier and a young Trion girl by just letter writing and when they finally faced to face I guess it was love at first sight because they were married very shortly after and her wedding dress hangs in the museum out in North Platte so they were married and had a family so that romance is documented at the museum absolutely who knows what else I don't now you were a young girl and all these good looking servicemen were coming through there were you tempted? well I was enjoying the you know excitement and it was a thrill for a teenage girl to be in the midst of all those young guys but no one can say I was not tempted because I already had my on a hometown boy ended up marrying him and you were married for how many years? loving him for 62 years that's wonderful Rosalie did I just wondered how all of this could happen in 10 minutes were they really there for just 10 minutes? well yeah the trains the trains stopped to take on water and fuel and so and change rooms sometimes and so those stops were only about 10, 15 minutes and boy when that train whistled those skies went up running did you dance with any of the oh I didn't dance did you see the pictures of them dancing? well you know jitterbug was popular and there was dancing going on but I I just never did dance and so no I was busy making egg salad sandwiches you were Rosalie we're discussing this with you because of Bob Green's book once upon a town did you meet with Bob Green when he was writing the book since you are in the book? the answer to that question is no I did not face to face meet him I met him was I had a couple years before this all took place I had written my memories of the canteen just simply so that someday my children and grandchildren would know some of the activities that I had participated in so when I learned through my sister who lived in North Platt and took the North Platt paper there was an article that said Bob Green was interested in contacting and hearing from people who had worked in the canteen so I thought well holy smokes I got that all written and so I just put it in and sent it to his office there and it wasn't very long until I had a telephone call from his office and the girl said you know would you talk to Bob Green and I said oh my goodness yes I talked Bob Green so we had probably a 25 30 minute chat on a telephone and I told my husband after we had that talk I said you know I think that's the first time anybody has actually ever listened to what I had to say it was a good listener it was just delightful talking to him it was very easy to talk to him so that's how I met Bob Green but when we did a book signing out in North Platt then I met him and I had my presentation with him and he signed your book oh absolutely but you cannot read these right you have to know that it was Bob Green and your story is one of the ones that's really compelling isn't it what he read once upon a town you know see it and then my story is the first story that he tells it's on page 19 so even if you don't read the whole book read page 19, get Rosalie's story absolutely now you said that he was the first person who listened to you tell about your story I believe that since the book came out that you have told your story to probably close to 50 different groups of people I got started talking about it after a neighbor lady was a program chairman for her group of ladies and she needed a program and she said you're going to talk about the canteen I said oh that I did I got started and so far I've given that 45 minute presentation about 45 times to groups all kinds of groups can I tell you about the most thrilling one again in uniform I gave presentation to the crewman of the nuclear some Nebraska and it was just the most wonderful evening at the end of it my talk those fellas played it up gave me a hug and a kiss and made me an honorary crewman of the nuclear sub and then they presented me with the dolphin pin which I learned is a very coveted pin among the sub people and then another group that absolutely ignored me were middle school group here in Lincoln and the teacher had the kids all had read the book and if you don't think we didn't have a good interchange of information it was delightful well you're delightful and we're so glad that you have had the privilege for you but privilege for everyone you've spoken to to bring this history to them so thank you so much I'll tell you what at my age it's been just absolutely wonderful experience now your talk can be seen on youtube is that correct? your entire talk and what do people need to look under for that under your name right Rosalie Lippincott just Lippincott Lippincott can ski or can team Lippincott search but you know that was about the first first time that I had given that talk I think today I could do it much better than once on youtube then we'll tell people if they have the opportunity to hear you speak they should go absolutely I should run out of dates my booking agent because she's going to her son who has turned into the booking agent and driver and daughter in law too you're very booking agents right perfect well thank you very much and that is a good note for us to move on to people to continue to get involved with this book because even though we're starting to talk about what's going to be the 2015 one book one Nebraska we're still in 2014 and there's still time to schedule a book club or a book talk book a program like Rosalie's have her come to your group you're still available and we will put your contact information up on the website so that people know how to get to you we also are encouraging people to still go into local radio and TV talk shows they're still looking for great stories and this is a great story and then also we want to really encourage everyone to join us at the November 8 celebration of Nebraska books and that's going to be from 3.30 to 6.30 here at 1200 Ann Street that's the library commission here in Lincoln and we'd also invite you to join us for the Center for the Book Annual Meeting which is an hour before that at 2.30 the celebration always includes an awards reception book signings and the announcement of the 2015 one book one Nebraska book choice but before we move on to that Chris if you wouldn't mind sending me over the mouse I'm going to show people what resources are available on your website just want to point out that we do have a website we'll see if I can find it is that it that should be a tab we do that tab okay there we go I just want to point out that we do have a website it's onebookonenebraska.gov oh wait no it's not man it's onebook.nebraska.gov sorry anyway onebook.nebraska.gov is that right we'll have it included in the show links so you can get to it correctly sorry as you can see there's a lot of resources on here a little description of the book a little information about the author we were just talking remembering that Bob Green did a weekly column for years and years and years and now he's actually doing an online column he's doing a CNN blog column and then there's this section called get involved and this is the section I really wanted to point out to anybody who's still thinking about doing any programming with 2014 onebook.nebraska there's a toolkit here which has a whole lot of resources and a whole lot of materials that can help people put a program together and that's for librarians for teachers for just individuals who have a book club they want to use this for there's discussion questions which Molly mentioned she worked on early in the year lesson plans and activities these are a little more school oriented but you can pick things out of them for adults and pick things out of them for groups and then there's also a community on facebook onebook onenebraska and we get a lot of really interesting comments on facebook about programs people have seen and like I said I got a comment from someone who was trying to rack his brain to think if he had been through the north butt canteen and then he remembered he was at the butt canteen you can also obviously find a copy of the book if you can't see or you can't see to read regular print or hold a book we do have the book available in digital format through our talking book and braille service and so that's something to keep in mind that if you have a customer a library customer that can't hold a book or can't see the regular print we do have it available through talking book and braille and then we also have these book club kits that many of you are familiar with we actually have now what over 800 that right 800 and some book club kits this is one of them and you can borrow a number of books for your book club and you do this through your local library or the local library does it for you and borrow some part through us and we send them out and you have them for as long as your book club needs them and then turn it back in and we send them to another book club so another thing to remember is that there is this humanities Nebraska speakers bureau option there's also one of the things I wanted to point out Rosalie mentioned that the wedding gown and the wedding pictures of the couple who were met through the popcorn ball are at Lincoln County Historical Society Museum there's also an online exhibit that you can link to right from our page and it's the Lincoln County Historical Museum online exhibit on canteen and the Lincoln County Museum has had several activities this year they have a junction with the book we've actually gotten a lot of great activities going on the the Nebraska tourism council had their annual tourism meeting in North Platte this year and the canteen was the spirit the canteen spirit was the theme of their of their conference and so one of the things that's happened because one book on Nebraska has a lot more interest in the canteen and interest in the book so that's all good I think the union Pacific has a canteen exhibit too at the Durham Museum in Omaha yeah it's in Council Bluffs oh in Council Bluffs now it's a smaller exhibit and I have not seen it but I know I would encourage people on this end of the status they need to I would sure go to the North Platte canteen exhibit yeah if you have a chance well and there's other things here there's I believe there's Rosalie's video is on here if it's not we will get it on here there it is Rosalie Lippincott on the North Platte canteen that's the video that's on YouTube there's other videos on YouTube and here's somebody performing his own song telling the story so I mean the thing about this book and this story is it has inspired many people not just those of you who had this experience with Rosalie but here's a guy who wrote a song about it it's been a great something for us to all look up to I think that people like you were willing to do so much for people you didn't even know which is really a beautiful thing and so if you go on through down the page you can see that we've gotten a few articles there's been some interest but one of the things that we really encourage is that if you're doing an event promote it and let us know and here are just some of the events that we knew about and put up on our calendar through the year and you can see it has been well received there's been a lot of interest but please don't think that doesn't mean that it does not mean just because it's been well received it does not mean that there's still not time here's a program in Beatrice I love this Candy of the 1940s talking about what you did in the 1940s to still have candy which I think is just great I mean people have taken a lot of creative attitude towards this once again to point out that coming up here on November 8th is the celebration Nebraska books here in Lincoln and we'll be featuring the canteen as well as announcing the 2015 book so if anybody has any questions have you gotten any questions Christa or if anybody would like to share anybody who's out there would like to share either your canteen memory if you remember the canteen yourself or anything you'd like to share about doing the book discussion either in your library or in a bookstore in your home if you've been or if anything you'd like to share about this 2014 one book experience we'll just give you a minute I have a question I keep wondering what can even compare to this what what do we have that is in volunteerism today that can can compare to what happened in those years I do not know I mean I was just amazed if they didn't have meat they used pheasants they had pheasants sandwiches yeah it was funny somebody said in season when the pheasants were in season pheasants were shot and we made pheasant sandwiches and then somebody else said well sometimes when they weren't in season we shot it too and eggs eggs to make the cakes they used different you know not just chicken eggs turkey eggs I wonder if it takes as many turkey eggs to make I wouldn't think so you know usually you measure by the cup even chickens it takes different number of eggs to make a cup of egg whites to make your inch of food change I just wonder what we can compare this to today I mean people were so giving they used their rations for the soldiers that was the thing because people were giving up things anyway yes and then what little sugar or the tires on your car if you were going to drive in people really did give and give and give and I think the other thing about it is it was such a big effort just like you mentioned all those towns all around opposed to maybe you could think of things right now that are amazing examples of volunteerism mother Teresa's work but you know you think about this this was so many people I mean it was just so many people who came together and that I think is what makes it so special in part because there were so many people who stepped up and they were willing to volunteer for so long I mean who a volunteer activity two hours and then I'm done or something like that or when will the project be over you know we talked about having the free ride on the train if we were at station at 3 30 well then we didn't get on a train in North Platten until almost 11 o'clock at night it was 1 o'clock when we got back to Sheldon so that was 22 hours yeah that is really a long day for those young people well even at 15 it was a long tiring day yeah but you did it and felt good about doing it what has always struck me though is the it's like trying to imagine anything comparable but this happened every day over a long period of time years that is just so extraordinary it's just beyond comprehension to me but there was that kind of ongoing sustained commitment people to do that it's just remarkable yeah just like they say at least as a miracle and how it got moving so quickly you know just almost overnight that way Wilson put a letter in the paper they called the meeting she got nominated as chairman and then that was early in December but at Christmas the canteen was moving wow it is amazing and I think it's inspirational and I love that you mentioned that the middle school kids had a lot to say about this because obviously this is well removed from their history they don't know much about it until they read a book like this and it all becomes real to them you know it's just such an awesome part of Nebraska history that everybody ought to be talking about it I think so too and I think sometimes when people talk about it they talk about it in terms of patriotism which was of course a very big part of it that's one of the reasons why people step forward but I think to me it's a story of caring about human beings you don't even know which I just think it's one thing to help your neighbor it's another thing to be so strong in your humanity that you're willing to just step forward for people you'll never see again who don't know you from a load of goats but here you are and here they are and you've intersected in their lives and you're going to do something for them the soldiers mentioned that over and over again that they didn't know us and they treated us all the same with dignity and respect and they really cared they kept saying they could see it in people's eyes and that's an amazing thing so as you can tell those of you who are out there you can tell that we definitely recommend you read this book this year if you haven't do it it's time to read it because it's going to be another couple of months of 2014 plenty of time to read it, plenty of time to discuss it librarians if you're looking to get a book club kit you can contact our reference desk if they can't get it there's some kits out in the systems too so contact us or the systems and we will definitely get you a book club kit for your group in your town anything else anybody would like to share for the good of the group no questions have come in no questions, okay we do a bunch of different libraries listening in so hopefully they'll get some ideas and have some more events that they'll either have a thrown library or participate in very good, well I put the screen up just to remind you again what the address is for the website because now it's big enough I can actually see it onebook.nebraska.gov and then the facebook page for those of you on facebook it's www.facebook.com onebook.nebraska so I'm definitely recommending that you take a look at those resources see how this works with your group with your community and stay tuned join us at the celebration November 8 to find out what's next year's book anything else thank you all thank you Rosalie so much it was a pleasure to have you here with us today well thank you very much alright thank you very much everyone everyone who's here in the room and are in the background helping make this all happen that was great the show has been is being recorded we did have some technical difficulties earlier briefly but we've got two recordings that we will put together and make one awesome one to put out not a problem thank God you are here to take care of the problem there's a question absolutely one of those ma'am he has been identified positively seriously he was from back east I can't tell you where but he ended up coming back to Nebraska his name is John Zug and he lived spending spending his work in years in Cozad I think it was really he came back to Nebraska after the war and worked in Cozad and he did pass away


I think we ought to follow that if we can. Not just leave it limbo today. Yes, sir. Give me Dick Loach. Mr. Loach, talking to Walter. Oh, thank you. Tina, you following him there? He was. Yeah. Walter? No, let him adjust. Mr. President? Yeah. Mr. Hoover, I wanted to call you, sir, immediately and tell you that the FBI has found three bodies, six miles southwest of Philadelphia, Mississippi, six miles west of where the civil rights workers were last seen on the night of June 21st. A search party of agents turned up the bodies just about 15 minutes ago while they were digging in the woods and underbrush several hundred yards off Route 21 in that area. We're going to get a car and they're right away, sir, and we're going to move these bodies into Jackson, Mississippi, where we hope they can be identified. We have not identified them as yet as the three missing men, but we have every reason to believe that they are the three missing men. They were under it. They were at the site of a dam that had been constructed near Philadelphia, Mississippi. I want to let you know right away, sir. When are you going to make the map? Within 10 minutes, sir, if it's all right with you. How are you going to make it? Where? From there. I plan to make it from Washington here, sir. I think the FBI has found three bodies and not identified them. Okay. If you can hold it about 15 minutes, I think we'll notify these families. Well, Mr. President, the only thing I'd suggest you not have there is that you wish to do that prior to the time that they're identified. We think they're the ones, but... Well, I think we could tell them that we don't know, but we found them, and that kind of eases it a little bit. Yes, sir. All right, sir. Shall I wait until I... Yeah, I'll get right back to you. Very good, sir.