The William Jennings Bryan House, also known as Fairview, is a

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...

on Sumner Street in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

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.Lissandrello, Stephen. National Register of Historic Places Inventory--Nomination Form: Bryan (William Jennings) Home (Fairview)". Retrieved 2012-11-30. Built in 1902–03, it is noteworthy as the home of politician

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...

(1860-1925), and was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1963. It is located on the

Bryan Health Bryan Health (formerly BryanLGH Health System) is an American not-for-profit healthcare organization located in Lincoln, Nebraska. The system operates an acute-care hospital, several outpatient clinics and a College of Health Sciences, as well as ...

hospital campus, and houses museum displays related to Bryan on the ground floor and the William Jennings Bryan Institute on the upper floors.

Description and history

The William Jennings Bryan House is located near the southeast corner of the Bryan Health campus, on the north side of Sumner Street opposite South 50th Street. The house is a brick building, stories in height, with a combination of Classical Revival and Queen Anne Victorian styling. It has the varied rooflines typical of the latter style, including a two-story square turret at the right front corner, topped by a slightly bellcast pyramidal roof with flared edges. Window sizes and shapes are also varied, with a small

Palladian window Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

in one gable section, and a larger one on the second level of the tower. The house was built in 1902 to a design by Artemus A. Roberts, and is a high-quality example of what was at the time a popular style in Lincoln. It was built for William Jennings Bryan, a

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician then at the height of his influence. He was three times an unsuccessful candidate for

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

(in 1896, 1900, and 1908), and gave the influential

Cross of Gold speech The Cross of Gold speech was delivered by William Jennings Bryan, a former United States Representative from Nebraska, at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on July 9, 1896. In his address, Bryan supported " free silver" (i.e. bim ...

to the 1896 Democratic Party Convention. The house served Bryan as both a private and public space. He hosted numerous gatherings, including political rallies and other public events, and also hosted prominent political figures of the day. In 1921, Bryan donated the house and of land to the Nebraska Methodist Conference for use as a hospital. The hospital, now

, has grown to surround the house on two sides, obscuring the "fair view" which Bryan named the property for. The hospital at first used the house as a dormitory for nurses in training. Although the building remains in the hospital's ownership, it was restored in 1961 to the period of Bryan's occupancy, and opened as a museum operated by the state historical society and the local

Junior League The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (Junior League or JL) is a private, nonprofit educational women's volunteer organization aimed at improving communities and the social, cultural, and political fabric of civil society. With ...

. The home was restored in 1994. The upper two floors house the Wm. Jennings Bryan Institute, which consists of three centers: the Center for Bioethics, the Center for Advancing Nursing Practice and the Center for Quality.

References

External links

*
BryanLGH Health System: History
- scroll to bottom for information about the Bryan Museum and visitation * (Note: this house has a different address and does not have the same appearance as given b
NHL Program

"William Jennings Bryan, Presidential Contender"
from

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

's ''

The Contenders ''The Contenders'' is a 14-program series that was produced and aired by C-SPAN in the fall of 2011. It looked at the lives and careers of 14 candidates for the presidency of the United States who were determined to have made significant impacts ...

'', broadcast from the William Jennings Bryan House {{DEFAULTSORT:Bryan, William Jennings, House (Lincoln, Nebraska) Biographical museums in Nebraska Historic house museums in Nebraska Houses completed in 1903 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Nebraska Historic American Buildings Survey in Nebraska Museums in Lincoln, Nebraska National Historic Landmarks in Nebraska Queen Anne architecture in Nebraska William Jennings Bryan Houses in Lancaster County, Nebraska National Register of Historic Places in Lincoln, Nebraska

Description and history

See also

References

External links