“A new history book entitled Pioneer Life on Glass, about Cairo and the surrounding area, is now available at both banks in Cairo and at the Roots Museum. It is a hard-cover book, 94 pages, and has many photos showing pioneer life by photographers Henry Balcom and Ray Green. The Balcom-Green collection makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the history and settlement of the central Great Plains by providing an intimate look into Nebraska’s past. The images capture private moments that illicit strong emotional responses, the sadness of an infant’s funeral to the joy of school children having ice cream. The subtle nuances of pioneer life (rain barrels at the ends of downspouts, for instance) are also depicted in the photographs in addition to the more significant symbols of progress-horses, cattle and hogs, frame houses and hay barns, shocks of wheat, steam engines, and new motorcars. Beyond landscapes and material advances, the individuals and families portrayed in the photographs convey a sense of achievement and the determination of the men and women who settled the Great Plains is evident.
The book also is available on Ebay and Amazon.com.
