Mari Sandoz in Lincoln

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Mari Sandoz (1896-1966), Nebraska historian and novelist, lived at this site, 1226 J Street, from 1925 to 1937. Here in 1928, she began writing Old Jules, the biography of her father. From the J Street curb, she often wrote and watched construction of the capitol, completed in 1932. That same year, Sandoz submitted Old Jules to the Atlantic Monthly Press nonfiction contest, but it was rejected seven months later. Frustrated, she burned over 70 short stories behind the house, and in January 1934, Sandoz began work for the Nebraska State Historical Society on the ninth floor of the capitol. In 1935, Sandoz revised Old Jules for the Atlantic Press contest. Two days before the deadline, the manuscript fell into a scrub bucket, but Sandoz managed to retype it with the help of friends. Then on June 13, 1935, Sandoz received a telegram at the capitol. Old Jules won the first-place, $5,000 prize. Its subsequent publication launched Sandoz' prolific writing career.