LOCATION 1: 9th & T STREET (1881·1915)
LOCATION 2: 1420 U STREET (1916-1964)
This K-8 school was named for the street on which it was located until 1890 when the Lincoln Board of Education gave it the name of Bancroft in honor of the American historian and diplomat George Bancroft (1800-1891). Mr. Bancroft had no Lincoln ties; however, he wrote a widely acclaimed ten-volume history of the United States in which the nation’s progress was viewed as evidence of a divine plan for freedom and equality.
In 1845, while serving as Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Bancroft founded the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. Later on, he represented the United States as envoy to Great Britain and to Germany.
In 1916, when the new building was built, Bancroft became a combination junior high and elementary school until 1923 when the junior high classes were transferred to the 26th & 0 Junior High. Bancroft continued as a K-6 school. Because of its location on the university campus, Bancroft also served as a laboratory school. Most of the staff had dual appointments as both university professors and LPS teachers. In 1940 the building was sold to the university but continued as a Lincoln Public School until 1964. The building then became Bancroft Hall, a regular university building.
Bancroft Hall was demolished in 2000 due to its proximity to the newly constructed Kaufman Center.
More history and photos of the building can be found on the UNL website.
