This exhibit tells the story of John J. Pershing, Roscoe Pound, and the 1917 University of Nebraska Commencement.

In 1917, General John J. Pershing was invited to come back and speak at the commencement excercises at the University of Nebraska.  He happily accepted the invitation and looked forward to his return to Lincoln.  But, as the First World War began to intensify, the United States military also wanted Pershing to command the U.S. Forces. He declined the invitation to speak.  Left without a speaker, Chancellor Samuel Avery needed to figure out a solution. He called on another distinguished alumni, Roscoe Pound, Dean of the Harvard University Law School.  Pound accepted and gave the address.