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What We Found

Sullivan, John L., in Lincoln

Former world heavyweight boxing champion John L. Sullivan (1858-1918) visited Lincoln in 1893, a year after losing the championship to James J. "Gentleman Jim" Corbett. ...

Summer Recreation

During the summer of 1902 Omahans enjoyed many hot weather activities at area parks and resorts. The July 27, 1902, Omaha World-Herald (on microfilm at the Nebraska ...

Sunday Baseball

The Sunday afternoon baseball game seems as American as mom and apple pie. But in the early 1900s, playing baseball on Sunday was not only regarded by some as ...

Sunday Closing Laws

Engaging in certain activities on Sunday was once illegal in Nebraska. J. D. Calhoun of the Lincoln Weekly Herald on November 22, 1890, protested the local ban on Sunday ...

A Surprising Foot Race

Many community celebrations and smaller gatherings in early Nebraska included foot racing. The popularity of foot racing as a competitive sport is revealed by a ...

Swisher, William B.

One of the most pronounced characteristics of Nebraskans has been an unwillingness to accept a dry year with no protest. Protests have been expressed politically (as in ...

Sydenham’s Praise of Central Nebraska

Moses Sydenham in an 1870 letter to George S. Harris, described Kearney, Adams, Clay, Webster, Franklin, and Lincoln counties. Harris was then land commissioner of the ...

A Tale of Domestic Woe, Divorce in 1900

A review of the columns of bygone Nebraska newspapers turns up many convoluted stories of domestic woe and the resulting legal hassles of divorce. The Sunday ...

Teachers

The Omaha Daily Bee noted on October 3, 1903, that Nebraska's corps of rural school teachers was changing, both in the relative percentages of men and women teachers and ...

Telautograph

The transmission of letters or documents via the "fax" machine is a technology considered essential to the modern-day office. The idea of facsimile transmission is not a ...

Telegraph at Brownville

Brownville, circa 1870. The first telegraph connection to Nebraska Territory was completed August 28, 1860, to Brownville from St. Joseph, Missouri. For local ...

Territorial Towns

In the earliest years of white settlement, few Nebraskans were concerned with the development of an agricultural system. Most were interested in the profits to be made ...

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About History Nebraska
History Nebraska was founded in 1878 as the Nebraska State Historical Society by citizens who recognized Nebraska was going through great changes and they sought to record the stories of both indigenous and immigrant peoples. It was designated a state institution and began receiving funds from the legislature in 1883. Legislation in 1994 changed History Nebraska from a state institution to a state agency. The division is headed by Interim Director and CEO Jill Dolberg. They are assisted by an administrative staff responsible for financial and personnel functions, museum store services, security, and facilities maintenance for History Nebraska.
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History Nebraska's mission is to collect, preserve, and open our shared history to all Nebraskans.
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