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Flashback Friday: “A Celestial Visitor” Revisited: A Nebraska Newspaper Hoax From 1884 – Patricia C. Gaster

One of the oddest events in Nebraska’s history was said to have taken place about thirty-five miles northwest of Benkelman in SW Nebraska on June 6, 1884, when ...

Marker Monday: Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home

Location 2 Flanagan Blvd, Boys Town, Douglas County, Nebraska View this marker's location 41.262607, -96.12683 Marker Text Boys Town was founded as a home and school ...

“Definitely Representative of Nebraska”: Jeanine Giller, Miss Nebraska 1972, and the Politics of Beauty Pageants – David C. Turpie and Shannon M. Risk

In 1982, the Lincoln Journal published an article entitled, “Miss Nebraskas rate pageant experience: Great!” For the article, the reporter, Charles Flowerday, ...

Timeline Tuesday: Christmas in 1905

Although the most popular toys for the current holiday season are electronic, more than a century ago the toys in Santa's pack were likely to be mechanical. ...

Marker Monday: The Ionia Volcano

Early settlers worried that the so-called Ionia volcano would destroy its namesake town. It nearly did, but with a flood rather than an eruption. (more…)

Flashback Friday: A Church for the People and a Priest for the Common Man: Charles. W. Savidge, Omaha’s Eccentric Reformer (1882-1935) – Paul Putz

The hum and bustle of reform seemed to be everywhere in Omaha in July of 1892. Economic instability and uncertainty hovered, foreshadowing the impending Panic of 1893. ...

Timeline Tuesday: Christmas for a Nebraska Soldier

Andrew S. Wadsworth in 1898 went with the First Nebraska Regiment to the Philippines as a soldier in the first phase of the Spanish American War. He had previously been ...

Marker Monday: Paragon Cemetery

Location 567th Ave & 885th Rd, Hartington, Cedar County, Nebraska View this marker's location 42.655746, -97.18599 Marker Text Paragon Lutheran Church evolved ...

Flashback Friday: The Folk Songs of Great Plains Homesteading: Anthems, Laments, and Political Songs

“Uncle Sam is rich enough to give us all a farm.” So proclaimed a popular song from the early 1850s. In that era, good old Uncle Sam undoubtedly had deep enough pockets, ...

Marker Monday: Nehawka Flint Quarries

Location Village Park, Main & Washington, Nehawka, Cass County, Nebraska View this marker's location 40.830125, -95.991355 Marker Text Flint nodules embedded ...

Flashback Friday: Folkways of a One-House Legislature – State Senator Bill Avery (LD-28)

Nebraska state senator Bill Avery represented Legislative District 28 (Lincoln) 2007-2015. A retired professor of politlical science at the University of ...

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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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