One of the clear mandates I received as the new director of the Nebraska State Historical Society was to return the permanent exhibits that tell the story of Nebraska from the territorial days to post World War II to the Nebraska History Museum. Working with the staff, we have identified five permanent exhibits to be placed in the museum:
- Nebraska Territory (1804-1867)
- Nebraska Statehood (1867-1916)
- World War I through World War II (1917-1945)
- Post World War II (1945 – Date to be Determined)
- Nebraska Native Americans
We are planning for approximately 18 months from design to installation for each of the five exhibits and hope to have the first permanent exhibit open by mid- to late summer in 2026. Because we have material and objects readily available for the Nebraska Statehood exhibit we will begin with it followed by the WWI – WWII exhibit, the Post WWII exhibit, and then the Territory and Native American Exhibits.
This is no small undertaking and will be a priority for the Nebraska State Historical Society team. I am working to ensure we have a strong relationship with the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation which will be an important part of this endeavor and quite frankly, will not be possible without them.
Flower Basket Petit Point by Grace Snyder, Object ID: 7828-8
In the meantime, I hope you will visit the Nebraska History Museum in the near future. We just hung two quilts from our collection that will be shared with the Smithsonian Institute in June as part of their commemoration of America’s 250th birthday next year. We are planning for a June opening of an exhibit called Collecting Moments which will feature objects selected by our curators from our collections we have acquired that haven’t been displayed yet. We are also exploring the possibility of having an exhibit featuring weapons from the Walter J. Charnley Firearms collection.
-Daryl Bohac, Nebraska State Historical Society Director, April 3, 2025
