Nebraska State Historical Society

Publications

Who We Are

The Nebraska State Historical Society publishes works that explore Nebraska history and culture. Our readers range from professional historians to history buffs to curious people who simply find that learning about the past helps them better enjoy living and traveling here. We all share a passion for well-crafted historical writing.

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Our members make history happen.

"Nebraska Timeline" Columns

From 1992 – 2019, the Nebraska State Historical Society wrote a series of articles for newspapers titled “Nebraska Timeline.” Below you can browse or search through those articles and discover interesting stories from Nebraska’s History.

A Premature Fireworks Display

Independence Day celebrations began a day early in Omaha in 1901 when on July 3, a carelessly dropped match at H. Hardy's Ninety-nine Cent Store ignited a large stock of ...

A Question of Business: Will Machines Replace Stenographers?

In 1877 Thomas A. Edison invented a machine that could record and reproduce the human voice using a tinfoil-covered cylinder. Edison's phonograph, his trade name for his ...

A Racing Novelty

Horse racing has long been popular in Nebraska. Early newspapers include numerous accounts of such races, which took place in all parts of the state. The Omaha Daily ...

A Real Romance

Valentine's Day has long been the day to celebrate romantic love-but, as the Omaha Daily Bee pointed out on April 29, 1882, there's "Nothing Like a Little Common Sense ...

A Soldier’s Christmas

The Cornhusker, yearbook of the University of Nebraska, in 1918 was dedicated to "Nebraskans-Students, Alumni, Faculty-here and over there" who were serving in World War ...

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 ...

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 ...

A Trip on the Fast Mail

Much of America's mail was once sorted and distributed by the railway mail service. The first experiment in distributing U.S. mail in so-called "post offices on wheels" ...

Abbott, Othman A.

Othman A. Abbott (1842-1935), a practicing lawyer at Grand Island beginning in 1867, was not only one of Nebraska's influential pioneer lawyers but also one of the ...

Accidents along the Trail

The greatest dangers along the Overland Trail were disease and accident. Except for sanitary precautions, then little known, disease was perhaps unavoidable. Accidents, ...

Adams County’s Michigan Colony

The first white settlers in Adams County were Mortimer "Wild Bill" Kress and Jerome "California Joe" Fouts, who entered the area in 1869 and located claims on the Little ...

Advice to the Legislature

"Get government off our backs" has been a rallying cry of the 1980s, but fifty years ago therewere similar calls to reduce the number of laws on the books. A 1931 ...

Contact Us

David Bristow | Publications
Nebraska State Historical Society
1500 R St
Lincoln, NE 68508
402-471-4748
[email protected]

Information Services:
Looking for research help? Contact Library/Archives, the Museum, or Education. The Publications division is an editorial office; we don’t have archival collections or reference staff here.

News and Events:
Looking for research help? Contact Follow the Nebraska State Historical Society on Facebook for event news, cool historical photos, and fascinating stories from the Nebraska State Historical Society blog. Members receive Nebraska History News.

About NSHS

The Nebraska State Historical Society was founded in 1878 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 NSHS from a state institution to a state agency. The division is headed by Interim Director Cindy Drake. They are assisted by an administrative staff responsible for financial and personnel functions, museum store services, security, and facilities maintenance for NSHS.

Explore Nebraska

Discover the real places and people of our past at these NSHS sites.

Upcoming Events

View our new and upcoming events to see how you can get involved.

Become a Member

The work we do to discover, preserve, and share Nebraska's history wouldn't be possible without the support of NSHS members.

NSHS Education

Learn more about the educational programs provided at our museums, sites, and online.

Education Digital Learning Resources

Find games, lists, and more to enhance your history education curriculum.

Latest Hall of Fame Inductee

The Nebraska Hall of Fame was established in 1961 to officially recognize prominent Nebraskans.

Listen to our Podcast

Listen to the articles and authors published in the Nebraska History Magazine with our new Nebraska History Podcast!

Nebraska Collections

NSHS's mission is to collect, preserve, and open our shared history to all Nebraskans.

Our YouTube Video Collection

Get a closer look at Nebraska's history through your own eyes, with our extensive video collections.

Additional Research Resources

NSHS's Research and Reference Services help connect you to the material we collect and preserve.

NSHS Services

Digital Resources

Find all of our digital resources, files, videos, and more, all in one easy-to-search page!

Support The Historical Society

Make a cash donation to help us acquire, preserve, and interpret Nebraska’s history. Gifts to the Nebraska State Historical Society help leave a legacy and may help your taxes, too! Support the work of NSHS.

Volunteers are the heroes of NSHS. So much history, so little time! Your work helps us share access to Nebraska’s stories at our museums and sites, the reference room, and online.