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Nebraska Statehood Launched in Troubled Times

Nebraska Statehood Launched in Troubled Times

On March 1, 1867, President Andrew Johnson reluctantly signed the proclamation declaring Nebraska’s statehood. The signing ended the life of a territory which thirteen years earlier had been organized amid controversy. The quarrels at both the beginning and the end of...
How Eliza Grayson escaped Nebraska slavery

How Eliza Grayson escaped Nebraska slavery

By David L. Bristow, Editor   Eliza Grayson was one of the very first enslaved people brought to Nebraska when the territory opened to white settlers in 1854. Her escape from Nebraska City and capture in Chicago created a sensation in 1860. In the archives of...
A Nebraskan responds to the abolition of slavery

A Nebraskan responds to the abolition of slavery

An 1866 letter shows us something that’s often forgotten when people talk about civil rights history. D.H. Kelsey of Plattsmouth was living in Washington, DC, when the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, was ratified following the Civil War. (See below to learn...