Elections to the NSHS Board of Trustees
A real estate broker from Elwood, a special collections curator from Omaha, and a University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor have been elected to the Nebraska State Historical Society Board of Trustees. Election results were announced at the Society's annual meeting in Omaha October 9. New board members include:
John Schleicher, Omaha, the head of special collections at the University of Nebraska Medical Center's McGoogan Library, who also serves as an adjunct lecturer in history at UNO. His involvement in history includes employment at the Western Heritage Museum, Omaha; the Dodge County Historical Society/May Museum in Fremont; and the Nebraska State Historical Society.
Cheryl L. Clark, Elwood, a real estate broker and former teacher, who also served for two years as the state regent for the Daughters of the American Revolution in Nebraska. She was a member of the Nebraska Commission on the Status of Women for four years.
Current board member Peter Bleed was reelected to a second three-year term. Dr. Bleed is professor of anthropology and associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The Nebraska State Historical Society is governed by a board of fifteen members, twelve of whom are elected by the membership of the Society and three of whom are appointed by the governor. A new gubernatorial appointee will be announced at a later date.
Special Holiday Offer: Lewis and Clark on the Middle Missouri,
by Gary E. MoultonNeed a great gift idea? Give a gift membership at any level, and the new member will receive, as a bonus, Lewis and Clark on the Middle Missouri, by Gary E. Moulton! Call 402-435-3535 or 888-515-3535 to send your gift today.
Receiving awards at the Society's 126th History Conference and Annual Meeting October 8-9 were Dr. Gary E. Moulton (left), Addison E. Sheldon Memorial Award; Betty Kort on behalf of the Willa Cather Pioneer Memorial and Educational Foundation, Red Cloud, Nebraska Preservation Award; and Marian Behlen Hruska, on behalf of Ruby Cumming Behlen, Robert W. Furnas Memorial Award. Not pictured are Herb and Gloria Gibreal, Asa T. Hill Memorial Award; and Randolph W. Baxter, James L. Sellers Memorial Award.
The Search for Engineer Cantonment Now Available
NSHS archeologists Rob Bozell and Gayle Carlson have collaborated on a new publication in the "Explore Nebraska Archeology" series. The Search for Engineer Cantonment traces the discovery of the site of the 1819-1820 winter camp of Major Stephen Long's scientific expedition, the oldest known Euro-American archeological site in Nebraska. Photographs and maps combine with text to reveal insights into the life and work of the early U.S. explorers who occupied the camp. The booklet is available from the NSHS Museum Store. Visit www.nebraskahistory.org for more information.
Judy Kennedy, and student Ope Omojola share the National History Day award-winning exhibit, The Stephen H. Long Expedition of 1819-1820: Exploration, Encounter, and Exchange in the Trans-Missouri West, at the NSHS History Conference in Omaha in October. The exhibit took tenth place in junior division exhibitions and Best of State, junior division, at the national competition. The students, along with Mark Trost, not pictured, attended Morton Middle School in Omaha when they created the exhibit.
National Award Given for Butcher Documentary
Solomon Butcher: Frontier Photographer, a coproduction of the Nebraska State Historical Society and Nebraska Educational Telecommunications, won a Regional Emmy for Best DocumentaryHistorical at the Heartland Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awards in Denver on Saturday, October 9.
NSHS staff John Carter and David Murphy (and former Curator of Photographs Jill Koelling) appear in the program, but many other staff also assisted in the production.
The program is available through our museum store in both DVD and VHS formats.
State Fair Award Winner Receives Certificate, Membership
Austin Coufal of Genoa was the recipient of a Nebraska State Historical Society Certificate of Achievement acknowledging his scrapbook titled Nebraska Scrapbook at the 2004 Nebraska State Fair. Austin prepared his scrapbook for the Explore Your Heritage 4-H project. Along with his certificate Austin received a one-year complimentary Society membership.
MNH / HISTORIC SITES
Quilts Added to Patchwork Lives
Fifteen quilts have been placed on exhibit in the latest rotation of Patchwork Lives, an exhibition of quilts from the collections of the Nebraska State Historical Society and the International Quilt Study Center. It is now on display at the Nebraska State Historical Society's Museum of Nebraska History at Fifteenth and P streets. The current rotation will be on display until April 3, 2005. Among the NSHS quilts featured are:
- Six Point Star of Bethlehem, dating from 1855 or earlier, brought in 1862 by Jane Crabtree Dake from New York to Iowa. Ten years later, it was part of the household goods loaded into a covered wagon and driven from Iowa to Franklin County, Nebraska, where the Dakes lived, first in a dugout and then in a soddy. Source: Mrs. Marietta Kerl, Geneva, Nebraska.
- Friendship Quilt, made by the ladies of the Seward Presbyterian Church, Seward, Nebraska, as a going-away gift for their pastor and his wife, the Reverend and Mrs. Boyd, in 1890. Members' names, along with the names of Seward businesses, are embroidered on the spokes of each wagon-wheel-shaped block. Source: Ruth D. Greenwood, Seward, Nebraska.
November's brown bag History Forum lecture will also feature Nebraska quilts. On Thursday, November 18, Carolyn Ducey, curator, International Quilt Study Center, will present "Nebraska Quilts," information on what kind of quilts were made in Nebraska, when they were made and who made them, and how they fit within the larger mainstream American quilting tradition. The lecture will be aired subsequently on the government access channel, 5CityTV in Lincoln, and on Cox Cable 23 in Omaha.
For more information about the exhibit or lecture contact the museum at 402-471-4754.
Holiday Displays at the Museum of Nebraska History
The Museum of Nebraska History will be decked out in its holiday finery from Tuesday, November 23, to Sunday, January 2. An animated Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus will greet visitors on the museum's first floor near a 1950s aluminum tree lit by a revolving color wheel. The Carson Parlor will depict an 1860s Nebraska Territorial Christmas, complete with tabletop tree, toys, and gifts. The World War II living room, the Goehner Brothers General Store, and the sod house will also feature seasonal decorations. Museum hours are 9:00-4:30, Tuesday-Friday, and 1:00-4:30, Saturday and Sunday.
Victorian Holidays Past
The Thomas P. Kennard House, a Nebraska State Historical Society historic site at 1627 H Street in Lincoln, will celebrate Victorian Holidays Past, featuring Victorian toys, decorations, and historic photographs Monday, November 29, through Thursday, December 30. The house will be open Monday through Friday by appointment. Regular admission will be charged. Nebraska State Historical Society members are free. There will be a free open house on Sunday, December 5, 1 to 5. Also that afternoon the Ferguson House, 700 South Sixteenth Street, and the Atwood House, 740 South Seventeenth, in the same neighborhood, will be decorated for the holidays, and visitors will be welcome, 1-5, with no admission charged. For additional information on the open house and Victorian Holidays Past at the Kennard House, call 402-471-4764; Ferguson House, 402-471-5409; Atwood House, 402-438-4567.
Recovered Views Exhibit in Kearney
Recovered Views: African American Portraits, an exhibition organized by the Nebraska State Historical Society and circulated by ExhibitsUSA, is on exhibit through January 16, 2005, at the Museum of Nebraska Art, 2401 Central Avenue, in Kearney.
One of the most exciting photographic and historical finds in Nebraska history is featured in this exhibition of African American portraits, taken in Lincoln between 1912 and 1925. Hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 11- 5, and Sunday, 1-5. Closed Mondays and major holidays. Visit monet.unk.edu/mona/exhibitionNEW.html.
Sioux and Dawes Counties to be Surveyed
The State Historic Preservation Office is beginning the 2004-05 Nebraska Historic Buildings Survey. The SHPO has hired the Louis Berger Group to survey Sioux and Dawes counties, representing 3,465 square miles of land and 1,774 miles of roadway that will be driven by the consultants as they perform the survey. The survey area includes the Fort Robinson National Historic Landmark.
Several intensive survey projects are planned, including the development of a historic context for ranching in each of the counties. The historic context will include an overall introduction to ranching and its role in Nebraska agriculture; the historical development of ranching in Nebraska; types of buildings associated with ranching and how those have changed; changes in the industry; and aspects of the landscape amenable to, and altered by, ranching.
An additional intensive project in this survey includes a study of the Warbonnet Skirmish site in Sioux County. In 1876 William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody was scouting the area with the Fifth U.S. Cavalry when they surprised a band of Cheyennes leaving the Red Cloud Agency. This encounter, occurring so soon after the battle of the Little Bighorn, was fraught with tension and shots were fired, including one by Cody that killed a Cheyenne named Yellow Hair. The skirmish became a rallying cry following Custer's defeat at Little Bighorn and helped to enhance Cody's reputation. Later, settlers established the townsite of Montrose. Fearing uprisings during the Ghost Dance era, the people of Montrose built an earthworks fort north of the village in 1890 on part of the Warbonnet Skirmish site. No fighting occurred. The SHPO and the National Forest Service, which owns the property, intend to list the site on the National Register of Historic Places.
Library Book Sale
The Society Library/Archives Division is tentatively planning a book sale late in 2005. Information will be forthcoming.
LIBRARY / ARCHIVES
NEW ACQUISITIONS OF INTEREST TO GENEALOGISTS
By Cindy S. Drake, Library CuratorThe Ancestors and Descendents of Thomas and Mary Margaret Hayes [compiled by Beverly Hayes]. (Hayes family in Cuming County and Kansas.)
Complete Surname Index for Once Upon A Time, Their Hopes Were High: Filley, Nebraska, 1883-1983, indexed by Judy L. Gibson.
Complete Surname Index for the Blue Springs Centennial Plus 25 Years, indexed by Judy L. Gibson.
Etna, compiled by Harry Dale "Jack" Ostergard, 2003. (Town in Custer County.)
Families of Co. Donegal Ireland: From the Earliest Times to the 20th Century; Irish Family Surnames with Locations and Origins Including English, Scots, and Anglo Norman Settlers and Settlements, by [Michael C.] O'Laughlin, 2001.
The Families of Richardson County, Nebraska: Including Brief Outlines of Allied Families, compiled by Duane L. Borden. (Borden family.)
The Land Struggle, 1934-1955. (Copley family in Franklin County.)
A Lonely Cricket Chirps: Remembrances of the Swedeburg Years, 1895-1902, by Hilda Carlson Johnson. (Carlson family in Saunders County.)
Nebraska, by Jill Foran, published by Weigl Publishers, Mankato, MN, 2002. (A Guide to American States Series.)
Olive Wilkinson Bullis, 1897-1993: An Autobiography. (Wilkinson family in Antelope and Pierce counties.)
Our Ancestors: From Noah's Ark to Me, by Maxine McNickle Richards. (Green family in Dawson County.)
Pioneer History of the Braasch Family, 1803-1956, compiled by Mrs. Herman Wagner. Includes a supplement, 1956-1966, by Mrs. Elvira Weiand. (Family in Pierce and Madison counties.)
The River Girl, by Aileen Marie Brown; researched by Byril E. Brown. (Oliver family in Douglas County.)
UPCOMING EVENTS
November 11: Lincoln Corral of Westerners, "History of the Indian Press," by Chuck Trimble, Omaha. Meet in the Arbor Room, Holiday Inn, Ninth and P streets, Lincoln. Social hour at 6:30 p.m., dinner at 7:00, program at 8:00. For information and reservations (required): call Margaret Allington at 402-488-5698.
November 18: Brown Bag Lecture, "Nebraska Quilts," by Carolyn Ducey, curator, International Quilt Study Center. See article above for more information on this program and the MNH quilt exhibit. 12 noon, Museum of Nebraska History, Fifteenth and P streets, Lincoln. Free and open to the public.
November 21: Sunday at the Museum Series, "A Visit with Alexander Hamilton," by Donald Hickey, noted historian of the early nineteenth century with Wayne State College. 2 p.m., John G. Neihardt State Historic Site, Bancroft. Free and open to the public; reception following. For information contact the Neihardt Site at 1-888-777-4667 or neihardt@gpcom.net
December 9: Lincoln Corral of Westerners, "European and Indian Relationships," by Carl Camp, Ph.D., UNO, based on James Ronda's book about Lewis and Clark's relationships with the Indians. For time and reservations (required), see above.
December 16: Brown Bag Lecture, "From the Vault," by Deb Arenz, senior museum curator, Nebraska State Historical Society. During the past 125 years, the NSHS has accumulated a museum collection of more than 180,000 artifacts. Arenz will discuss some of the most beautiful, interesting, notorious, and downright bizarre artifacts from the collection, many of which are rarely seen. 12 noon, Museum of Nebraska History, Fifteenth and P streets, Lincoln. Free and open to the public.
December 19: Sunday at the Museum Series, musical performance by Greenblat and Seay. 2 p.m., John G. Neihardt State Historic Site, Bancroft. Free and open to the public; reception following. For information contact the Neihardt Site as above.
Holiday Discount at Museum Store Members will receive a 20 percent discount on merchandise purchased at the NSHS museum stores, December 3-10, as special thanks for your support of the NSHS this holiday season. The store features many books on Nebraska and Western history and Lewis and Clark books and gifts, along with windmill, covered wagon, and quilt kits, classic toys in tin boxes (e.g., football, baseball), and a number of educational gifts for children. Stop by, or call us at 471-3447, 1-800-833-6747 (toll free), or visit our website at www.nebraskahistory.org
The discount applies at any of your museum stores, including those at the Museum of Nebraska History, Fifteenth and P streets, Lincoln; the Fort Robinson Museum near Crawford; the Chimney Rock National Historic Site near Bayard; the Senator George W. Norris State Historic Site in McCook; the Neligh Mill State Historic Site in Neligh; the Walter and Ruby Behlen State Historic Site in Columbus; and the Gerald R. Ford Conservation Center in Omaha. We suggest you call for store hours. Happy holidays!
GIFT IDEAS
from the MUSEUM STORE
Books
- Building for the Ages: Omaha's Architectural Landmarks, by Kristine Gerber and Jeffrey S. Spencer
- Encyclopedia of the Great Plains, edited by David J. Wishart
- Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian Alps, by Ted Kooser
- Mystic Horse, by Paul Goble
- The Lewis and Clark Journals: An American Epic of Discovery, edited and with an introduction by Gary E. Moulton
Children's Items
- Classic toys in tin boxes
- Educational playing cards/game
- Flute with hand-painted Native American designs
- Old fashioned wooden toys-Jacob's ladder, tops, cup-and-ball toys
- Windmill, covered wagon, and quilt kits
Unique Jewelry
- Designs by Ali-O (Nebraska artist)
- Grandmother's Buttons pins, rings, bracelets, and earrings
- Native American beaded or quill bracelets
- Sterling silver petroglyph jewelry
Other Gift Ideas
- Nebraska and Kansas Territory map (unfolded, approximate size: thirty-one by twenty-two inches)
- Lewis and Clark books and gifts
- Commemorative reproduction Thomas Jefferson Peace Medal, often referred to as the "Lewis and Clark Indian Peace Medal." Limited edition and individually numbered.
- Solomon Butcher: Frontier Photographer, video and DVD coproduced by the Nebraska ETV Network and the Nebraska State Historical Society. Program time is approximately forty-eight minutes.
- Membership in the NSHS
MUSEUM of NEBRASKA HISTORY, 15th & "P" Streets, 402-471-3447
10:00 - 4:30, Monday - Friday
1:00 - 4:00, Saturday and Sunday
Museum Store Catalog online
