James C. Olson, who became Society superintendent
in 1946, presided over construction of the R Street building.
He also promoted innovations to extend the Society's reach, including
educational television programs about Nebraska history in the
early 1950s in cooperation with KUON-TV.
The Society's collections have always
been open for research by the public. To preserve important research
materials and make them more accessible, microfilming of newspapers
and manuscripts began in 1951
The Society's first branch museum opened
at Fort Robinson in 1956.
Archeological activity increased after
1960, when federal funds became available for surveys and salvage
excavations in advance of highway construction.
Although reports of archeological investigations frequently appeared
in Nebraska History, a separate "Publications in Anthropology"
series began in 1952.
William D. Aeschbacher directed the Society
from 1956 to 1963.
During Aeschbacher's administration, the legislature
made the Society responsible for state historical markers. More
than four hundred markers have been erected to date.
