Addison E. Sheldon became superintendent of
the Society in 1917. A man with tremendous energy and vision,
he guided the Society until his death in 1943. Here Sheldon (standing
at right) supervises Society workers in the capitol.
In 1933-34 the Society museum and offices
moved into the new state capitol building.
To reach out to the public, the Society prepared
exhibits for the State Fair, as shown here in 1927.
In 1918 Sheldon initiated publication of Nebraska
History and Record of Pioneer Days, which continues today
as the Society's quarterly, Nebraska History.
Sheldon believed in taking Nebraska history
to the people. This Historical Society museum car toured the
state in 1928 through the cooperation of the Burlington Railroad,
and attracted more than 180,000 visitors.
Before he died in November 1943, Addison E.
Sheldon saw the dream of a new Historical Society building come
a step closer to reality when Governor Dwight Griswold used this
pen to sign LB425 in 1943. The bill earmarked excess revenue
from a state school levy for a Historical Society building fund.
After 1900 the Society became a leader in
Great Plains archeology under the direction of archeologists
E. E. Blackman and Asa T. Hill, who is shown here in camp.
Hill used this camera to document archeological
sites.
Museum #1727-26:
Thousands of artifacts, such as pottery from
prehistoric Indian village sites, were added to Society collections.
Although the legislature in 1905 made the
Society responsible for the state's archives, few government
records were acquired because there was no place to store them.
The Society did collect important manuscripts and photographs,
including the papers of Arbor Day founder J. Sterling Morton,
and the sod house photographs of Solomon D. Butcher.
Solomon D. Butcher cataloging his negatives
in the Society library, February 1913.
14562/RG2608:PH-3529:
