See What We've Done, (pdfs)
Steamboat Bertrand Metals Conservation
The Ford Conservation Center staff is preserving thousands of artifacts from the 1865 shipwreck of the steamboat Bertrand, now on the property of the DeSoto Wildlife Refuge, USFWS across the Missouri River from Blair, Nebraska. Over 200,000 artifacts were recovered from the wreckage of the steamboat in the late 1960's. The items have been stored for the past thirty years. There are more than 10,000 metal artifacts that are actively corroding and will perish if not conserved. The DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge, USFWS, and the Ford Conservation Center at NSHS have formed a partnership to save the Bertrand Metals.
Hopewell Vessel Reconstruction
The remains of at five Hopewell low fired terracotta ceramic vessels were excavated in the summer of 2006 at an archeological site in Ohio. Three of the vessels were found to have three-footed bases, a feature rarely found among Hopewell pottery, thereby greatly increasing the body of knowledge regarding Hopewell ceramics.
Native American Collection
The NSHS and Ford Center staff is preserving a stunning collection of 3,000 Native American artifacts, headdresses, moccasins, weapons, and clothing that tell the stories of Nebraska and Plains Indians and related events that shaped the history of our state. The Museum of Nebraska History collection includes artifacts from many tribes and important individuals such as Sitting Bull and Standing Bear and events like the Wounded Knee Massacre, people and stories that reverberate today. Highlights of the collection include objects from Susan LaFlesche Picotte, the first female Native American medical doctor, as well as one of the oldest examples of Plains Indian woodcarving in the world. The collection is used widely for exhibit, loan to other museums, and research.
