Oct. 20, 1995



Author Seeks Understanding in Highs and Lows of Nebraska's History

Nebraska: An Illustrated History by Frederick C. Luebke

Reviewed by Robert Sheldon, News & Information

People have lived in Nebraska for many thousands of years, but human impact has been "astounding" since 1854, when the state was established, UNL historian Fred Luebke notes in his new book, Nebraska: An Illustrated History.

Luebke actually begins his history several decades earlier in the 19th century with the expeditions of Lewis and Clark and Zebulon Pike, but extending the timeline backwards another half century doesn't diminish his argument that a lot has happened in a relatively brief period of time here on the Plains. Luebke's major accomplishment is in describing so much of it in both words and illustrations in a book just 400 pages thick.

In his book, published by the University of Nebraska Press, the author's spareness with words in no way diminishes the quality of the overall work. What is most exemplary, in fact, is the manner in which text and illustrations complement each other, the words leading up to but not telling the whole story. Following a brief chapter on hardships encountered by pioneers making a home on the plains, for instance, the sheer loneliness of life on the plains is depicted in the photograph of a lone woman on horseback in front of a sod house on a treeless landscape -- miles from the nearest neighbor whose house appears as a mere dot on a distant horizon. On the opposite page, another photograph shows the fierce pride of Nebraska's early settlers, determined to make the best of life on the frontier. Here, a family that declined an invitation to be photographed in front of their humble home posed outdoors amidst possessions that included a team of mules and an ornate reed organ.

Luebke shows and tells of land rushes and the displacement of Native Americans, of railroad expansion, rural development and urban growth, of depressions and dustbowls, of dams built and buildings erected, of ordinary people and extraordinary men and women, of heros and knaves, of politics and social movements.

Luebke, the honest historian, glosses over nothing, whether the federal government's efforts to force Indians onto reservations that were "mere remnants of their once vast territories," or the machinations of political bosses such as Tom Dennison, who may have "orchestrated" Omaha's race riot of 1919 in order to discredit a reformist Omaha mayor and his police commissioner.

Make no mistake, Luebke finds much that is praiseworthy in Nebraska's history, whether the courage and steadfastness of the people who tamed a hostile frontier or their descendents who continue to provide the energy and leadership for a state that "enjoys a quality of life that is superior to that found in the United States generally."

"Nebraska has its stubborn economic and social problems," Luebke says. "Nebraskans have not always had an easy time of it in the past, nor will they in the future . . . They will respond to new forces and new leaders who will identify new ways to solve old problems of community survival."

Excerpt From 'Nebraska: An Illustrated History'

'If we Nebraskans wish to understand ourselves, we must have some comprehension of our trajectory through time. Like a bullet fired through space, whose direction is modified by wind, air friction, and gravity, a culture passes through time, its course modified by social, economic, and environmental variables. To have any sense of where we are going, we must know where we have been. '

Nebraska Press Authors to Sign Books

University of Nebraska Press authors Frederick Luebke (Nebraska: An Illustrated History), Robert Knoll (Prairie University: A History possessionsof the University of Nebraska) and Paul Johnsgard (This Fragile Land: A Natural History of the Nebraska Sandhills) will appear in bookstores throughout the state during the next few months to promote and autograph their recent books. Three other University of Nebraska Press authors whose books were well-received around the state last spring will also be appearing in bookstores this fall: Curt McConnell, (Great Cars of the Great Plains ), Hilda Neihardt, (Black Elk and Flaming Rainbow: Personal Memories of the Lakota Holy Man and John Neihardt ) and Gordon Steinbrook (Allies and Mates ). Appearances in Lincoln include:

The authors also will sign books in Columbus (Nov. 5, Knoll, Luekbe, and Steinbrook at Hansen's Bookstore 1 to 3 p.m.), Hastings (Nov. 11, Knoll at Prairie Books and Gifts, Imperial Mall, 1 to 3 p.m., and Grand Island (Nov. 19, Knoll at Waldens, Conestoga Mall, 1 to 3 p.m.

UNL Author Marly Swick to Appear at Book Signing Oct. 26

Marly Swick, associate professor of English at UNL, will discuss her new collection of short stories, The Summer Before the Summer of Love, at a booksigning from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 26 at Barnes and Noble bookstore, 5150 'O' Street.

Swick's work also has appeared in The Atlantic and The North American Review.


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