Tidbits of Discovery The Nebraska History Museum

Have you ever asked yourself, “Am I smarter than a fourth grader?” In Nebraska’s public schools, fourth graders learn about Nebraska’s history, including details about geography, early settlers, and the state’s unique government structure. Many of them take a field trip to visit various sites in the state, including the Capitol or the Nebraska History Museum in Lincoln. The Nebraska History Museum reflects the 12,000 years of history of our land and its cultures. If this history sounds vague to you, pencil in a field trip to Lincoln before the kids go back to school this fall.

Chris Goforth, a Nebraska native with a marketing and communications background, is the museum’s marketing director. He is eager to talk about the museum’s collections and the history of the land we call home. The museum’s entire staff realize the importance of telling the stories of the people who came before us. “What we are now is the result of people like us in the past—explorers, discoverers, people who

By Kate Beiting

wanted to live and grow and eat and learn,” Chris points out. “Learning from the past can prepare us for what we want to see ahead of us.”

One of the current offerings at the museum is a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian called Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II. “The Smithsonian has a strenuous checklist and expectations before they allow one