Humanities Desk

Genevieve Randall talks with 2016 Mildred Bennett Award winners Marjorie Saiser and Twyla Hansen. Also, Saiser and Hansen read some of their poetry

Honduras was once the murder capital of the world. A Pulitzer-prize winning journalist who has been documenting a remarkable turnaround in the Central American nation will be speaking in Nebraska soon. Robyn Murray talked with Sonia Nazario, who will give the Governor’s Lecture in the Humanities at...

One of the most well-known settlements of African American pioneers in Nebraska is DeWitty in Cherry County. But not everyone knows DeWitty’s biracial history – including some of its own descendants.

One of the lesser-told stories of Nebraska pioneers is that of black former slaves who fled persecution in the South. On the Missouri River, Brownville was home to a large population of black settlers in Nebraska and is one of the few that has been excavated.

When a local performing arts group took over a theater in the small, central Nebraska town of Ord, they had big goals. In the last year, they’ve created a space for local and traveling acts to shine.

Mark Harris spent eight years photographing Nebraska’s small town rodeos. The world of Nebraska rodeo, through the eyes of a local author and photographer.

Twyla Hansen Hansen was named to a five-year term as Nebraska’s state poet by Gov. Dave Heineman in 2013, replacing one of her mentors, the late Bill Kloefkorn. Like Kloefkorn, Hansen is a staunch advocate for poetry, literacy and literature.

Sarah Sortum grew up near Taylor, Nebraska, on her family’s cattle ranch in the Sandhills, the descendent of homesteaders. This essay is part of our recurring Voices of the Platte series, in collaboration with the Platte Basin Timelapse project.