From Every Land
By Richard Kimbrough
This program is based on Kimbrough's book “The Outsiders” (with Mourtazo Chadyev) which focuses on people of "other" cultures who have come to Nebraska. Among those featured are:

·        Arturo Coto, who went from being minister of health in El Salvador to hoeing beans in western Nebraska to becoming one of the top officials in the Nebraska Department of Health.

·        Tuan, one of the last South Vietnamese to escape Saigon when the American left and who, despite his wife's death, has given his seven children all a first-rate education.

·        Leola Bullock, an African-American who came to Lincoln in the 1950's and has become one of the nation's foremost civil rights leaders.

·         Rauf Aliovsadzade, a world-class violinist and chess master who left Baku because he was married to a woman from the "wrong" country and who has become a member of the Lincoln Symphony---and an American citizen.

Photographing the American Dream
By John E. Carter
The last half of the 19th century saw an incredible migration to America's Great Plains. Thousands of people left ancestral homelands to answer the siren call of free land. This illustrated presentation explores the social and cultural forces that pushed people onto the Plains, and the life they found when they got here. Images by pioneer photographer Solomon D. Butcher bring us face to face with those who broke the sod and settled the Plains in this presentation by Carter, author of an acclaimed study of Butcher's work and times.

Adams County African-Americans of 1854-1945
By Rick Wallace
This program focuses on the lives of early African-Americans who settled in Hastings, the issues they faced in their daily lives and how the white community perceived them. The program also focuses on the circumstances faced by the African-American community and the community of Hastings in 1943, when the Navy announced plans to build a munitions plant outside of the town. The impact of this history can still be felt today in Hastings and is only an introduction to a wonderfully rich story.

African-American Gospel Music
By Janice Collins-Brooks
What is African-American gospel music? How does gospel relate to rhythm & blues, pop and jazz? What is it that makes this kind of music special in the lives of so many people of all nationalities today? Explore the story of gospel music as Collins-Brooks explains this chapter of music history. Listen as her voice gives life to the lesson.

African-American Homesteaders and Cowboys of Nebraska
By Vicki Troxel Harris
In the 1854 census of Nebraska, there were 14 blacks listed as slaves. After the Civil War, African-Americans came to Nebraska as cowhands, laborers, cavalrymen and homesteaders. Harris recounts many of the oral histories she has collected about cowboys, such as Jim Kelly and Amos Harris from the Lexington area and Roy Hayes of Cherry County "who could catch anything with legs."

African-American Pioneers and Entrepreneurs of Nebraska
By Vicki Troxel Harris
African-American doctors, barbers, music teachers and innovative and prosperous orchard owners are some of the people who come to life in this presentation. Harris collected many oral histories while researching African-American settlements in Nebraska. Through her scholarship, Nebraska history has a fascinating new chapter.

African-American Soldiers in the Civil War: Fighting on Two Fronts
By Spencer Davis
This program presents the story of African-American soldiers in battle and their struggle for equal treatment in the Union army. Black troops in uniform were often transformed by the experience. The presentation describes how black troops faced discrimination within the Union Army as well as Confederate attacks. A growing number of these soldiers' letters and articles have been discovered, and they form the basis for this presentation. 

All That Jazz Has African Roots
By Learthen Dorsey
This program looks at the retention of Africanisms within African-American culture, especially jazz. The emphasis is on African cultural practices and why they were retained in the New World.

The Burckhardts: An African-American Epic
By Dawn Connelly
The extraordinary lives of Rev. Oliver and Ann Burckhardt come to life in a colorful slide presentation depicting the significant contributions this African-American couple made to the Lincoln, Omaha and Brownlee communities during 1890-1949. Rev. Burckhardt was one of the founding fathers of Lincoln's NAACP and the Lincoln Urban League, and he organized the Saint James Church in Brownlee in 1910 for African-American settlers. Anna taught art in her studio in Lincoln for 40 years and was nationally known for her portrait oil paintings and china painting.

Cultural and Racial Isolation
By Marilyn Johnson-Farr
Audiences gain first-hand knowledge about the experiences of African-American women who are racially and culturally isolated in the workplace. The experience of these women helps us to examine the workplace environment and try to discern whether it is attempting to understand systemic racism.

Tell Me a Story
By Janice Collins-Brooks
Do you know what happened to "The Giant of the Great Water"? Do you know why there was "A Town Where None Might Go to Sleep"? Do you know the meaning of the "Signifying Monkey"? Through enchanting and intriguing stories, Brooks outlines the origin of the African-American folktale and traces its roots. This program explores the ceremony, the ritual and the art of folklore.

They Call it Stormy Monday: Evolution of the Blues
By Randall Snyder
Musician and composer Snyder relates the evolving history of the blues and its importance as African-American expression, as well as its seminal and continuing impact on contemporary popular music. This program is for grade nine to adult.

Understanding Emancipation: Abraham Lincoln and Sojourner Truth
By Spencer Davis & Vivian Davis
Abraham Lincoln and Sojourner Truth met only once — a brief meeting in the White House in 1864. That meeting serves as the premise for a dialogue between Lincoln and Truth based on primary sources and dedicated to revealing the complicated path to — and beyond — the Emancipation Proclamation. The presentation is in period costume with Spencer Davis portraying Lincoln and Vivian Davis portraying Truth. The dialogue is preceded by a historical introduction by Spencer Davis and followed by a question-and-answer period with the Davises.

Chinese Immigrants in America
By Janet Lu
This illustrated presentation begins with the historical background of the earliest Chinese immigrants to the United States, following trends up to the present day. Among topics discussed are the contributions of Chinese-Americans and intercultural communication. The talk juxtaposes the personal immigration experiences of Lu and her family with those of other Chinese immigrants in Nebraska and America. Lu prefers to speak within a 60-mile radius of Lincoln.

America Fever
By Judith Simundson
Judith Simundson's emigrant play, "America Fever," dramatizes episodes as a Norwegian family separates and finally reunites during the two years it took for all of them to arrive on the prairie. Based on the historical data of the Nils and Gunhild Hegland family, the story moves through wrenching separations. Woven into the story are the songs natural to the occasion and time of day—whether it's a lively English ballad heard in a Liverpool pub full of travelers or a Telemark lullaby sung to frightened children in the dark, third-class hold of the ship.

The Courage to Continue: Changing Homesteads in Nebraska
By Cherrie Beam-Clarke
Beam-Clarke, in period attire with Irish brogue, depicts Nebraska life on the prairie, 1870 to 1885. Based on fact, she draws every emotion from the audience through a dramatic one-act play. Selling the homestead, the family travels by wagon to begin again as cattlemen in the remote western Nebraska Sandhills. Relive the trials of building a sod house, lightning storms, crying for rain, rattlesnakes, extreme loneliness and the never-ending wind. Delight with the 4th of July, a present-less Christmas and American pride. This program is appropriate for all ages.

Czech-Americans in Nebraska
By Bruce Garver
The late 19th century saw the first mass migration of Czechs to Nebraska and other Great Plains states. This talk explains the causes for immigration and describes the experience of dislocation and the consequences of demographic changes in American towns and cities—with emphasis on the years after World War I and the more recent waves of immigration in 1948 and 1968. The presentation looks at both the family life of new Czech-Americans and aspects of intellectual and cultural life. Also described are the principal public institutions established by Czech-Americans—both religious and freethinking.

Germans From Russia in Nebraska
By John Schleicher
During the political and religious upheaval of the 18th century, Germans migrated to the American colonies and to the Russian empire of Catherine the Great. Lured by free land, religious and cultural freedom and exemption from military service, many Germans migrated to Russia, beginning in the 1760s. After more than 100 years, these privileges were threatened, and the Germans from Russia began to immigrate to the Plains states of the U.S. This illustrated program looks at these people and the contributions they made to Nebraska in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Growing Up Czech in Nebraska
By Lorraine J. Duggin, Ph.D.
This presentation features various aspects of Czech-American culture and history, including arts and literature, folk songs and dance, folktales and lore, traditional costumes, Czech festivals of Nebraska and the following areas of interest:

• The Roots of the Poet's Song: Growing Up in South Omaha
• Czech Neighborhoods of Omaha

Ho for America! Northern European Immigrants to the Midwest in the 19th Century
By Jeff Kappeler
Stories of immigrants who settled Nebraska contain fascinating accounts of sacrifice, courage and endurance. The journey to America was a difficult process that is examined in three parts: The decision, the journey and the adjustment. The presentation includes packing an actual immigrant chest and other essential baggage needed by the immigrant for the ocean voyage and the new life on the prairie.

The "Little Dutchman's" Civil War: Translating Private August Scherneckau's Diary of the First Nebraska Volunteers, 1862-1865
By Edith Robbins
Civil War documents in the German language have not often been translated, yet they deserve much more attention since the participation of German immigrants in that war was extensive. August Scherneckau, the only volunteer from Hall County, left a comprehensive diary that gives an in-depth perspective on the experience of a Union soldier. Robbins describes the difficulties in translating such a document and reads excerpts from the diary.

Promise in a New Land: Migrating and Settling in Nebraska
By Cherrie Beam-Clarke
Beam-Clarke, with Irish brogue and period costume, depicts a Nebraska settler between 1845 and 1870. Based on historical fact, this is a first-person one-act presentation. Laugh and cry as the stories transport you in time to sail the stormy ocean, ride the wagon trail, and fight a prairie fire. The captivating first person stories tell of successful crops, losing loved ones, dancing, grasshoppers, hard work and becoming an American. The program has a sequel entitled "The Courage to Continue." Both are educational and entertaining. This program is appropriate for all ages.

Stories of the Irish in Nebraska
By Thomas A. Kuhlman
In Lincoln and Omaha, on farms and in small towns, Irish Nebraskans left their mark on business, politics, the church, agriculture and the arts. From the establishment of Father Trecy's colony in Dakota County in 1856, the connection between Ireland and Nebraska has remained strong. Sometimes dramatic, sometimes hilarious, the stories of Nebraska's Irish immigrants range from the storing of rifles in the cellar of Lincoln's first millionaire for an invasion of Canada to the last minute rescue by a Nebraskan of Irish leader Parnell from hanging as a traitor in London.

Swedish Pioneers in Nebraska
By Laureen Riedesel
In the latter half of the 19th century, Swedes were among the largest groups that emigrated to Nebraska. They caught "Amerikafeber" and came to claim their "free land," full of hope and promise. The construction of churches and schools followed the building of their soddies and barns. An outstanding example of this pattern can be told through the story of Salem Church in rural Kearney County and the Carter School, originally located in Harlan County. These National Register of Historic Places properties are a continuing legacy of the Swedish pioneers in Nebraska.

Voices From the New Land: Danish Immigration to Nebraska
By John Mark & Dawn Nielsen
Danish immigration to Nebraska is explored through dramatic readings from immigrant letters, journals and diaries, as well as slides of old photographs, drawings and scenes of present-day Denmark and Nebraska. The presentation focuses on the stories of individuals—what motivated them to emigrate, how they struggled with the land and faced the hardships of drought and the deaths of loved ones. The Nielsens describe how immigrants experienced the joys of community and the satisfaction of realizing their dreams.

The Art & Practice of Hispano Storytelling
By Ricardo Garcia
With chistes (jokes), cuentos (legendary tales) and corridos (legendary ballads), Ricardo Garcia entertains and informs by telling stories from Northern New Mexico, the homeland of Hispano culture in the United States. This program provides an “experience” in the Hispanic oral tradition of storytelling. In English with smattering of Spanish.

Latinos: Searching for the Good Life in Nebraska
By Ben Salazar
Salazar uses his experiences as a Latino who was born and raised in Nebraska, as well as other experiences such as his participation as an activist during the 1960s and '70s, to educate others about Latino issues in the state. Salazar says that “our role as members of American society continues to intrigue me.”

From Mexico to Nebraska
By Jan Wahl
Scottsbluff's Chicano community has observed traditional Mexican celebrations since immigrants arrived. This program describes annual fiestas celebrating Mexican independence; weddings, baptisms and other church celebrations; the quinceñera (the celebration of a young woman's 15th birthday); the festival of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12; and other celebrations. Wahl shows how these celebrations vitalize Mexican-American culture and how traditions have changed.

Vaquero to Buckaroo - Hispanic Roots of Cowboy Culture
By Ricardo Garcia
This Power Point presentation answers the question "Where did cowboys come from?" by showing how cowboy culture was developed in Mexico by Mexican, Indian and African slaves and rich landholders. Participants learn about the Hispanic traditions of ranching, branding, roping, trail driving, horsemanship and the roundup, from which the "rodeo" developed. Garcia also shows how Mexican storytelling and singing led to cowboy yarns, tall tales, poetry and ballads. History, story and music are combined to tell the saga of the Mexican-American cowboy. In English with smattering of Spanish.

Mexican-American Christmas Traditions
By Olga Olivares
Learn about the Christmas traditions of the Mexican-American community of Scottsbluff in this hands-on program that gives insight into a culture with roots in Mexico. Olivares brings many Mexican-American Christmas items for everyone to see and touch, explaining the significance of each in the nine-day holiday celebration.

Mexican Sayings (Dichos)
By Olga Olivares 
Sayings are a treasure of the Mexican people. It can be said that sayings are a part of the Mexican culture.  They demonstrate the wisdom, psychology, and social values of Mexican people. Sayings are a manifestation of the culture, personality, character, and spirit. Sayings, or dichos, have lost some of their meanings through translations. Nevertheless, they must be told in order to preserve them.

Pride in the Mexican Culture
By Olga Olivares
This presentation relates the history of Mexican Americans in Nebraska and their contributions to the state since the early 1900s. Olivares describes the beauty and richness of this culture through songs, dance, proverbs, folk stories, food, posters, photo displays and other items. 

Storytelling and the Hispanic Oral Tradition
By Linda M. Garcia-Perez
An experienced storyteller, Garcia-Perez draws on her experiences as a young girl in Omaha's Mexican-American barrio. Her stories convey a universal message of humor, wonder and tradition. The presentation can be tailored to focus on one of the following topics:

• "Traditional Hispanic Stories for Families and Children" — Using stories to bring to life the myths, fantasies and tales of Latin cultures.
• "Keeping the Oral Tradition Alive: Abuelita 
• (Grandmother) Stories I Heard When I Was a Girl" — Examples of stories based on rights of passage.
• "Traditional Mexican, Central and South American Motifs as Vehicles for Folk Tales" — Depicting the life and times of Hispanic people. 

American Indian Values For the 21st Century
By Wynema Morris
This presentation provides an in-depth analysis of the world view of American Indian people, along with a comparison of both the American Indian values system and that of the Euro-American.  This presentation includes the values of spirituality and religion, time, nature, sharing and acquisition, work, cooperation and competition, teaching and learning, acceptance of change, religion, aging, power and recognition and law.

Children's Stories, Animal Stories and Traditional Lakota Stories
By Jerome Kills Small
Kills Small tells children's stories and animal stories that have been passed down for generations as part of the Lakota and Dakota Sioux traditions. Among the types of stories covered are iktomi (trickster tales) and ohunkanka (old legends). When speaking to adult audiences, Kills Small also analyzes the Native American storytelling tradition.

Dr. Charles A. Eastman (Ohiyesa)
By Jerome Kills Small
Charles Alexander Eastman was 32 when he accepted his first appointment as a physician for the Indian Bureau at the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1890. He witnessed the Wounded Knee Massacre and later recounted what he saw and did in his autobiography "From the Deep Woods to Civilization." In this living-history presentaion, Kills Small portrays Eastman and describes the many changes he went through and his service in many areas of Dakota and Lakota Sioux life. 

Harvesting Foods and Medicines in the Dakota Tradition
By Jerome Kills Small
In this presentation, Kills Small describes the medicinal foods and plants that grow in the Missouri River valley, on the Great Plains and on up to the Rocky Mountains. He talks about the universal uses, legends and history of the plants in Native American life.

Human Rights and Indian Rights: Las Casas to Standing Bear
By Robert Haller
Bartolome de las Casas appears over the east door of the Nebraska State Capitol in a panel showing him pleading before the King and Queen of Castile for recognition of the dignity of the Native American peoples. Judge Dundy, like Las Casas, based the claim for the humanity of Indians on the integrity of the alien culture and on the emotional sympathy evoked by the victimized peoples in the famous trial of Crook vs. Standing Bear  (1879). This illustrated talk finds parallels in the career of Las Casas with the events leading up to the trial of Standing Bear. It discusses the interrelation of our ideas of human rights, religious belief, legal entitlement, international law, and cultural integrity. 

Kiowa Tales
By Matthew "Sitting Bear" Jones
These are the stories, tales and legends of Set-Angia, Sitting Bear's Native American people. Sometimes funny, sometimes sad, these stories reveal the Kiowa vision of the world—from the time of Creation to the coming of the white man. Attired in native dress, Sitting Bear brings to the audience through his storytelling the thinking and customs of his Kiowa people, legends such as why the Crow is black and how the Coyote got his yell.

The Life and Work of Dr. Susan LaFlesche Picotte
By Martha Ellen Webb
Did you know that the first Native American woman doctor was an Omaha Indian from Nebraska? Dr. Susan LaFlesche Picotte (1865-1915) was the daughter of the famous Omaha Chief Iron Eye. Schooled on the East coast, "Dr. Susan" returned to Nebraska, struggled to provide medical care for her people and won the respect of the Indians and non-Indians whose lives she touched. The hospital she built in Walthill is now called the Picotte Center and is on the National Register of Historic Landmarks in honor of her accomplishments.

Lifestyles of Lakota Women
By Phyllis R. Stone
As a descendant of Chief Iron Shell, a peace chief of the Rosebud Sioux, Stone shares her expertise on the lifestyle of a Lakota woman from birth to death. She describes changes that have come about in modern times, contrasting the contemporary lifestyles of Lakota women with past traditions. The degree to which Lakota women lead lives separately and distinctly from men in their tribe is discussed, and variations of practices that can be found among women in the tribe are described. Stone's intimate knowledge of her Rosebud Sioux people and their ceremonies, her native attire and artifacts make this a rich and unique experience for young people.

The Otoe-Missouria Tribe: The Forgotten Nebraskans
By Matthew "Sitting Bear" Jones
This program, uniquely presented through storytelling by a member of the iowa/Otoe-Missouria Tribe, offers a glimpse of the lives, lifestyles and personal feelings of his tribe, a proud and honorable people who once lived and hunted on the Nebraska prairie. Sitting Bear Jones, who makes this presentation attired in his native dress, can alter the program to accommodate a variety of audience types. This storytelling presentation is particularly suited for intergenerational gatherings.

Our Plains Indian Heritage
By Phyllis R. Stone
Stone, an elder of the Rosebud Sioux tribe and a Sun Dancer, explains the uses and traditions of handmade items she brings for this presentation — items from both past and present American Indian cultures. Dressed in a traditional Sioux woman's dress, she speaks about the life of the Rosebud Sioux as she shares artifacts. She describes life on the reservation and how her family combines their Indian heritage with other interests. Also included in the talk are artifacts and legends of the Mountain Man and the relationship of that culture to the Indians of the Plains.

Ponca History and Heritage
By Phil Wendzillo
A member of the Ponca tribe and director of cultural affairs for the Ponca tribe of Nebraska, Wendzillo speaks on the history of the Poncas in Nebraska. Among featured topics are the Trail of Tears and the tribe's termination and ultimate restoration to federal status. Among the possible areas of coverage: 

• Chief Standing Bear and the effect his struggles and court victory had on Native American civil rights
• Native Americans and Christianity
• Lewis and Clark Among the Indians

Songs, Dances & Games of the Lakota
By Jerome Kills Small
Kills Small describes the history and origin of Native American songs and dances. A lecturer and storyteller who makes hand drums and pow-wow-size wood drums, Kills Small also is a singer of Lakota songs who has traveled extensively as a member of the Oyate Singers of Vermillion, S.D. 

Understanding American Indian Tribal Governments
By Wynema Morris
Morris asks what it means to be an enrolled tribal member, which leads to the issues of tribal jurisdiction, tribal sovereignty, Las Vegas-style gaming and relationships with the U.S. government. Morris explains the role and function of tribal governments and how the interaction between Indian tribes and early Europeans during the Age of Discovery forged legal and political ties that continue to have an impact today. 

The Voice of Native American Women
By Nancy S. Gillis
This presentation is a compilation of excerpts from primary documents in which Native American women's comments, pleas and advice have been recorded, from the earliest records of negotiations with the colonists to contemporary women, including professionals, artists and activists. In a series of readings, interspersed with background material, it explores the way native women have spoken out in political, social and spiritual settings in humor, pathos, anger and celebration, passing their legacy to the next generation.

Wahtohtana hedan Nyut^achi mahin Xanje akipa (Otoe and Missouria Meet Big Knives)
By Matthew "Sitting Bear" Jones
This program examines the first and second meetings that Lewis and Clark held with the Otoe-Missouria nation. Through the Otoe-Missouria nation's oral history this program examines the perceptions they had of these new wan^sige ska (white people). It also looks at the historical repercussions that the Otoe-Missouria experienced after this first contact and what the tribe thinks about this historical meeting today.