Frontier University Dreams

Pioneering the harsh landscape of Nebraska was difficult enough in 1869. Pioneering a new university was almost beyond reason. What was a university? Who should go? What should be taught? There were no guidebooks. No roadmaps. They were building a university out of little more than hopes and dreams. The University of Nebraska’s first building, University Hall, was a perfect symbol for the new enterprise—a grand façade with a crumbling foundation. But, the new land-grant university was revolutionary for the time. Tuition was free. It was open to everyone—men and women, rich and poor, Christians and Jews, African-Americans and Hispanics. It helped change the face of Nebraska and America. By the 1890s the University of Nebraska blossomed into a “Golden Era” when it was home to Willa Cather, a future Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist; George Flippin, one of America’s first African-American football stars; and John Pershing who would go on to command American forces during World War I. Length 60 minutes