The Antidote by Karen Russell is the 2026 selection for One Book One Nebraska, the annual statewide reading program coordinated by the Nebraska Center for the Book. Although set in a fictional Nebraska town, Russell bases much of her story on real events, places, and people in Nebraska during the first few decades of the 20th century. Russell includes a list of resources on her website, but I thought I would see what I could find in our Nebraska Public Documents collection:
The Prairie Witch/Antonia was confined to the Milford Industrial Home around 1907-1908. The biennial report for that time period lists details such as the daily schedule, farm and kitchen labor outputs, and infant mortality rates. It also mentions that 3 children were transferred to the Nebraska Home for the Friendless in Lincoln. The 1907-08 biennial report for that institution laments that its name is misleading; in 1909 it was changed to the State Public School, and again changed in 1911 to the Home for Dependent Children.
The 1935-36 Annual Report for the State Board of Agriculture mentions drought, dust storms, the Republican River flood, and the effects this severe weather had on Nebraska’s farms, as well as a plea for renewed use of cover crops and soil conservation practices.
The 1935-36 Biennial Report for the Department of Roads and Irrigation describes the damage to roads and bridges from the Republican River flood in spring 1935, as well as mentioning the loss of live from the flood and tornado.
These documents are just a few of the thousands of historical annual reports (1870s through 1956) from Nebraska state government agencies that are available in the Nebraska Public Documents database. This free and publicly-accessible collection is result of a collaborative digitization effort between the Nebraska Library Commission, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the University of Nebraska-Omaha, and the Nebraska State Historical Society. (Read more about the project here!)
Historical government documents provide a glimpse into how our Nebraska forebears lived, worked, and governed. Primary sources such as the ones found in the Nebraska Public Documents database help researchers, students, and the general public understand the important issues and events of the day, and what motivated our elected officials to make decisions and the impacts those choices made. Take a look – what will you discover?
