Review: Dear Old Nebraska U by Kim Hachiya

Dear Old Nebraska U: Celebrating 150 Years
by the UNL Regents with Kim Hachiya [378.782 Neb] 

Released in early 2019 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, this 10″ square book is a marvelous collection of photographs and, statistics and anecdotes covering the history of the University here in Lincoln. The photographs range from rare old B&W photos from various historical artifacts, to images shot at both the downtown and East Campus with modern drone technology.

The content of Dear Old Nebraska U is broken up into six main chapters — “One University” (Teaching, Research and Service), “Infininite Possibilities” (The Student Experience), “Fight on For Victory” (Husker Athletics), “Frontiers of Knowledge” (Research and Creative Activity), “No Place Like Nebraska” (Campus Buildings and Landmarks), and “Legends and Legacies” (Nebraska Alumni and Notables). These sections are then followed by appendices covering all UN-L Chancellors, Presidents, a University Timeline and Enrollment statistics, and Husker Athletics Through the Years.
All in all, this is a nice little package — beautiful photos, short but effective blocks of explanatory text, and well-organized. If you’re looking for a good look back at the history of UN-L, and don’t want a massive tome, this is a good place to start.

My only complaint was that, having grown up with this university (and having attended 1981-1987), I’m still used to thinking of it in the context of NU being part of the Big Eight (and later Big 12) conferences, rather than the current Big 10 affiliation. It’s not that this progression of membership isn’t addressed in some some of the historical appendices, but I would have appreciated seeing it addressed in the main body of the text. But that’s a very minor quibble, and most readers won’t consider that a problem in the slightest.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try 150@150: Nebraska’s Landmark Buildings at the State’s Sequicentennial, Jeff Barnes.] [ publisher’s official Dear Old Nebraska U web page ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!