2026 Nebraska Museums Association Conference
Sunday, April 12, 2026
5:00pm – 7:00pm
Registration Opens and Special Kickoff Event at Tall Tree Tastings Winery (122 N 5th Street, Beatrice) with History Bingo
Tall Tree Tastings Winery with History Bingo. Meet your NMA Board and Area Reps. Food and Bingo provided by Gage County Historical Society. Attendees pay for their own wine/drinks. MAX CAPACITY: 50
Register for the Conference and Receive Your Name Badge and Other Special Conference Items
Monday, April 13, 2026
7:30am – 4:30am
Registration Open and Continental Breakfast at Southeast Community College (4771 W. Scott Road, Beatrice)
- Register for the Conference and Receive your Name Badge and Other Special Conference Items
8:15 – 8:30am
Welcome from Beatrice Mayor Bob Morgan and from the Gage County Historical Society
8:30am – 11:00am
Concurrent Workshops
Pre-Registration is required for each workshop. Please check your emailed conference registration confirmation to check with one you are pre-registered for. Both workshops will take place at the Soutwest Community College.
Workshop sponsored by Lee Media Group of Wichita, Kansas
Workshop 1: Living Museums: Preserving Cultural Memory Through Embodied Traditions
Presenter: Mallika Madduri
Museums increasingly seek ways to preserve living heritage alongside objects and archives. This interactive workshop explores how embodied traditions—such as classical Indian dance, ritual movement, and oral transmission—function as living repositories of history, philosophy, and community memory. Drawing from community-based cultural education models in Nebraska, the session demonstrates how movement, rhythm, and storytelling can activate history for contemporary audiences. Participants will gain practical strategies for collaborating with cultural practitioners, engaging youth as cultural interpreters, and reimagining museums as spaces where history is experienced, not just displayed.
Mallika Madduri is a Nebraska-based Bharatanatyam artist, educator, and recipient of the Nebraska State Heritage Arts Award. She is Founder and Artistic Director of Gurukulam Center for Indian Arts and a founding leader of Omaha Sanātana Kendra, advancing community-based cultural education, youth leadership, and preservation of intangible heritage through performance.
Workshop 2: Improving Interpretive/Guided Tours at Museums
Presenter: Alyssa Smith
If you or your site provide guided tours, have interpretive programs, or just want to be more comfortable interacting with the public, then this is the session for you! In this workshop, we will learn about the visitors who come through our sites, how to make tours more engaging, and practice interpreting history. This workshop is hands-on, so be prepared to practice and improve your skills. At the conclusion of the workshop, you will have a better understanding of current best practices in interpretive tours and have the tools to begin implementing them at your site.
Alyssa Smith has 10 years of museum experience, holds degrees in Psychology and History, an M.A. in Material Culture and Textile Studies, and a Certificate of Interpretive Guiding through NAI. She has taught historical interpretation for the past 5 years and has experience creating and implementing interpretive programming.
11:00am – 12:30pm
Lunch on Your Own
12:30pm – 4:30pm
Gage County History Tours
*Please Note that some tours require pre-registration, please check your emailed registration confirmation.
1:00-4:00pm: Cortland, Nebraska
- Cortland, Nebraska, is located north on Highway 77. The tour will start at the Cortland Museum, built in 1883, one of the oldest buildings in the city of Cortland. The tour will include a visit to the museum, featuring a slideshow that showcases photos from our glass negative collection, as well as a walking tour of the town. This is the hometown of Nebraska Volleyball Head Coach Dani Busboom Kelly. The tour is on Monday from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Max capacity for the tour is 30 people.
1:00-4:00 pm: Great Plains Welsh Heritage Centre and Archive for Welsh America
- Great Plains Welsh Heritage Centre and Archive for Welsh America is located at 307 S 7th St, Wymore, NE. This is the only facility of its kind in the country, featuring unique Welsh-American artifacts and rare Welsh-language documents. The tour will start at the Great Plains Welsh Heritage Center. Followed by a tour of the Welsh District 81 one-room school, and the Wymore Burlington Railroad Depot Museum. Wymore was one of the significant branches on the Burlington line in Nebraska for a century. A simple Afternoon Tea with Welsh Cakes will be made available for all those who sign up. The tour is on Monday from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Max capacity for the tour is 50 people.
1:30-3:30 pm: Otoe-Missouria Reservation
- Otoe-Missouria Reservation was located in Southern Gage County from 1854 to 1881. This tour will give you a glimpse of the location of their village, the site where they wintered, and the Barneston Cemetery, where a burial marker for the tribal deceased has been placed. The Tour will be led by a Gage County Historian from the Historical Society and members of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe. The bus tour will depart on Monday from the Gage County Historical Society at 1:30 pm and return to the museum around 3:30 pm. The max capacity for the tour is 30 people. $10 per person bus fee.
12:30-4:30: Explore Gage County on Your Own
- Elijah Filley Stone Barn is located at 13282 E Scott Rd, Filley, NE. This barn, over 150 years old, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the tallest limestone barn in the state of Nebraska. Artifacts from the family will be on display inside the barn. A 10-minute history of the barn will be given on the hour at 1, 2, & 3 o’clock. The barn is open on Monday from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
- Tri-County Oregon Trail Marker is one mile west of Lanham, Nebraska, which straddles the state line. Please do not use Google Maps, as it will take you to the park in Lanham. The Tri-County Oregon Trail Marker designates the place where the Oregon Trail entered Nebraska from Kansas. It is the only place in Nebraska where you are standing on the state line and in three separate counties. You are welcome to visit the site at your convenience throughout the conference.
- Homestead National Historical Park is located at 8523 NE-4, Beatrice, NE. This is the location of the first homestead in the United States, Daniel Freeman. Conference attendees will be greeted at Homestead’s Heritage Center for a brief welcome talk and film introduction. They can then explore the Heritage Center’s museum exhibits, historic structures, 160-acre restored prairie, and special pop-up stations at their leisure. The park will be open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm on Monday and Tuesday during the conference.
- Gage County Historical Society is at 101 N. Second Street, Beatrice, Nebraska. The Society preserves the history of the county inside the 1906 CB&Q Passenger Depot Station. The depot station is listed on the National Register of Historical Places and is located on the site of the trial of Wild Bill Hickock for the murders at Rock Creek Station. The museum and gift shop will be open Monday and Tuesday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm during the conference.
4:30pm – 5:30pm
Break
5:30pm – 8:00pm
Welcome Night Reception at Red Barn Farm (1038 Sargent Road, Beatrice)
- Casual appetizers provided and cash bar available, all who register for the Welcome Night Reception will receive one free drink ticket.
Tuesday, April 14, 2026
8:00am – 8:30am
Registration Open and Continental Breakfast at Southeast Community College (4771 W. Scott Road, Beatrice)
- Register for the Conference and Receive your Name Badge and Other Special Conference Items
8:30am – 9:30am
Concurrent Breakout Sessions – Group 1
Session A: Care of Historic Textiles in Museums
Presented by Allyssa Smith, Pioneer Village
Does your institution care for historic textiles? Are you looking to improve their care and preservation? Learn steps that sites, both large and small, can take to improve how textiles are stored and displayed. We will discuss the process and importance of preserving history through our care for historical textiles. Regardless of the site’s size or budget, there are steps you can take without breaking the bank that will improve the longevity of textiles. The steps we take now impact our ability to tell the stories of the past tomorrow.
Session B: How Arts and Humanities Grants Can Support your Projects, for America 250 and Beyond
Presented by: Katie Bradshaw at Humanities Nebraska and Rachel Morgan at Nebraska Arts Council
Humanities Nebraska and the Nebraska Arts Council both offer grants that could help support America 250 projects or other history, culture, and arts projects in your community. In this session, Katie Bradshaw with Humanities Nebraska and Rachel Morgan with the Nebraska Arts Council will talk about available grants, the types of projects likely to succeed, the similarities and differences in the application processes, and tips and tricks for increased chances of success.
Session C: Delving Into Archives: Translating Documents
Presented by: Jennifer Garza at American Historical Society Germans from Russia, Robert Humphries at Great Plains Welsh Heritage Centre, and Vickie Schaepler at Japanese Hall Legacy of the Plains
This is a three-speaker panel of museum professionals who work with translating documents from their archives. They will be asked questions from a commentator and from the public related to the successes and hardships of translating archival materials. Questions will be geared toward avenues of finding translators, typical timeline and budget for translating materials, how to handle culture-specific terms or topics, language technologies, and the future of AI in the linguistic field.
9:30am – 9:45am
Break
9:45am – 10:45am
Concurrent Breakout Sessions – Group 2
Session D: Bringing AI-Powered Technology to Historical Archives
Presented by: Karen Keehr at American Historical Society of Germans from Russia and Tabytha Rourke at Lee Media
AHSGR partnered with Lee Media to create an AI-generated search of their online library of more than 300 publications dating back to 1969. Using OpenAI’s API, Lee Media converted AHSGR’s publication pdf library into a vector database. They enabled the system to “understand” the actual content on the pages. Our goal was to transform a static archive into a living conversation, making decades of research more easily accessible to AHSGR members, regardless of their technical skills.
Session E: Old Castle, New Tricks
Presented by: Kelli Bello, Amy Richardson, and Melissa McCarthy at Joslyn Castle & Garden
Over the past five years, Joslyn Castle & Gardens has evolved from a sleepy historic home museum on the brink of closure, into a vibrant community center beloved by tourists and locals alike with an annual attendance of over 50,000. Our small team and board of directors achieved this expanding public programs and partnerships, listening to our neighbors, and making many programs free or low cost. Through lectures, concerts, exhibitions, educational workshops, and neighborhood events, the Castle has welcomed diverse audiences and encouraged civic connections in a time where social isolation is the norm. Fresh, contemporary programming aimed at a younger audience has infused new energy into the historic estate, making it a place where creativity thrives and where are history feels both timeless and cool.
Session F: From Compliance to Practice: Rewriting Core Collections Policies at the Nebraska State Historical Society
Presented by: Sherri Maberry and Matthew Mickelson at Nebraska State Historical Society
Over the past several years, the Nebraska State Historical Society (NSHS) has undertaken a phased effort to update its core collections governance documents. While the Collection Development Plan (CDP) was revised earlier, NSHS is currently completing a substantial rewrite of its Collections Management Plan (CMP), with agency approval anticipated by year’s end. This session presents NSHS as a case study in policy renewal, examining not only what was revised, but why. The presentation explores the relationship between CMPs and CDPs, challenges of updating legacy documents, and strategies for balancing professional standards with limited staff capacity, emphasizing policies as active, functional tools rather than static compliance documents.
10:45am – 11:00am
Break and Last Chance to Purchase Raffle Tickets
All proceeds for the Raffle go directly into NMA’s Disaster Relief Mini Grants which are eligible to all NMA members.
10:50 – 11:00 am
Thank you for coming to Gage County by Caleb Fjone from Gage County Development Coalition
11:00am – 11:45am
Keynote Speaker Presentation
Keynote Speaker Presentation: Melea Hoffman
Meet our keynote speaker:
My Name is Tse-sa-ru-ra-ka-ri-ku, My English name is Melea Hoffman and I am a member of the Otoe-Missouria and Pawnee Tribes. I am Beaver clan, I am the daughter of Georgia and Ralph Hoffman and I come from the William Atkins and Sam Carson families. I hold a degree in cultural Anthropology, I use it to teach and share Otoe-Missouria history and culture. I graduated from the University of Oklahoma. I am a researcher and author. I serve as a member of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, and on an advisory committee for the Walking in the
Footsteps of our Ancestors project. I have had the honor of being a cultural consultant for Nova. I’m an avid collector be it antiques, relics, fossils and mini pottery. My passions are studying the history of the Otoe-Missouria people, reading, and spending time with my animals on my small farm.
11:45am – 1:15pm
Lunch and Annual NMA Business Meeting; Raffle Winners Announced
We welcome you to our annual Nebraska Museums Association business meeting. Lunch provided by SCC.
Announce Raffle Winners
Lunch is sponsored by the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation
1:30pm – 2:30pm
Concurrent Breakout Sessions – Group 3
Session G: From Exhibit to Archive: Integrating Museum Collections into Archival Practice
Presented by: Jessica Oosting and Lori Schwartz at University of Nebraska-Omaha, Special Collections
The Great Plains Black History Museum in Omaha opened its doors in 1976 as America celebrated its Bicentennial. As the Museum now celebrates its 50th anniversary, its archives are being arranged and described and made accessible. In this session, UNO archivists will discuss their partnership with the Museum, the grant that made this work possible, and the challenges of organizing a museum’s archives after fifty years of collecting. They’ll highlight the histories uncovered in the archives and the effort to make these Nebraska stories more accessible, something they hope supports the museum in its community outreach, exhibits, and mission for years to come.
Session H: Ideas and Resources for Celebrating America’s 250 in Nebraska
Presented by: Daryl Bohac at Nebraska Semiquincentennial Commission
Nebraska Semiquincentennial Commission representive(s) will give a short presentation on what is being done at state and national levels all year long followed by Q&A and group discussion. Learn how to become a state program partner, access the Nebraska 250 logo and get your events publicized for free on the state and national calendars. National key dates and themes showing how communities in Nebraska area adapting annual events by adding 250-themed elements and creating brand new ones.
Session I: Broke but Brilliant: Visitor Engagement that Works
Presented by: Evan Dodge, Samatha McCarville, and Emma Reiner at Nebraska State Historical Society
Explore practical, low-cost strategies to engage visitors of all ages – no big budget required. Using real-world examples, we will share simple strategies to enhance audience experience. The focus is on what works with the staff, volunteers, and spaces you already have. Attendees will leave with practical, creative, and flexible ideas they can begin using immediately to engage their audience.
2:30pm – 2:45pm
Break
2:45pm – 3:45pm
Concurrent Breakout Sessions – Group 4
Session J: How to Incorporate Otoe-Missouria Culture and History in Your Museum Exhibits
Presented by: Christina Goodson at the University of Nebraska/Otoe-Missouria Tribe, Margaret Jacobs at Center of Great Plains Studies (UNL), and Elsie Whitehorn, THPO Director, Otoe-Missouria Tribe
This breakout session is meant for museums in Southeastern Nebraska, the ancestral lands of the Otoe-Missouria, who would like to learn about incorporating Otoe-Missouria
history and culture into their exhibits and programming. This session is being presented by the Walking in the Footsteps of our Ancestors project at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln and the Otoe-Missouria Tribe.
Session K: 25 Years of Telling the Welsh Story on the Great Plains
Presented by: Robert Humphries and Gwenith Closs-Colgrove at Great Plains Welsh Heritage Project
Beginning in 2000 with a focus on the Bethel Welsh Settlement south of Wymore, the Great Plains Welsh Heritage Project quickly expanded its mission to preserving and interpreting the Welsh legacy across Nebraska and beyond. By preserving a historic schoolhouse, creating the Welsh Heritage Centre and building a state-of-the-art archive for Welsh artifacts from across the United States and Canada, the project has achieved national and international recognition. This presentation tells how it has become the archive of record for the Welsh community in North America and how it continues to build on the legacy of its founding vision.
Session K: Expanding History Content on Wikipedia
Presented by: Amy Neumann, independent Nebraska Museum Professional
What is one of the first websites to pop up in most online searches? Wikipedia. What happens when history experts edit Wikipedia? Broader, well-researched narratives. I attended the 250 by 2026 Wiki Scholars Course aimed at improving Wikipedia’s coverage of American history. Let me tell you the highlights of what I learned, what you can do with Wikipedia, and how this can benefit your organization. Your knowledge can help fill gaps, fix errors, create new articles, and reach millions of people!
3:45pm – 4:00pm
Last Call for Silent Auction
All proceeds from the Silent Auction go directly into NMA’s Disaster Relief Mini Grants which are eligible to all NMA members.
4:00pm – 4:30pm
Thank You’s and Announce Silent Auction Winners and Next Year’s Conference
6:00pm
Post Conference Hangout at Stone Hallow Brewery, 301 Court St., Beatrice, NE (optional)