"Pride and Joy: Nebraska History” Traveling Exhibit

Pride and Joy: Nebraska History is a 13-panel traveling exhibit that examines the history of LGBTQIA2S+ communities, events, and organizations in Nebraska. The exhibit introduces several topics and themes related to this history, including pre-Stonewall, religious organizations, rural experiences, colleges and universities, and publications such as newsletters and community calendars of events. The banners sharing this history are illustrated with archival materials including newspaper clippings, photographs, advertisements, and ephemera such as a brick from Omaha’s Diamond Bar.

We acknowledge that this history is more complex than can be expressed in a single presentation, exhibit, or other program. Nebraska’s LGBTQIA2S+ communities have and continue to experience joy and sorrow, engagement and political turmoil, resilience and discrimination. This exhibit is not an exhaustive Nebraska LGBTQIA2S+ history. There are more stories to be told, and visitors are invited to share, reflect, and learn.

This traveling exhibit was curated by Claire Du Laney, Outreach Archivist, and researched in part by Haleigh Diltz, Criss Library student worker. It is funded in part by Humanities Nebraska and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.

Click here to access free materials about the traveling exhibit including zines and copies of the exhibit panels on DigitalCommons@UNO.

Webinar

In “Taking Pride in Nebraska LGBTQ+ History” panelists will share information about LGBTQIA2S+ history, research, community programming, and the traveling exhibit Pride and Joy: Nebraska History highlighting their unique perspectives as archivists, public historians, curators, and scholars. This webinar will take place on Thursday, August 7th from 12 P.M. to 1 P.M.. Advance registration is required for this free Zoom presentation. Click here to learn more and register for this webinar.

Visit the Traveling Exhibit

The Pride and Joy exhibit is currently on display at the University of Nebraska at Omaha Criss Library on the first floor near the Archives and Special Collections department. Archives and Special Collections’ goal is to collect, preserve, and share historical materials with students, faculty, staff, and the community. Items in Archives and Special Collections are unique, rare, and specialized research materials and are available to use in Criss Library and online, including materials used in this exhibit.

Pride and Joy will be at UNO until August 28, 2025, after which it will travel to other locations in the city and state. A schedule of hosting locations can be found below. If your organization is interested in hosting Pride and Joy: Nebraska History please contact Claire Du Laney.

About Humanities Nebraska and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment

Humanities Nebraska is a private nonprofit with a mission to help people explore what connects us and makes us human. HN is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, an appropriation from the Nebraska Legislature, private donations, and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, a public-private partnership with state dollars matching private dollars to benefit the arts and humanities in Nebraska.

About Criss Library

The Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Library fulfills the UNO mission through dynamic services, highly qualified and adaptive personnel, unique and extensive collections, and accessible learning spaces and environments. With its location on UNO’s Dodge Campus, Criss Library provides UNO students, faculty and staff, and the Omaha community with the resources and materials needed to excel academically and professionally.