Nebraska Transcript Indexes: Home

Nebraska Transcript History

What is the Nebraska Transcript? The first issue, from November 1966, provides this:

From the Editor – Opinions

This edition marks the first time a newspaper has been published by the students of the College of Law. In our opinion it has been long overdue. There is more than adequate reason for its creation and continuance.

With almost 250 students and ten times that number of alumni on the rolls of the Association, it is a curious anomaly that not one house organ circulated among them. This paper shall serve the purpose – among others – of bringing to the students and the alumni a common forum.

As the College continues to expand its student body and increase its faculty, it is only natural that extra-class communication between its faculty and their students becomes more difficult to obtain. The desirability of healthy avenues of communication and understanding is patent. We feel that a newspaper is one way of widening and keeping these avenues open.

Among the students themselves the need for communication may not be as patent as the necessity for good grades, but nonetheless it exists. In the past there has been a feeling that there are two kinds of students in the College; upper-classmen and the neophytes in room 101. This paper shall attempt to erase that feeling. We feel that each student should have a cognizance and a respect of his fellow student regardless of his class.

The TRANSCRIPT's purpose has been discussed briefly above, but no goals can be reached, and indeed our continued existence is in question, without your help. We ask you to read this paper; think about it; criticize it; and most of all tell us how it can be improved.

We feel like a bride preparing her first meal for her in-laws; she knows she has to cook something, but she doesn't know what.

Well?

                                                                                                                R.A.F.

The Nebraska Transcript (Transcript) offers glimpses of the history of the University of Nebraska College of Law, reporting on the people, organizations and events happening at the College of Law. The publication provides a unique venue for reporting activities at the College of Law, faculty news, alumni news, and occasionally news of the Nebraska Judiciary and Bar Association as they intersect with the College of Law. The Transcript also serves as a venue for more in-depth articles, frequently authored by members of the College of Law faculty or student body, discussing a broad range of topics relating to the law, Nebraska, or the history of the College of Law. The indexes, each described briefly below, seek to open the door to that reporting. In addition to the information accessible through those indexes, there are certain points in the history of the publication worth noting; they are listed in the Highlights section immediately following.

Publication highlights:

• Volume 4 shifted the format from newspaper to small magazine.
• Volume 13, October 1978 used better quality materials, increased the number of photos, and a changed the publication schedule to four issues per volume.
• Color shows up in volume 15, October 1980: the cover displays a color photograph of the building with a red masthead, and color is used selectively in the text.
• Volume 16, October 1981 debuts glossy covers and better quality paper.
• Color photographs in text of issues first appear in volume 17, no. 4, Summer 1983.
• Volume 27, Fall 1992 changed publication schedule to three issues per volume.
• Volume 31, Fall 1996 changed publication schedule to two times during the school year.
• Volume 32, 1997 was the last volume edited by students; College of Law administration assumed editorial control beginning with the 1998-1999 issues.
• Volume 34, 1999 begins current format: full color, magazine.
• Volume 39, 2005 Senior Transcript Class of 2006 prints first color "senior" photos.
• Volume 53, Fall 2020 changed publication schedule to an annual publication.

Content highlights:

• Profile of John Adams, Jr., the first African-American elected to the Nebraska legislature: David DeTar Newbert, Reflections From the "Class" of '29, v. 17, no. 2, December/January 1983 at 20.
• Professor Josephine Potuto's Harris v. Balk explanation in rhyme: v. 17, no. 2, December/January 1983 at 24.
• Senior Transcript 1980-81 is the last to include street addresses of graduates.
• Senior Transcript 1981-82 is the last to include marital status of graduates.
• In Memoriam entries first appear as a category under Alumni in volume 18, no. 2, Winter 1984.
• In Memoriam column first appears in volume 19, no. 3, Spring 1985.
• Master of Legal Studies (MLS) degree approved by the Board of Regents: Laurie L. Boyd, New Degree: Regents approve master's program, v. 23, no. 2/3, Spring 1989 at 11.
• Centennial of the College of Law articles found in volume 24, no. 3, Spring 1990; volume 25, nos. 2/3, Winter 1991, no. 4, Spring 1991; and volume 26, no. 1, Fall 1991.
• Brief discussion of the closing of the College of Law during World War II under Henry H. "Shimmy" Foster's Deanship: Jackie Dendinger, Dean Henry H. Foster: Shepherding his "boys" for 19 years, v. 25, no. 2/3, Winter 1991 at 22.
• Profile of Alice A. Minick, first woman to graduate from the College of Law: Professor Steve Willborn, Women law students at Nebraska: The first woman and the first 100 years of women, v. 25, no. 4, Spring 1991 at 2.
• Dewitt Lawson, the first African-American to graduate from the College of Law: Kathryn E. Haugstatter, Minority experiences shared: Brown v. Board of Education documentary presented, v. 25, no. 4, Spring 1991 at 4.
• Quiz created by Professor Steve Willborn about the law faculty: Name that faculty member . . ., v. 25, no. 4, Spring 1991 at 29.
• Breta Dow's Brownie recipe: Breta Dow: we bid a fond farewell, v. 26, no. 4, Summer 1992 at 2.
• 30th Anniversary Issue, v. 30, no. 3, Spring 1996.
• Alan Frank provides a history and highlights of the first 30 years of the Transcript in New Transcript Unveiled; Memories Recalled, v.33, no. 2, Summer 1998 at 12.
• Fortieth Anniversary Issue, v.40, no. 1, Spring 2007.
• Photographs:
  • Professor Rick Duncan and the Bellygram: v. 17, no. 1, September-October 1982 at 46.
  • First Roscoe Pound statue decoration: v. 17, no. 4, Summer 1983 at 40.
  • 24-page compilation of photos: "A Day in the Life of a Law School": v. 23, no. 2/3, Spring 1989 at 12.

These Nebraska Transcript indexes are current as of the most recent issue. Brief descriptions of the content of each of the indexes follow the linked .pdf documents to help guide your research.

Confirmation of name spellings and graduation dates could not be accomplished without the invaluable assistance of Vicki Lill - thank you, Vicki.

Professor Emeritus Alan Frank has been a constant inspiration and sounding board through the indexing process. It is with much gratitude that I provide his Foreword to the project with the indexes below. Thank you for your continued help and guidance, Professor Frank.