a recipe for a solid UNK history lesson

Behind him, a giant image of a Nebraska fast-food icon appeared on the digital projection screen.

“Today we’re going to do a very robust, serious exercise,” Tye told the class of 33 students. “We’re going to consider the Runza.”

He used the popular bread bag filled with seasoned beef, cabbage and onion to teach students about Nebraska’s history and the state’s global connections.

“Even in the smallest towns, there’s a Runza franchise, so most students are familiar with it,” Tye explained. “They may have even been shot at with a T-shirt cannon at a soccer game. But they’ve almost certainly never thought about a Runza on a deeper level. Why would you do that?”

He even brings free food to class. “It’s the best day of class for students,” Tye admits. Then he takes them on a journey through four centuries.

“Like all fast food stories, it starts with Catherine the Great, the empress of Russia,” Tye said.

Catherine the Great was born a virtually destitute Prussian princess and became ruler of Russia in 1762 after overthrowing her husband. She was a champion of education and the arts, and focused on expanding and modernizing her empire.

One of her early strategies was encouraging people to leave the Holy Roman Empire and settle in the Volga region of Russia, a sparsely populated area similar to the Great Plains. Enticed by incentives such as free land, no taxes, exemption from military service, freedom of religion, and self-government, many ethnic Germans accepted the offer.

“On a continent that has been in religious warfare since the Reformation, this was an incredible opportunity,” Tye told his class.

These immigrants flourished in the Volga region until Alexander II became emperor in 1855 and revoked their privileges, leading to another mass migration, this time to the United States.

The Volga Germans arrived in Nebraska in the 1870s. Places like Sutton served as hubs for this population group.

“Everything they got from Catherine the Great was available in Nebraska and the Midwest,” Tye said. “The landscape looks the same. The weather is the same. They had freedom of religion and freedom of speech, and land was easy to get through the Homestead Act.”

The German Russians were known as excellent farmers with a strong work ethic. They brought with them hard winter wheat, along with the recipe for that savory pastry known outside of Nebraska as bierock.

“What you’re eating now is something that was fried about an hour ago in a fast food restaurant on the highway, but it’s something that came from the Volga region,” Tye said.

Why is the history of the Runza important?

It’s a quintessential Nebraska trait, Tye said, but it also symbolizes our ties to the global community.

Tye began teaching his Nebraska in the World class in the fall of 2021 to get students thinking about the state in new ways. He wants to “deliberately overturn the misconception” that Nebraska and its history are boring.

“People think we’re in flyover country, right? We’re in the middle of nowhere. Nothing happens here. And nothing could be further from the truth,” he said.

“I want students to look at the place where they will spend, or have spent, four or more years and gain a deeper appreciation for it. They may come from a small town or a rural community, but they are connected to everyone in the world.”

For example, everyone learns about World War II in high school, Tye said. But did you know that the planes that dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, were built in Bellevue?

The Glenn L. Martin Company produced more than 500 Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers, including the Enola Gay and Bockscar, at its assembly plant at Fort Crook, now Offutt Air Force Base.

“These are globally significant events,” Tye said. “The most devastating weapons ever used in warfare were built largely by young women — Rosie the Riveters — in Bellevue.”

Tye also tells of Ben Kuroki, the only Japanese-American to serve in air combat missions in the Pacific theater. Kuroki, a native of Hershey, enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps and flew 58 missions in the European and Pacific theaters as a gunner on B-24 and B-29 bombers.

Students in the class learn about the Louisiana Purchase – from Napoleon’s perspective – and about Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, when it was performed for Queen Victoria in England.

“We’re not talking about Buffalo Bill as the guy with a big house in North Platte,” Tye said. “We’re talking about Buffalo Bill, an international celebrity.”

Other topics include the Oregon and Mormon Trails, Omaha-born suffragette and women’s rights advocate Doris Stevens, and Nebraska’s role in national defense during the Cold War and today.

Nebraska in the World is part of UNK’s general education program and is offered in the fall and spring semesters. It attracts undergraduate students from all grade levels and academic programs.

“It’s a history class that’s designed for non-majors,” Tye explained. “That’s what makes it fun because there’s a wide range of students.”

The course also includes a research component and field trips to the GW Frank Museum of History and Culture on campus and the Trails and Rails Museum in Kearney.

Logan Osmera took the course last semester while finishing a bachelor’s degree in history with minors in international relations and public history. He called it a “different look at Nebraska history.”

“A lot of times when you take courses on Nebraska history, it’s about the Oregon Trail and cowboys, and then you get to World War I and it stops there,” he said. “With this course, there’s a broader context and more focus on what it all means. Why were there cowboys in Nebraska? Why did the Oregon Trail exist?”

The Big Springs resident credits Tye for making these topics exciting and intriguing.

“He’s very enthusiastic. He’s from Kearney. He’s from Nebraska. He’s probably the best person to teach a Nebraska history course because he not only knows the material inside and out, but he cares about it. You can tell he cares and he’s passionate about it in his lectures.”

Osmera has worked at the GW Frank Museum and Ash Hollow State Historical Park. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in public history through UNK, so the course aligns with his professional interests, but he believes it is a great choice for any UNK student.

“This is not a boring history lecture course,” Osmera said. “You’re going to have fun and you’re going to learn something along the way.”