The fight to save historic Underground Railroad site in Nebraska Legislature

By Andrew Ozaki

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    LINCOLN, Nebraska (KETV) — Nebraska City antique store owner Shelly Hess remembers how busloads of school kids would make their way to Mayhew Cabin and venture through John Brown’s Cave and Museum.

“We all have memories of going there as kids and is being one of our historic landmarks,” Hess said.

How for over 80 years it helped tell the story of how the Mayhews risked their lives using their home as a stop on the Underground Railroad ushering slaves to freedom.

And how upsetting it is to see the cabin and museum now closed and in disrepair.

“Every time I drive by it, it just breaks my heart,” Hess said.

Flooding in 2019 severely damaged the museum and cave forcing it to close.

Then legal battles over who is responsible for the damage between the city and the Mayhew Cabin Foundation that owns the property over has left the property in limbo.

“It is very important that it’s restored. And the story gets told in the story of the Mayhews gets told,” Hess said.

That’s why Sen. Justin Wayne believes the state needs to step in.

“This is a very vulnerable spot that we need to fix,” Wayne told the Legislature’s Government and Military Affairs Committee.

His LB 474 would set aside $35 million to have History Nebraska purchase, update and manage the cabin.

It would also upgrade Fort Robinson and create a Standing Bear museum.

“I believe this bill is one of the most significant and far-reaching cultural preservation bills this session,” Wayne said.

Wayne said in 2003 the Mayhew Cabin and John Brown’s Cave Museum were recognized by the National Park Services’ Network to Freedom.

“There are 700 sites across the country. And we have one right here in Nebraska,” Wayne said.

He said Fort Robinson also has a significant place in history.

It was the site where Cheyenne captives were confined in barracks without food, water or heat in January 1897. Several escaped and were hunted down and massacred.

Later it was the headquarters for the Buffalo Soldiers, a racially segregated cavalry regiment of black soldiers from 1887 to 1898. And then in World War II was a prisoner of war camp for German soldiers.

“The state must invest in these facilities to make sure they are preserved,” Wayne said.

He said it is “mind-boggling” that there isn’t a museum for Standing Bear who was from Nebraska.

“One of our biggest and most notable civil rights activists in the world, let alone this country,” Wayne said.

Several people supported the bill including members of the Ponca Tribe and Nebraska City Mayor Bryan Bequette.

“We want to have the Mayhew Cabin refurbished open for the public. So they can continue to tell that piece of history that Nebraska needs to tell,” Bequette said.

Wayne said he believed the Mayhew project will cost less than $1 million. The other two projects will cost more and will require matching funds.

Wayne said he will work with the Legislature’s Government and Military Affairs Committee on the details of the bill.

“What all of these will end up having is an end product that flow together and the piece of history we’re trying to cover, it’s all Nebraska history, and it’s all about civil rights,” said Committee Chairman Sen. Tom Brewer.

Hess said she doesn’t want any of our history to be lost.

“I think it’s real important that we recall all the history, because if you don’t, then you’re destined to repeat it,” Hess said.

KETV Newswatch 7 reached out to the Mayhew Cabin Foundation to comment on the bill.

They had not replied at the time this story was posted.

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