Nebraska’s nickname “Cornhusker State” comes from the importance of corn in the state’s agricultural industry. Before the Homestead Act of 1862, the flat land was perceived as part of the Great Central Plain Desert. The state’s first official nickname was “Tree Planter State,” but in the 1940s, the state legislature repealed it and deemed “Cornhusker State” the new official nickname.
Cornhusking is a term for the hand husking, or stripping, of fresh corn husks. Before the advent of husking machines, farmers husked corn by hand. The “Cornhuskers” was the nickname for the University of Nebraska sports teams, named by sportswriter Charles S. Sherman in 1900. In 1945, Nebraska took the name of the sports teams as a state nickname to honor the state’s major agricultural industry : the corn. Nebraska’s agricultural bounty hasn’t come easy for the state, and behind the nickname “Cornhusker State” is a Nebraska history of perseverance and determination.
Nebraska is located in the center of the contiguous United States, a vast flat land once perceived as part of the Great Central Plain Desert. Rivers are also flat in the state; The name Nebraska comes from the Native American word nebrathka, meaning “flat water.” The dusty, empty and monotonous landscape showed little promise for agriculture. Pilgrims traveling westward through the territory commonly made mention of Chimney Rock, a natural rock formation that appeared to be one of Nebraska’s only notable landmarks.
The Homestead Act of 1862 transformed Nebraska from a mountain range into a thriving agricultural state. Wheat and corn fields and orchards flourished thanks to advanced agricultural methods, better tools, irrigation, and dogged Nebraskan persistence. Undaunted by bad weather, natural disasters, insect plagues, and wildfires, Nebraskans kept planting, determined to make Nebraska the breadbasket of the country. They planted wheat and the most important staple: corn, which led to the nickname “Cornhusker State”. As Nebraska’s prosperity grew, Nebraskans sought patriotic state symbols, a state motto, and other state emblems to express their history and pride of citizenship.
The first official state nickname for Nebraska was “Tree Planter State.” He brought attention to the almost miraculous transition of desert plains to acres of trees planted by farmers. J. Sterling Morton of the city of Nebraska established National Arbor Day in 1872. Then, in 1895, the Nebraska Legislature officially recognized Nebraska as a “Tree Planter State.”
In the 1940s, Nebraska was booming with corn. The state stuck to the athletic nickname of the University of Nebraska, deeming it an appropriate name for the state as well. The state legislature repealed the “Tree Planters” moniker in 1945 and deemed “Cornhusker State” the state’s new official nickname. The nickname “Cornhusker State” referred to the importance the crop held in the state, both as a staple food for human consumption and as a grain for Nebraska’s livestock, which was another important industry for the state.
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