Who’s Who in Nebraska
by the Nebraska Press Association

This is the standard biographical directory for Nebraska at the start of the Second World War. The Press Association asked newspapers, chambers of commerce, and local groups for names. The result is about 11,000 sketches of men and women then living in the state: occupation, birth, parents, education, marriage, children, church, and residence, written in the compressed style of a who’s who.

The book is arranged by county. Each county has a short history, then the sketches. A state historical sketch opens the volume. John Faris was editor. C. N. Cornwall supervised the compilation. Fred J. Minder was field manager for the Nebraska Press Association.

Genealogists use it because the sketches name parents, a spouse, and children for people who were alive in 1940. It is not a substitute for a courthouse record, and it only includes people someone nominated. Absence from the book means nothing. A name in it is a lead.