On October 16, 1867, the first meeting of the Nebraska State Teachers’ Association was held at the Brownville Union High School, then the largest free high school in Nebraska. Robert W. Furnas, one of Brownville’s leading citizens who later became Nebraska’s second governor from 1873 to 1875, presided over the meeting. At a pioneer time when schools were often primitive and low in quality, fewer than half of Nebraska’s children attended school and there were virtually no standards for teacher qualification. In response, the fifty-six people who attended the two-day meeting created the association to elevate the profession of teaching and promote the interests of schools in Nebraska. From its Brownville beginnings in 1867, the organization, now known as the Nebraska State Education Association, has continued with an unbroken history as Nebraska’s oldest professional association.