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A Closer L ook
Graduation season always brings with it the same question for young people growing up in small towns: Can I really make a difference in the world if I come from a place like Hartington?
The answer is a resounding, bold-faced, all caps — YES. In fact, history suggests growing up in a small town may not be a disadvantage at all. It may be one of the greatest advantages a person can have.
This month, students from Hartington-Newcastle Public Schools, Wynot and Cedar Catholic High School walked across the stage to receive their diplomas. Some will head directly into the workforce. Others will attend college, enter the military, return to the farm or begin careers in communities across Nebraska and beyond.
A few may quietly wonder whether a small-town beginning somehow limits how far they can go.
Hartington’s own history says otherwise.
Few communities our size can point to the remarkable accomplishments of people like J. Lee Rankin, Charles Thone and Joan Burney.
All three came from our small Northeast Nebraska town. All three left an indelible mark far beyond Cedar County. And all three carried Hartington with them wherever they went.
Rankin became one of the most influential attorneys in America. The Hartington native served as U.S. Solicitor General and chief counsel for the Warren Commission. More importantly, he helped advance the federal government’s legal arguments opposing segregation during the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case — a case that was ruled on 72 years ago this week.
It turned out to be one of the most important civil rights rulings in American history.
That case changed the nation. The Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling declared segregated public schools unconstitutional and struck a major blow against the poisonous doctrine of “separate but equal.” And a young man who grew up in tiny little Hartington, Nebraska, became part of a legal movement that helped expand equality under the law for millions of Americans.
That is extraordinary. So is the story of Charlie Thone. Thone grew up on a Bow Valley farm, served his country in World War II, earned degrees from the University of Nebraska and later became a three-term United States Congressman for Nebraska, before winning the governor’s chair.
Throughout his career, he remained proud of his small-town roots and frequently credited Cedar County values — hard work, humility, personal responsibility and community involvement — for helping shape his life.
Then there is Joan Burney, one of the finest communicators this area has ever produced.
Burney built a respected career in journalism and communications, but perhaps more importantly, she represented the very best of what small-town upbringing can produce — intelligence without arrogance, professionalism without ego and success without forgetting where she came from.
Years ago, the Cedar County News established student awards honoring both Burney and Thone because their lives represented something worth teaching future generations.
Their stories — along with Rankin’s — carry an important message for today’s graduates.
Small towns teach lessons that cannot always be learned in larger places.
In communities like Hartington, young people learn responsibility early. They learn how to talk to adults. They learn accountability because everybody knows their name. They learn the value of volunteering, helping neighbors and being involved in church, school and civic organizations.
Most importantly, they grow up understanding that individuals matter.
The world desperately needs more people with those qualities. Too often today, young people are told success only happens in big cities or prestigious circles far removed from rural America. But history repeatedly proves otherwise.
Some of the nation’s strongest leaders, thinkers, business owners, educators, military officers, journalists and public servants began in towns very much like Hartington.
Small towns do not hold people back. They build people. They teach resilience. They teach work ethic. They teach community. And they often give young people something increasingly rare in modern America — a strong sense of identity and belonging.
Of course, not every graduate from Hartington-Newcastle or Cedar Catholic will become a governor, nationally known attorney or an award-winning communicator.
And that is perfectly fine. Success is not measured only by titles or headlines.
Sometimes success means raising a family, building a business, serving the community, farming the land, teaching children or simply making life better for the people around you.
But graduates should never believe their hometown somehow limits their future.
The lives of J. Lee Rankin, Charlie Thone and Joan Burney prove exactly the opposite.
A small-town beginning can become the foundation for extraordinary things.
