North Omaha African American History Tour

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1. The DePorre's Club, 1947-1960

Omaha's DePorres Club, one of the leading civil rights organization in Omaha, maintained an office and headquarters at this location from 1948 to 1950. The organization had two other headquarters and served the community from the late-1940s through to the early-1960s. This Catholic-centered, integrationist organization was created by a group of young people from Creighton University and the nearby North Omaha community as a vehicle to challenge racial discrimination in the city. Over the years, the DePorre's Club led a series of non-violent campaigns and protests against employment and housing discrimination, as well as educational inequality. Notably, the group led a successful protest campaign against the local bus company in the early 1950s, before the more famous Montgomery Bus Boycott. Fr. John Markoe and Denny Holland were key leaders in the group.

2. The Fair Deal Café

The Fair Deal Café from 1953 until its closing in 2003 was a pillar of the African American community through its iconic soul food and service. The more significant contribution this café had to history was that it was a meeting place for all kinds of people within the community from activists to politicians, the cafe was used as a meeting place and discussion table for everyone inside of the community. It was fondly dubbed the "Black City Hall" of Omaha during the civil rights era and became known round the midwest for its ability to be both a restaurant and meeting place.

3. Omaha Race Riots of the 1960s

Like many American cities during the 1960s, Omaha experienced a series of racial disturbances that led to protest and occasional violence against property. These periodic racial eruptions were rooted in the historical inequalities Black people faced in Omaha, and a new spirit of rebellion that reflected both the progress and failures of the civil rights movement. What makes Omaha notable is that there were at least four significant race "riots" during the mid- and late-sixties, perhaps more than any other American city. The riots were centered around North 24th Streets from Clark to Lake Street. The 1969 riot in response to the police killing of Vivian Strong at the Logan Fontenelle Housing Project exposed living conditions. In 1991, African American litigants won a series of court cases that led the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to replace this project with better housing for residents. The Logan Fontenelle project was built as a public works project in the Great Depression and had grown to house thousands in a relatively small part of the city around Paul Street stretching from 20th Street to 24th Street.

4. The Omaha Star

The Omaha Star is Nebraska's oldest (and only) Black weekly newspaper. The Star was established on July 9, 1938, by Mildred D. Brown and her husband. Following the couple's divorce shortly thereafter, Mildred Brown took over ownership and editorial duties at the newspaper, making her one of the very few female newspaper owners and editors in American history. For more than 70 years the Omaha Star has provided "positive news" for Omaha's Black community.

5. Great Plains Black History Museum

The Great Plains Black History Museum dates back to the mid-1970s and is now located in Omaha's historic Jewell Building. The museum was previously located in a former telephone exchange building and has also offered exhibits in various spaces throughout the city. The museum has collections and research materials centered on the experience and contributions of African Americans in Omaha and surrounding communities.

6. Jewell Building and Dreamland Ballroom

The Dreamland Ballroom was an important jazz, blues and r&b music venue in the heart of Omaha's African-American community. Located on the second floor of the Jewell Building on 2221 N. 24th Street, the Dreamland ballroom hosted many of the top Black musicians during its heyday from the 1930s through the early-1960s.

7. Zion Baptist Church

Founded in 1884, Zion Baptist Church is one of Nebraska's oldest churches and became Omaha's largest African American church by 1900. After the Easter tornado of 1913 destroyed the church's first worship facility, the congregation built the now-historic building in 1915. Clarence W. Wigington, Omaha's first African-American Architect, designed the church building. The church has played a pivotal role in each chapter of Omaha's long movement for civil rights from the Great Migration to the protests against segregation in the 1960s.

8. St. John A.M.E. Church

St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church was established in 1865, two years before Nebraska achieved statehood. The first congregation for African Americans in Nebraska,

9. Omaha Fire Department Station #14: Home of Omaha's First Black Firefighters

The establishment of the Omaha Fire Department occurred the same year the Civil War began, in 1860. It took thirty-five years (1895) for Omaha to hire Black firefighters, initially working in a segregated facility known as Fire House #12 at South 27th and Jones. In 1906, The Black Company at #12 moved to a new, still segregated, facility: Fire House #15 at North 30th and Spaulding. Finally, in 1919, the Company moved to the historic #14 Station, which still stands at North 20th and Lake. The firehouse stands as a monument to the racism within the firefighting community and society at large.

10. Webster Telephone Exchange Building & Great Plains Black History Museum

This structure, built in 1907, possesses several distinct histories, most notably as the Webster Telephone Exchange Building (1907 - 1933) and later as the Great Plains Black History Museum (1975 - 2011). The building speaks to many aspects of history that influenced Omaha. Western expansion, urbanization, cultural and racial history, and changes in technology all have a hand in the story of the building found at 2213 Lake Street in North Omaha, Nebraska.

11. Love's Jazz and Arts Center

Named in honor of international jazz legend Preston Love Sr., the Center offers a space for performing arts as well as classrooms and an art gallery. The Center also includes displays that share the history of North Omaha and its place in the larger narrative of American jazz.

12. Carver Savings and Loan Association (Carver Legacy Center)

The Carver Savings & Loan Association (Carver S&L), named for acclaimed scientist George Washington Carver, opened in 1944 as Nebraska's first African-American bank. Located on Lake Street next to the historic North 24th Street corridor, it ostensibly served as the heart of Omaha's African-American business district until the 1960s. Today, operating as the Carver Legacy Center, the building still serves as a financial center focused on supporting the growth of Black-owned businesses in North Omaha.

13. Elks Hall and Omaha Colored Commercial Club

Elks Hall (first known as Columbia Hall) was constructed in 1919 and operated as a social hall for North Omaha's African American community throughout the 20th century. The building served as a home for African American clubs and political rallies and was also the headquarters of the Omaha Colored Commercial Club. Black World War I veterans also met here under the auspices of the American Legion. In later years, the building became the home of the Black Elks organization, the Prince Hall Masons, and many other organizations while also hosting a variety of events. During an era of limited opportunities, the Commercial Club helped hundreds, if not thousands of African Americans find jobs throughout Omaha in the 1920s. The Commercial Club and successor organizations also promoted Black-owned businesses and supported social work services to members of the Black community. The building was unique in its size and scope, and white city leaders of Omaha only supported its construction of the, part of the city's desire to maintain and enforce Jim Crow practices. The historic building saw speeches of both white and African American leaders, including Teddy Roosevelt in 1928, Omaha native Malcolm X in 1964.

14. Broomfield Rowhouse

The Broomfield Rowhouse is located in North Omaha, a community that has been the center of Omaha's African-American community since the early 20th century. The historic rowhouse was constructed in the aftermath of the devastating 1913 Easter Sunday Tornado that tore through North Omaha. Clarence W. Wigington, a lauded African American architect from Omaha, designed the rowhouse, and the building won first prize from Good Housekeeping magazine for the best two-family dwelling. The name comes from the building's first owner, Jack Broomfield, an African American who played a significant role within the Democratic political machine controlled by "Boss" Tom Dennison.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

North Omaha African American History Tour

Created by Clio Admin on November 30th 2016, 10:18:39 pm.

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Description

This tour centers on landmarks in North Omaha such as Columbia Hall which has served as the home of Black organizations for over a century. The tour includes institutions and sites related to civil rights and journalism, Love's Jazz and Arts Center, several historic churches, landmark buildings, and the Great Plains Black History Museum. This tour offers a short walk through North Omaha, but Clio includes several additional landmarks related to African American history throughout the city.

Entries on This Tour

North Omaha African American History Tour

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