Browse Items (26 total)

Prior to the civil rights era, throughout the urban North, most white-owned hotels refused to allow black patrons to stay in their rooms. Black-owned hotels in segregated African American neighborhoods, like the Patton Hotel in Omaha, provided…

Education has long been a key to African American community uplift in Omaha and across the Great Plains, despite the pervasive reality of segregation and discrimination. Black parents, students and their allies have consistently pressed for greater…

This is a photo of the Jazz band, The Dixie Ramblers. The jazz scene in Omaha was vibrant from the 1920s through the 1960s. The Omaha Night Owls are sometimes credited as the first jazz band in the city. In 1923, musician and band-leader, Frank…

North Omaha’s Dreamland Ballroom, located on 24th Street near Lake Street, was a prominent stop on the national and regional jazz and r&b circuit from the 1930s through the 1960s. Most of the leading acts played the Dreamland during these years. Do…

Dating back to the early part of the 20th century, African Americans in Omaha have attempted to band together to provide for the needs and care of the elderly in the community. This image, which dates back to 1913, features several women who worked…

Coming out of the civil rights era in the mid- and late-1970s, there was a lot of emphasis placed on community improvement and racial uplift. This image of young people participating in a “Community Clean-up Day” captures that spirit.