The Dixie Ramblers
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 Shelton “Red” Perkins, took over the band and promptly renamed them the Dixie Ramblers. Red Perkins and His Dixie Ramblers enjoyed strong local and regional success for twenty years, in part due to the distinctive variety acts and floor show Perkins also incorporated into the performance.
Great Plains Black History Museum, North Omaha History Harvest, 2011
1940 circa
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photograph
Image
Omaha (Neb.)
Miss Black America Contestant, Phyllis D. Wilson
This is a newspaper feature of Phyllis D. Wilson, a competitor in the Miss Black America Pageant. The Miss Black Nebraska competition was an annual event, first held in 1970 with the winner going on to participate in the Miss Black America pageant. At the same time that women’s liberation activists were protesting the Miss America pageant for its objectification of women, black women were protesting their exclusion from beauty pageants by staging their own Miss Black America contest. They viewed this as a challenge to white-defined concepts of beauty and an assertion of race pride.
Great Plains Black History Museum, North Omaha History Harvest, 2011
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Newspaper photograph
English
Image
Omaha (Neb.)
Jazz Musician, Michael Andre Lewis
Organ player Michael Andre Lewis was born in Omaha in 1948 and grew up in a musical family. Lewis’s father played saxophone with Count Basie, served as bandleader to Fats Domino and Etta James, and also played locally with Preston Love’s orchestra. As small children, Lewis and friend, future blues legend, Buddy Miles, joined a local singing group, BeBop, and later won a statewide talent contest in Nebraska. Lewis formed his first group, Mike Lewis and the Kingbees, in 7th grade. Still in his early teens, Lewis toured as a backing musician with the Orlons and Sam Cooke. At 15, Lewis fronted the Mike Lewis Quartet and appeared on the bill with jazz icons, like Kenny Burrell, Jimmy Smith and Jimmy McGriff. His next band, Andre Lewis and the New Breed, pioneered the new fusion sound that was emerging in the mid-1960s. Lewis went on to tour and record several albums with Buddy Miles. In addition, he did session work for Labelle, The Who, Sly & the Family Stone and Jimi Hendrix. Lewis left Miles to form Maxayn, a pioneering black rock band that put out three albums. During this period, Lewis also performed with Frank Zappa, Johnny “Guitar” Watson and Leon Russell. In the mid-1970s, Lewis signed with Motown, where he performed and recorded as Mandré, the “artists from outer space.” The synth-heavy group recorded four albums. Lewis continued to play and tour in a variety of settings, and produce music by other artists from his home studio until his death in 2012.
Great Plains Black History Museum, North Omaha History Harvest, 2011
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person
image
Omaha (Neb.)
Flyer Advertising a Panel Discussion Celebrating John Brown's 169th Birthday, 1969
Grassroots politics have always run alongside formal electoral politics in the African American community. This 1969 flyer advertises a community-based panel discussion celebrating the white, anti-racist radical, John Brown’s 169th birthday. Ernie Chambers, who is listed on the flyer, would be elected to the Nebraska Unicameral the next year, where he would ultimately become the longest serving state senator in Nebraska’s history.
Great Plains Black History Museum, North Omaha History Harvest, 2011
1969
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document
English
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Omaha (Neb.)
Members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Circa 1950
African American women have long participated in an array of clubs and other community-based organizations. Like male fraternities, black sororities provided their members with support, a social outlet and opportunities for community uplift. This image of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority was taken circa 1950.
Great Plains Black History Museum, North Omaha History Harvest, 2011
1950 circa
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still image
image
Omaha (Neb.)
Advertisement for the Omaha, Nebraksa Amvet's Club
The Amvet’s Club was a social club for veteran’s and their dates in the post-WWII period. The club served food and drinks and offered a variety of entertainments, including regular live music and dancing.
Great Plains Black History Museum, North Omaha History Harvest, 2011
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document
English
image
Omaha (Neb.)
Homesteaders in Cherry County, Nebraska
Homesteading
During the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century a small number of African Americans came to Nebraska as homesteaders, seeking new opportunities for independence and self-sufficiency working the land. The largest black homesteading settlement in Nebraska was started in 1904 in the Sandhills of Cherry County. Another smaller community was established in 1908, west of Westerville in Custer County. The Cherry County families pictured here were a part of the Brownlee settlement.
Great Plains Black History Museum, North Omaha History Harvest, 2011
1900 circa
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still image
image
Cherry County (Neb.)
North Omaha Men Reporting for Induction into the United States Military
World War II
A group of African American men in North Omaha reporting for induction into the military during World War II. Despite a segregated U.S. military, nearly four million African American soldiers served their country during WWII.
Great Plains Black History Museum, North Omaha History Harvest, 2011
1942 circa
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person
image
Omaha (Neb.)
Harry Eure Providing Stage Direction to Actors
In 1969, Harry and Daryl Eure created the Afro Academy of Dramatic Arts in Omaha to provide black artists the opportunity to showcase their work. In addition, the Afro Academy of Dramatic Arts provided classes in music, dance, art, theater and creative writing as a way to increase racial consciousness and pride within the local black community. Here, Harry Eure provides stage direction to actors in a mid-1970s production.
Great Plains Black History Museum, North Omaha History Harvest, 2011
1975 circa
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person
image
Omaha (Neb.)
Omaha City Championship Baseball Team
Black baseball was popular throughout the Midwest during the mid-20th century, including Omaha. It provided a social outlet for community members, opportunities for skilled ballplayers, and entrepreneurial possibilities for team owners. Many black baseball teams were sponsored by local industries, like the Storz Brewery, which sponsored these “City Champs” in 1944.
Great Plains Black History Museum, North Omaha History Harvest, 2011
1944
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person
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Omaha (Neb.)