The timeline of racial tension in Omaha, Nebraska lists events in African-American history in Omaha. These included racial violence, but also include many firsts as the black community built its institutions. Omaha has been a major industrial city on the edge of what was a rural, agricultural state. It has attracted a more diverse population than the rest of the state. Its issues were common to other major industrial cities of the early 20th century, as it was a destination for 19th and 20th century European immigrants, and internal white and black migrants from the South in the Great Migration. Many early 20th-century conflicts arose out of labor struggles, postwar social tensions and economic problems, and hiring of later immigrants and black migrants as strikebreakers in the meatpacking and stockyard industries. Massive job losses starting in the 1960s with the restructuring of the railroad, stockyards and meatpacking industries contributed to economic and social problems for workers in the city.
19th century
Events reflecting racial tension in 19th century Omaha (in chronological order) Date Issue Event 1804 Slavery The first recorded instance of a black person in the Omaha area is York, who arrives in Omaha area as a slave of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. 1854 Slavery Nebraska Territory created by Congress with condition that the area stay free of slavery. 1855 Slavery Ongoing debate occurs in the early Territorial Legislature regarding slavery.Bristow, D. (2002) A Dirty, Wicked Town: Tale of 19th Century Omaha. Caxton Press. 1859 Slavery "The bill introduced in Omaha City Council, for the abolition of slavery in this Territory, was called up yesterday, and its further consideration postponed for two weeks. A strong effort will be made among the Republicans to secure its passage; we think, however, it will fail. The farce certainly cannot be enacted if the Democrats do their duty." - From an 1859 Daily Nebraskan newspaper.A Daily Nebraskan newspaper editorial from 1859, as quoted in Bristow, D. (2002) A Dirty, Wicked Town: Tale of 19th Century Omaha. Caxton Press. 1860 Slavery The Omaha-based Nebraskan newspaper quotes the Chicago Times and Herald regarding a slave named "Eliza" who ran away from an Omaha businessman to Chicago and was arrested there under the Fugitive Slave Act. 1860 Slavery Census shows 81 Negroes in Nebraska, 10 of whom were slaves.(1938) Arthur Goodlett. American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940, American Memory, Library of Congress 1865 Racism A clause in the original proposed Nebraska State Constitution limited voting rights in the state to "free white males". This kept Nebraska from entering the Union for almost a year. 1867 African American Churches St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church organizes as the first church for African Americans in Nebraska.(2003) "The Negroes of Nebraska: The Negro goes to church" Memorial Library 1891 Lynching A man called Joe Coe, an African-American, is lynched by a mob for allegedly raping a white woman. No one was charged or convicted for his murder. 1894 Racial segregation The first African-American fair held in the United States takes place in Omaha in July.Nebraska Writers Project (1938) Negroes in Nebraska Workers Progress Administration. 1899 Police brutality A local black singer named J. A. Smith died while in custody at the Omaha jail. Arrested for "loud talking" on a public street, Smith and an accomplice were moving through the building when he and an officer had an altercation, and he struck out. The officer struck back at Smith, who fell against a bench and later died. A police examiner thought there was something resembling a stiletto wound in the back of his skull. Anton Inda, the officer, was charged with murder."Policeman held for murder", The New York Times. August 14, 1899. Retrieved 4/20/08.
1900 to 1950
Events reflecting racial tension in Omaha from 1900 to 1950 (in chronological order) Date Issue Event 1905 Labor unrest More than 800 students, children of European immigrant laborers in South Omaha, protested the presence of Japanese students, the children of strikebreakers. Protesting students locked adults out of their school buildings."Revolt over Japanese; South Omaha School Children Want Them Expelled", The New York Times. April 18, 1905. Retrieved 4/20/08. 1907 Mayor "Cowboy" James Dahlman lassoed the editors of the Law Journal of Tokyo during their diplomatic visit to Omaha after they asked him about cow punching."Dahlman lassoes [sic] Japanese; Cowboy mayor of Omaha frightens Japanese", The New York Times. May 12, 1907. Retrieved 4/20/08. 1909 Race Riot The Greek Town Riot destroyed a successful Greek immigrant community in South Omaha. A mob of 3,000 men burnt the community to the ground after a Greek immigrant shot an ethnic Irish policeman while being taken into custody. Greek residents were forced by the mob to leave town. 1910 Civil rights African Americans build an "Old Colored Folks Home" in North Omaha.(1936) Henry Black: Life Histories from the Folklore Project, WPA Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940; American Memory. U.S. Library of Congress. 1910 Race Riot After a tremendous upset victory by African-American boxer Jack Johnson in Reno, Nevada, mobs of whites roamed throughout Omaha rioting, as they did in cities across the U.S. The mobs wounded several black men in the city and killed one."Omaha negro killed", The New York Times. July 5, 1910. Retrieved 4/20/08. 1912 Civil rights Omaha chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People opens.(n.d.)Timeline: Omaha's 150th Birthday. KETV.com 1917 Black nationalism George Wells Parker founds the Hamitic League of the World in Omaha. 1918 Labor unrest As veterans from World War I attempt to return to their civilian jobs, violent strikes break out in the South Omaha meat packing industry when they discover African American and Eastern European immigrants in their former positions. 1918 Black nationalism Cyril Briggs becomes editor of the African Blood Brotherhood journal, The Crusader, which is printed and distributed in Omaha. 1919 Lynching African-American Willy Brown is lynched by a mob from South Omaha after being accused of raping a white woman from that neighborhood, during the Omaha race riot of 1919, sparked by white political boss Tom Dennison. There was a background of resentment against blacks among the ethnic and immigrant white working class in South Omaha because blacks were hired as strikebreakers. The reformist mayor Edward Parsons Smith tried to calm the crowd, for which they also attempted to lynch him. He was only saved by a last minute rescue. The sheriff and police could not control the mob, which numbered in the thousands. No perpetrators were brought to trial. US Army troops were stationed in South Omaha to prevent another mob from forming among white immigrants and ethnic Americans, and in North Omaha to protect the black community."1919 Riot", Nebraska Studies"A Street of Dreams," Nebraska Public Media. Air Date, 08/01/1994. Retrieved April 8, 2024."General Wood orders the arrest of Omaha's rioters", The New York Times. October 1, 1919. Retrieved 4/16/08. This large riot shortly followed those of Red Summer, when post-war tensions led to ethnic white attacks against blacks in race riots in numerous cities across the country, increasing fears and tensions in Omaha as well. 1920s Racial segregation Racial segregation becomes normalized as redlining and restrictive covenants keep African Americans in North Omaha. Harry Haywood is said to have become radicalized by the white mob rule that overtook South Omaha in 1919, which drove him to become a leader of the Communist Party of America. 1920 Racial segregation The Colored Commercial Club organizes to help blacks secure employment and to encourage business enterprises among African Americans in Omaha. 1921 Labor unrest Violent strikes broke out in the South Omaha meatpacking plants in reaction to African-American and Eastern-European workers, as well as attempts by labor to organize the plants."Deputy and striker killed at Sioux City; Fight Near Packing Plant Results Fatally—Disorder at Omaha", The New York Times. December 20, 1921. Retrieved 4/21/08. 1921 Black Power Earl Little, Malcolm X's father, founds the Omaha chapter of Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association. 1921 White supremacy The Ku Klux Klan reports its first Klavern in Nebraska being formed in Omaha.Olson, J.C. and Naugle, R.C. (1997) History of Nebraska. University of Nebraska Press. p 290.Fletcher Sasse, Adam (2023) "A history of the KKK in Omaha", NorthOmahaHistory.com. Retrieved May 31, 2024. 1926 White supremacy After being born in Omaha in 1925, Malcolm X's family was forced to move from their home in North Omaha by the Ku Klux Klan's threatening Earl Little and his family's safety.1927 Civil rights The Omaha Urban League (now the Urban League of Nebraska) was founded."Urban League Formed." Evening World-Herald 29 Nov. 1927: 2. Print. It is the first chapter of the National Urban League in the American West.(2007) African American History in the American West: Timeline. University of Washington. 1929 Civil rights Whitney Young leads the Urban League in Omaha to triple its membership.(2007) Our History Urban League of Nebraska. 1930s Civil rights The Knights and Daughters of Tabor, also known as the "Knights of Liberty", was founded in Omaha in this decade as a secret African-American organization whose goal was "nothing less than the destruction of slavery."(n.d.) Moses Dickson 1938 Civil rights Mildred Brown founds the Omaha Star with her husband, likely becoming the first woman, and definitely the first African-American woman, to found a newspaper in the U.S. She continued the paper for 50 years on her own, for the rest of her life. It celebrated African-American contributions and successes in Omaha and America, and became the only newspaper for African Americans in Nebraska. Her niece continues to operate the paper since Brown's death. 1942 Racial segregation Alfonza W. Davis from Omaha fights in the segregated unit known as the Tuskegee Airmen. He is presumed KIA when his aircraft disappears in 1944. 1947 Community organizing The DePorres Club begins at Creighton University,A Street of Dreams. actively seeking to fight racial discrimination in Omaha's housing and job markets. 1948 Community organizing The DePorres Club stages Omaha's first sit-in at a restaurant in the Douglas County Courthouse in Downtown Omaha with 30 members joining. The restaurant commits to desegregation.Graves, S. (2004) Black history strong at Creighton, The Creightonian Online. 83(18). 1948 Community organizing Mildred Brown invites the DePorres Club to meet at the offices of the Omaha Star after it was kicked off of Creighton's campus.Mildred Brown Nebraska Studies.
1950 to 2000
According to several prominent Omaha historians, racial discrimination was a significant issue in Omaha from the 1950s through the 2000s (decade). Analyzing race relations in Omaha during the period they commented, "1968 rivals 1919 as probably the worst year in the history of twentieth-century America from the standpoint of violence and internal tension."Larsen, Cotrell, Dalhstrom and Dalhstrom. (2007) Upstream Metropolis: An urban biography of Omaha and Council Bluffs. University of Nebraska Press. p 361. In 1969 three days of rioting swept the Near North Side, and in 1970 a policeman was killed by a suitcase bomb while answering a disturbance call at a house in North Omaha. However, as the 1966 Oscar-nominated documentary A Time for Burning and the 1970s books of Lois Mark Stalvey illustrated, the violence apparently served a purpose as lines of communication were opened between the "West Omaha matron and the black laborer."Larsen, Cotrell, Dalhstrom and Dalhstrom. (2007) p. 361.