Browse Items (179 total)

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…

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. …

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. …

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…

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…

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.

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…

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.

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…

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…