From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Great Plains Black History Museum |
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| Established |
1976 |
| Location |
2213 Lake Street
Omaha, Nebraska |
| Website |
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The Great Plains Black History Museum is located at 2213 Lake Street in the Near North Side neighborhood in North Omaha, Nebraska. It is housed in the Webster Telephone Exchange Building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nationally renowned institution, the museum includes more than 10,000 displays.
In 1962, Omaha community leader Bertha Calloway founded the Negro History Society. As a student she had been a member of a pioneering Omaha civil rights group called the DePorres Club.[1] Around that period she also had the idea to create a museum about the African-American experience. In 1976 she opened the Great Plains Black Museum, in the Western Telephone Exchange Building. This had been a community center for recovery efforts after the disastrous 1913 tornado.
Calloway's goal over the next 30 years was to teach Nebraskans about the contributions of African Americans in the Midwest. In a 1996 interview Calloway explained, "People must see black history in order for the images they have of black people to change. That’s what our museum is all about... revealing a history that’s been withheld."[2] In 1976 the Museum formally opened, funded by a grant from the United States Bicentennial Commission. For the following 25 years, the Museum featured paintings, rare books, photographs, and films of the African-American experience. It was one of the largest historical and cultural institutions on African-American life west of the Mississippi River.[3]
The Museum closed in 2001 after director Jim Calloway, the son of founder Bertha Calloway, refused funding from the City of Omaha and Douglas County. The museum had always relied on the city funding. Also chairing the Committee for the Preservation of Historic North Omaha Sites, Jim Calloway tried to persuade City officials to allocate additional funding above what they had allotted. The City refused. The Museum was forced to close for lack of funding and poor maintenance of the building. Recently, the University of Nebraska at Omaha Black Studies Department and the Metropolitan Community College have shown interest in assisting the Museum's recovery.[4]
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