Near North Side (Omaha, Nebraska)

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The Near North Side of Omaha, Nebraska is the neighborhood immediately north of downtown. It forms the nucleus of the city's African American community, and its name is often synonymous with the entire North Omaha area. It is bordered by Cuming Street on the south, 30th on the west, 16th on the east, and Locust Street to the north.

[edit] History

View of the SE corner of 24th & Lake Streets in North Omaha at the heart of the Near North Side.

Bordered by several historic neighborhoods, including Bemis Park, East Omaha, Kountze Park and Saratoga, the Near North Side is perhaps the oldest, and most significant, of each of these. The community was originally platted in 1855 as Scriptown and lots were awarded to Nebraska Territory legislators who voted for Nebraska statehood. Consequently, the area was developed quickly, and included a number of prominent homes.^[1]

The area grew throughout the last half of the 1800s as Omaha's suburb, with the first streetcars running up and down its main thoroughfares of 24th and 30th Streets. After the Trans-Mississippi Exposition occurred just north of the area in 1898, Kountze Park was developed to serve the area's widely varied racial and ethnic populations. The bustling 24th Street corridor also served these communities, with mixed European immigrant communities mingling with the African American community. Many African Americans moved to Omaha during this time as part of the Great Migration.

Omaha's Jewish community was founded in the Near North Side neighborhood. Two Jewish synagogues provided social and cultural activities, in which renowned author Tillie Olsen grew up. St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church and Calvin Memorial Presbyterian Church were among the congregations that served the black community, and Holy Family Catholic Church served successive congregations of German, Irish, Italian and Czech immigrants in the area.^[2] Students attended a variety of area schools, including Tech High School, just to the southwest of the community's boundaries.

[edit] 1913 Tornado

View of the east side of the 24th & Lake Streets in North Omaha after the tornado. More than 50 people died at this intersection.

The Easter Sunday tornado of 1913 destroyed much of the Near North Side's businesses and neighborhoods.^[3] The Idlewild Pool Hall at 2307 North 24th Street in the heart of the neighborhood was the scene of the greatest loss of life. The owner, C. W. Dillard, and 13 customers were killed as they tried to take shelter on the south side of the pool hall’s basement. The victims were crushed by falling debris or overcome by smoke from fires begun when wood stoves used for heating overturned. The postcard image shows the slow process of removing the debris to recover the bodies. The victims were then removed to the Webster Telephone Exchange Building at 2213 Lake Street. More than 50 people died at one intersection during the storm.^[4] One report identified this building as a central headquarters in recovering the community, as the many operators went to work despite the building missing all of its windows.^[5]

[edit] Lynching of Willy Brown

A mob of Caucasians lynched an African American worker named Will Brown in 1919. He was dragged from his jail cell, beaten, trampled, lynched, dragged through the streets, dismembered and burnt. After the mob was done with Brown's corpse they attempted to turn their hatred on the entire population of African Americans in the Near North Side; however, their efforts were thwarted by soldiers from Fort Omaha.^[6] After this riot the city began enforcing race-restrictive covenants. Properties for rent and sale were restricted on the basis of race, with the primary intent of keeping North Omaha "black" and the rest of the city "white". These agreements were held in place with redlining,^[7] a system of segregated insuring and lending reinforced by the federal government. These restrictions were ruled illegal in 1940.

During this period the Near North Side became home of the Logan Fontenelle Housing Projects, a federal housing project built in 1938 as no-cost or low-cost housing for Eastern European immigrants. The demographics gradually changed, and by the late 1960s they were inhabited almost entirely by poor and low-income African Americans. By the early 2000s each of these facilities was torn down and replaced with other public housing schemes.

Hose Company #12, and later Hose Company #11, hired the first African American firefighters to serve the Near North Side. One of the two stations was located at 20th and Lake Streets.^[8]

[edit] Golden years

During the height of the Jazz Age, the Dreamland Ballroom was the highlight of what is widely regarded as Near North Omaha's golden years. From the 1920s through the early 1960s, the neighborhood's cultural scene was vibrant. When the Dreamland Ballroom closed in the 1960s, it was an indication of changing tastes, but also of decline.

Wallace Thurman, widely considered one of the greatest writers of the Harlem Renaissance, grew up in the Near North Side, along with jazz legend Preston Love, political leader George Wells Parker and military hero Alfonza W. Davis. Malcolm X's father Earl Little was a pastor in Near North Omaha when Malcolm was born there in 1926.

[edit] Decline

The historic office of the Omaha Star.

The mid-century loss of industrial jobs meant increasing poverty among people who did not have alternatives and who stayed. In July 1966 the National Guard was called in from Fort Omaha to quell two days of rioting in North Omaha after local youth burnt down several area businesses along the 24th Street corridor.^[9] That same year A Time for Burning, a documentary featuring North Omaha, was filmed. Later it was nominated for an Oscar for best documentary. In 1968 the National Guard again quelled North Omaha riots after the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in April. In the summer of 1969 riots again erupted after an Omaha police officer fatally shot a teenager named Vivian Strong in the Logan Fontenelle Projects. Three days of rioting effectively destroyed the Near North Omaha business area.^[10]

Construction of the North Omaha Freeway in the 1970s is widely regarded as adding to the decline of Near North Omaha. Research has shown that the area experienced a 30 percent housing loss and major increase in crime.^[11]

In 1976, Omaha Public Schools began court-ordered busing to achieve integration, which led many Near North Omaha students away from their community for the first time.^[12] This period of social activism was then some modern leaders emerged, such as Ernie Chambers, Brenda Council and Rev. Ken Vavrina. Cultural evolution led to the formation of the the funk band L.A. Carnival.

[edit] Present

For more than 20 years the community's historic legacy was captured by the Great Plains Black History Museum. Today the community's culture is continuously celebrated in the biennial Native Omaha Days and by the long-running Omaha Star newspaper.

Recently the Omaha Royals have proposed building a $54 million stadium as part of a $170 million redevelopment the Near North Side Omaha's Qwest Center and Creighton University.^[13]

[edit] Historic landmarks

The City of Omaha has recognized many buildings and homes on the Near North Side as landmarks, and several are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[edit] See also

• History of North Omaha, Nebraska

[edit] References