Archive

Posts Tagged ‘South Omaha Museum’

Life Itself XII: Omaha History Stories


Life Itself XII:

Omaha History Stories

Cathy Hughes proves you can come home again

https://leoadambiga.com/2018/06/28/cathy-hughes-pro…-come-home-again

Coming home is sweet for media giant Cathy Hughes

https://leoadambiga.com/2018/06/05/coming-home-is-s…ant-cathy-hughes

North Omaha rupture at center of PlayFest drama

https://leoadambiga.com/2018/04/30/north-omaha-rupt…f-playfest-drama/

John Knicely: A Broadcast Journalism Career Five Decades Strong

https://leoadambiga.com/2018/02/26/john-knicely-a-l…e-decades-strong/

Dundee Theater: Return engagement for the ages

https://leoadambiga.com/2017/10/28/dundee-theater-r…ent-for-the-ages

 

 

The Urban League movement lives strong in Omaha

https://leoadambiga.com/2017/11/17/the-urban-league…-strong-in-omaha/

Native Omaha Days: A Homecoming Like No Other

https://leoadambiga.com/2017/08/11/native-omaha-day…ng-like-no-other

Brenda Council: A public servant’s life

https://leoadambiga.com/2017/06/26/brenda-council-a…ic-servants-life

South Omaha Museum: A melting pot magic city gets its own museum

https://leoadambiga.com/2017/04/13/a-melting-pot-ma…s-its-own-museum

Mural project celebrates mosaic of South Omaha culture

https://leoadambiga.com/2016/07/19/mural-project-ce…th-omaha-culture/

 

One Hundred Years Strong: Bryant-Fisher Family Reunion

https://leoadambiga.com/2017/06/23/100-years-strong

Baseball and Soul Food at Omaha Rockets Kanteen

https://leoadambiga.com/2017/06/23/baseball-and-soul-food/

In their own words – The Greatest Generation on World War II

https://leoadambiga.com/2017/05/02/in-their-own-wor…-on-world-war-ii/

The tail-gunner’s grandson: Ben Drickey revisits World War II experiences on foot and film

https://leoadambiga.com/2017/05/02/the-tail-gunners…on-foot-and-film

Love affair with Afghanistan and international studies affords Tom Gouttierre world view like few others

https://leoadambiga.com/2017/02/21/love-affair-with…-like-few-others/

Father Ken Vavrina: Crossing Bridges

https://leoadambiga.com/2015/10/29/father-ken-vavri…e-serving-others/

Omaha Children’s Museum all grown up at 40: Celebrating four decades of letting children’s imagination run free

https://leoadambiga.com/2016/05/07/omaha-childrens-…ination-run-free/

Eighty years and counting:

History in the making at the Durham Museum

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/08/31/eighty-years-and…he-durham-museum

Durham Museum to celebrate 40-and-40: Forty years as train station and four decades as museum

https://leoadambiga.com/2015/03/04/durham-museum-to…ecades-as-museum

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“Nebraska Methodist College at 125: Scaling New Heights”

https://leoadambiga.com/2016/09/15/nebraska-methodi…ling-new-heights

Omaha history salvager Frank Horejsi:

Dream calls for warehouse to become a museum

https://leoadambiga.com/2015/03/11/omaha-history-sa…-become-a-museum

North’s Star: Gene Haynes builds legacy as education leader with Omaha Public Schools and North High School

https://leoadambiga.com/2014/12/02/norths-star-gene…orth-high-school/

Alone or together, Omaha power couple Vic Gutman and Roberta Wilhelm give back to the community

https://leoadambiga.com/2014/09/29/alone-or-togethe…to-the-community

Creative couple: Bob and Connie Spittler and their shared creative life 60 years in the making

https://leoadambiga.com/2015/12/23/bob-and-connie-s…rs-in-the-making/

David Corbin and Josie Metal-Corbin: Moving Right Along

https://leoadambiga.com/2015/07/03/moving-right-alo…wn-in-retirement/

Ben and Freddie Gray: North Omaha Power Couple

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/07/13/gray-matters-ben…hways-to-success/

Omaha’s old lion of philanthropy Dick Holland slowing down but still roaring and challenging the status quo

https://leoadambiga.com/2015/12/04/omahas-old-lion-…g-the-status-quo

Ed Poindexter and David Rice in 1970, North Omaha, Nebraska

 

Crime and punishment questions still surround 1970 killing that sent Omaha Two to life in prison

https://leoadambiga.com/2016/03/30/crime-and-punish…o-life-in-prison/

North Omaha: Voices and Visions for Change

https://leoadambiga.com/2016/02/29/north-omaha-voic…sions-for-change

Two Part Series:

After Decades of Walking Behind to Freedom, Omaha’s African-American Community Tries Picking Up the Pace Through Self-Empowered Networking

https://leoadambiga.com/2016/02/13/two-part-series-…wered-networking

Mike Green and Dick Davis: Lifetime Friends, Former Backfield Mates, Now Entrepreneurs

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/08/20/lifetime-friends…-black-citizenry/

Two families suffer Omaha’s segregation and waken the conscience of a nation

https://leoadambiga.com/2015/11/09/my-newest-cover-…ence-of-a-nation/

When New Horizons Dawned for African-Americans Seeking Homes in Omaha

https://leoadambiga.com/2013/01/17/when-new-horizon…ericans-in-omaha

South Omaha stories on tap for free PlayFest show; Great Plains Theatre Conference’s Neighborhood Tapestries returns to south side

https://leoadambiga.com/2015/05/06/south-omaha-stor…o-the-south-side/

Image result for omaha community playhouse

 

Celebrating 90 years, the Omaha Community Playhouse takes seriously its community theater mission

https://leoadambiga.com/2015/05/03/omaha-community-…-theater-mission

Playwright turned history detective Max Sparber turns identity search inward

https://leoadambiga.com/2015/02/07/playwright-turne…ty-search-inward

Jim Trebbien: Lifelong love affair with food led to distinguished culinary arts education career at Metropolitan Community College

https://leoadambiga.com/2015/03/02/culinary-artist-…ommunity-college

The Artist in the Mill: Linda Meigs brings agriculture, history and art together at Florence Mill

https://leoadambiga.com/2014/08/01/linda-meigs-brin…at-florence-mill

 

Patrick Drickey: Golf Shots

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/08/05/golf-shots-pat-d…eat-golf-courses/

Nancy Kirk: Fabric and Faith

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/10/21/nancy-kirk-arts-…erfaith-champion/

Edith Buis: A Life Immersed in Art

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/06/11/eddith-buis-a-life-immersed-in-art

Life comes full circle for singer Carol Rogers

https://leoadambiga.com/2015/08/28/life-comes-full-…ger-carol-rogers

Goin’ down the Lincoln Highway with Omaha music guru Nils Anders Erickson

https://leoadambiga.com/2013/10/01/goin-down-the-li…-anders-erickson

 

Omaha’s Old Market: 

History, stories, places, personalities, characters

https://leoadambiga.com/2016/06/19/omahas-old-marke…ities-characters/

The X-Men Weigh-In on Designing a New Omaha

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/08/25/the-x-men-weigh-…ning-a-new-omaha

Designing Woman: Connie Spellman Helps Shape a New Omaha Through Omaha By Design

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/12/13/designing-woman-…-omaha-by-design

Play considers Northside black history through eyes of Omaha Star publisher Mildred Bown

https://leoadambiga.com/2016/04/29/play-considers-n…-of-mildred-bown

Mike Saklar: Whatsoever You Do to the Least of My Brothers

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/08/01/whatsoever-you-d…t-you-do-unto-me/

Teela Mickles: Nurturing One Lost Soul at a Time

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/06/29/nurturing-one-lo…-back-to-society/

 

 

Kent Bellows: Soul in Motion

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/09/21/kent-bellows-soul-in-motion/

Kent Bellows legacy lives on

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/10/13/bellows-legacy-lives-on

Young artist steps out of the shadows of towering presence in his life

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/09/03/a-young-artist-s…ence-in-his-life

Exhibit by photographer Jim Krantz and his artist grandfather, the late David Bialac engages in art conversation through the generations

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/10/28/photographer-jim…-the-generations/

Book explores University of Nebraska at Omaha’s rich history

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/08/02/book-explores-un…has-rich-history/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A brief history of Omaha’s civil rights struggle distilled in black and white by photographer Rudy Smith

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/05/02/a-brief-history-…apher-rudy-smit

Rich music history long untold revealed and celebrated by Omaha Black Music Hall of Fame

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/07/02/a-rich-music-his…sic-hall-of-fame/

 

The History Man, Gary Kastrick, and his Project OMAHA lose home base

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/10/03/gary-kastricks-p…es-its-home-base

Omahans recall historic 1963 march on Washington

https://leoadambiga.com/2013/08/12/omahans-recall-h…ch-on-washington

Great Migration Stories: For African Americans who left the South for Omaha, the specter of down home is never far away

https://leoadambiga.com/2013/07/30/great-migration-…s-never-far-away

THE GREAT MIGRATION: WHEREVER PEOPLE MOVE, HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS

https://leoadambiga.com/2015/05/07/the-great-migrat…ere-the-heart-is

CIVIL RIGHTS: STANDING UP FOR WHAT’S RIGHT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

https://leoadambiga.com/2015/05/07/civil-rights-sta…ake-a-difference/

The Omaha Star | by National Register

 

The Omaha Star celebrates 75 years of black woman legacy

https://leoadambiga.com/2013/04/11/the-omaha-star-c…ack-woman-legacy

Marguerita Washington:

The woman behind the Star that never sets

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/08/02/marguerita-washi…-that-never-sets

Omaha World-Herald columnist Mike Kelly:

A storyteller for all seasons

https://leoadambiga.com/2014/04/02/omaha-world-hera…-for-all-seasons

Bob Hoig’s unintended entree into journalism leads to career six decades strong

https://leoadambiga.com/2013/01/25/bob-hoigs-uninte…cades-strong-now

Omaha Fashion Past

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/02/04/omaha-fashion-past

Theater-Fashion Maven Elaine Jabenis

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/08/04/theater-fashion-…n-elaine-jabenis

Timeless Fashion Illustrator Mary Mitchell: Her Work Illustrating Three Decades of Style Now Subject of New Book and Exhibition

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/01/07/timeless-fashion…k-and-exhibition

 

From the Archives: Warren Francke – A passion for journalism, teaching and life

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/06/11/from-the-archive…eaching-and-life/

Documentary considers Omaha’s changing face since World War II

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/08/15/documentary-cons…nce-world-war-ii/

Omaha Community Foundation project assesses the Omaha landscape with the goal of affecting needed change

https://leoadambiga.com/2017/05/10/omaha-community-…ng-needed-change/

Omaha Community Foundation:

A Giving Connection Serving Those Who Serve

https://leoadambiga.com/2013/09/30/omaha-community-…-those-who-serve

Everything old newly restored again at historic Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Omaha

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/07/15/everything-old-i…-church-in-omaha

photo

Remembering Omaha Old Market original, fruit and vegetable peddler Joe Vitale

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/06/19/in-memory-of-a-o…ddler-joe-vitale

From the Archives: Ode to the Omaha Stockyards

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/06/14/from-the-archive…omaha-stockyards

Last days and halcyon times of the Omaha Stockyards remembered

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/08/02/the-last-days-an…yards-remembered/

“Memories of the Jewish Midwest: Mom and Pop Grocery Stores, Omaha, Lincoln, Greater Nebraska and Southwest Iowa”

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/12/12/memories-of-the-…southwest-iowa-2/

 

Retired Omaha World-Herald military affairs newsman Howard Silber: War veteran, reporter, raconteur, bon vi vant, globetrotter

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/10/06/retired-omaha-wo…nt-globe-trotter

From the Archives: Former Omaha television photojournalist Don Chapman’s adventures in imagemaking keep him on the move

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/09/29/from-the-archive…-him-on-the-move

Omaha’s KVNO 90.7 FM turns 40: Commercial-free public radio station serves the community all classical music and local news

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/02/11/omahas-kvno-90-7…ent-set-it-apart

Nancy Bounds, Timeless Arbiter of Fashion Beauty, Glamour, Poise

http://leoadambiga.com/2012/02/04/nancy-bounds-a-t…ty-glamour-poise

Charles Jones: Looking Homeward

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/08/03/looking-homeward/

Back in the Day:

Native Omaha Days is reunion, homecoming, heritage celebration and party all in one

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/06/11/back-in-the-day-…party-all-in-one

Native Omaha Days: A Black is Beautiful celebration, now, and all the days gone by

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/07/04/native-omaha-day…the-days-gone-by

The Ties that Bind:

One family’s celebration of Native Omaha Days

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/06/11/the-ties-that-bi…ative-omaha-days

photo

photo by Cyclops-Optic (Jack David Hubbell)

My Brother’s Keeper, The competitive drive MLB Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson’s older brother, Josh, instilled in him (from my Omaha Black Sports Legends series, Out to Win: The Roots of Greatness)

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/04/30/my-brothers-keep…instilled-in-him

Luigi’s Legacy, The Late Omaha Jazz Artist Luigi Waites Fondly Remembered

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/07/18/luigis-legacy-th…ondly-remembered/

Carole Woods Harris Makes a Habit of Breaking Barriers for Black Women in Business and Politics

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/04/17/carole-woods-har…ess-and-politics

By land, by sea, by air, Omaha Jewish veterans performed far-flung wartime duties

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/05/22/by-land-by-sea-b…g-wartime-duties

Omaha’s Tuskegee Airmen

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/06/18/the-tuskegee-airmen

Donovan Ketzler: Last of the Rough Riders

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/06/18/last-of-the-rough-riders/

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Warren Buffett, left, and Stan Lipsey at the Omaha Sun in the 1970s.

 

An Omaha legacy ends, Wesley House Community Center shutters after 139 years — New use for site unknown

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/05/21/an-omaha-legacy-…for-site-unknown

Sun reflection: Revisiting the Omaha Sun’s Pulitzer Prize-winning expose of Boys Town

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/04/28/sun-reflection-r…ose-on-boys-town/

Burden of Dreams:

The trials of Omaha’s Black Museum

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/12/14/burden-of-dreams…a’s-black-museum

Long and winding saga of Great Plains Black History Museum takes new turn

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/12/14/long-and-winding…kes-a-new-turn-2/

Coloring History:

A long, hard road for UNO Black Studies

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/08/25/coloring-history…no-black-studies

 

Omaha’s Monty Ross talks about making history with Spike Lee

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/09/06/monty-ross-talks…-with-since-1981/

Radio One queen Cathy Hughes rules by keeping it real: Native Omahan created Urban Radio format

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/04/29/radio-one-queen-…-keeping-it-real/

Show goes on at Omaha Community Playhouse, where Henry Fonda and Dorothy McGuire got their start

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/08/04/the-show-goes-on

Omaha’s Grand Old Lady, The Orpheum Theater

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/08/02/omahas-grand-old…-orpheum-theater

Magical mystery tour of Omaha’s Magic Theatre, a Megan Terry and Jo Ann Schmidman production

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/05/19/the-magical-myst…idman-production

Nancy Duncan: Her final story

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/05/09/her-final-story

From the Archives: Nancy Duncan’s journey to storytelling took circuitous route

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/04/01/from-the-archive…circutious-route

Bertha’s Battle: Bertha Calloway, the Grand Lady of Lake Street, struggles to keep the Great Plains Black History Museum afloat

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/05/11/berthas-battle

Requiem for a Heavyweight, the Ron Stander Story

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/05/31/requiem-for-a-heavyweight

This version of Simon Says positions Omaha Steaks as food service juggernaut

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/06/15/this-version-of-…rvice-juggernaut

Bedrock values at core of four-generation All Makes Office Furniture Company

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/06/17/bedrock-values-a…urniture-company/

Customer-first philosophy makes family-owned Kohll’s Pharmacy and Homecare stand out from the crowd

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/06/18/customer-first-p…t-from-the-crowd

Altman on Altman: A look at the late American auteur Robert Altman through the eyes of his grandson, indie Omaha filmmaker Dana Altman, and other cinephiles

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/05/18/altman-on-altman

A Contrary Path to Social Justice: The De Porres Club and the fight for equality in Omaha

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/05/01/a-contrary-path-…quality-in-omaha

University of Nebraska at Omaha Wrestling dynasty built on tide of social change

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/04/30/uno-wrestling-dy…of-social-change

Academy Award-nominated documentary “A Time for Burning” captured church and community struggle with racism

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/12/15/a-time-for-burni…ggle-with-racism

When Omaha’s North 24th Street brought together Jews and Blacks in a melting pot marketplace

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/04/30/when-omahas-nort…-that-is-no-more

Filmmaker Alexander Payne and his father George remember the family’s Virginia Cafe

https://leoadambiga.com/2018/04/01/filmmaker-alexan…ys-virginia-cafe/

Cover of

Billy Melton served with Omaha’s “Sweet Sixteen” in the all black 530th Quartermaster Battalion

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/04/30/omahas-sweet-six…master-battalion

In her 101 years, ex-vaudeville dancer Maude Wangberg has lived a whirl of splendor

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/08/02/in-her-101-years…hirl-of-splendor/

The Brandeis Story:

Great Plains family-owned department store empire

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/06/07/the-brandeis-sto…the-great-plains

In Memoriam: George Eisenberg

https://leoadambiga.com/2018/03/27/in-memoriam-george-eisenberg

 

 

Charles Hall’s Fair Deal Cafe

https://leoadambiga.com/2016/05/11/charles-halls-fair-deal-cafe

Deadeye Marcus “Mac” McGee still a straight shooter at 100

https://leoadambiga.com/2016/03/15/deadeye-marcus-m…t-shooter-at-100

The series and the stadium: CWS and Rosenblatt are home to the Boys of Summer

https://leoadambiga.com/2016/06/25/the-series-and-t…e-boys-of-summer/

 

A Rosenblatt Tribute

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/06/19/a-rosenblatt-tribute

 

El Puente: Attempting to bridge divide between grassroots community and the system

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/07/22/el-puente-attemp…y-and-the-system/

Rabbi Azriel: Legacy as social progressive and interfaith champion secure

https://leoadambiga.com/2014/05/15/rabbi-azriel-leg…-champion-secure

Nebraska’s Changing Face; UNO’s Changing Face

https://leoadambiga.com/2014/03/18/nebraskas-changi…os-changing-face

Good Shepherds of North Omaha:

Ministers and Churches Making a Difference in Area of Great Need

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/07/04/the-shepherds-of…ea-of-great-need

When Rosenblatt was Municipal Stadium. At the first game, from left: Steve Rosenblatt; Rex Barney; Bob Hall, owner of the Omaha Cardinals; Duce Belford, Brooklyn Dodgers scout and Creighton athletic director; Richie Ashburn, a native of Tilden, Neb.; Johnny Rosenblatt; and Johnny Hopp of Hastings, Neb.:

©Omaha World-Herald

When Rosenblatt was Municipal Stadium. At the first game, from left: Steve Rosenblatt; Rex Barney; Bob Hall, owner of the Omaha Cardinals; Duce Belford, Brooklyn Dodgers scout and Creighton athletic director; Richie Ashburn, a native of Tilden, Neb.; Johnny Rosenblatt; and Johnny Hopp of Hastings, Neb.

 

Art imitates life for “Having Our Say” stars, sisters

Camille Metoyer Moten and Lanette Metoyer Moore, and their brother Ray Metoyer

https://leoadambiga.com/2014/02/05/art-imitates-lif…ther-ray-metoyer

Brenda Allen’s real life ccuntry music drama took her from Nebraska to Vietnam to Vegas

https://leoadambiga.com/2013/06/01/brenda-allens-re…vietnam-to-vegas

Ex-reporter Eileen Wirth pens book on Nebraska women in journalism and their leap from society page to front page

https://leoadambiga.com/2013/03/22/ex-reporter-eile…ge-to-front-page

Documentary shines light on civil rights powerbroker Whitney Young: Producer Bonnie Boswell to discuss film and Young

https://leoadambiga.com/2013/03/21/documentary-shin…e-film-and-young/

Free Radical Ernie Chambers subject of new biography by author Tekla Agbala Ali Johnson

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/12/05/free-radical-ern…bala-ali-johnson

Creighton College of Business anchored in pioneering entrepreneurial spirit and Jesuit philosophy

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/08/19/creighton-colleg…esuit-philosophy

Gender equity in sports has come a long way, baby; Title IX activists-advocates who fought for change see much progress and the need for more

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/06/11/gender-equity-in…he-need-for-more/

One Helluva Broad: Mary Galligan Cornett

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/06/09/one-helluva-broa…galligan-cornett

When a building isn’t just a building:

LaFern Willams South YMCA facelift reinvigorates community

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/08/03/when-a-building-…-just-a-buildin

 

 

Carolina Quezada leading rebound of Latino Center of the Midlands

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/05/03/carolina-quezada…-of-the-midlands

Allan Noddle’s food industry adventures show him the world

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/04/28/allan-noddles-ad…ow-him-the-world

Devotees hold fast to the Latin rite

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/06/15/devotees-hold-fa…o-the-latin-rite/ 

 

Steve Rosenblatt: A legacy of community service, political ambition and baseball adoration

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/04/27/steve-rosenblatt…seball-adoration

From the Archives:

Peony Park not just an amusement playground, but a multi-use events facility

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/04/08/from-the-archive…-events-facility

Making the case for a Nebraska Black Sports Hall of Fame

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/03/27/making-the-case-…rts-hall-of-fame

El Museo Latino opened as Midwest’s first Latino art and history museum-cultural center

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/06/14/el-museo-latino-…r-in-the-midwest/

The Garcia Girls

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/08/06/the-garcia-girls

South Omaha’s Jim Ramirez: A Man of the People

https://leoadambiga.com/2010/08/01/jim-ramirez-a-man-of-the-people

Community-builders Jose and Linda Garcia Devote Themselves to a Life Promoting Latino Art, Culture, History

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/09/30/community-builde…-culture-history/

Jose and Linda Garcia find new outlet for their magnificent obsession in the Mexican American Historical Society of the Midlands

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/03/25/jose-and-linda-g…-of-the-midlands/

Parween Arghandaywal pronounces words during English class at the University of Nebraska Omaha for visiting Afghan teachers in 2002. (Omaha World-Herald Photo by Bill Batson, used by permission)

Parween Arghandaywal pronounces words during English class at the University of Nebraska Omaha for visiting Afghan teachers in 2002. (©Omaha World-Herald Photo by Bill Batson)

Afghan women arrived in Omaha under the sponsorship of the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Saleemah, a teacher from Kabul and wearing a scarf is hugged by Masuma Basheer, an employee of America West Airlines in Omaha and a formerly from Afghanistan. (Omaha World-Herald photo by Bill Batson, used by permission)

Afghan women arrived in Omaha under the sponsorship of the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Saleemah, a teacher from Kabul and wearing a scarf is hugged by Masuma Basheer, an employee of America West Airlines in Omaha and a formerly from Afghanistan. (©Omaha World-Herald photo by Bill Batson)

tom-karzai-at-uno-reduced

Tom Gouttierre conferring UNO honorary status on Hamid Karzai during the then-Afghan president’s visit to Omaha

UNO Center for Afghanistan Studies plays role in multi-national efforts to restore Afghan educational system

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/12/25/uno-center-for-a…ucational-system

UNO Afghanistan Teacher Education Project trains women educators from the embattled nation

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/12/20/uno-afghanistan-…embattled-nation/

The enchanted life of Florence Taminosian Young, daughter of a whirling dervish

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/12/10/the-enchanted-li…whirling-dervish

Louise Abrahamson’s legacy of giving finds perfect fit at The Clothesline, the Boys Town thrift store the octogenarian founded and still runs

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/12/05/louise-abrahamso…uns-at-boys-town

Shirley Goldstein: Cream of the Crop – one woman’s remarkable journey in the Free Soviet Jewry movement

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An Open Invitation: Rev. Tom Fangman Engages All Who Seek or Need at Sacred Heart Catholic Church

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After steep decline, the Wesley House rises under Paul Bryant to become youth academy of excellence in the inner city

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From the Archives: Minister makes no concession to retirement, plans busy travel, filmmaking schedule

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Requiem for a Dynasty: UNO Wrestling

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Image result for don benning omaha uno

 

Magazine and mission founded on spirit of giving: Metro Magazine publisher Andy Hoig celebrates philanthropy

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South Omaha Museum: A melting pot magic city gets its own museum

April 13, 2017 2 comments

South Omaha’s history is a heady brew of industry, working class families, immigrants, refugees and migrants, tight-knit ethnic neighborhoods, high spirits and fierce pride and though it took more than a century to get one, it finally has its own museum to celebrate all that rich heritage. This is my recent El Perico story about the newly opened South Omaha Museum. It’s a true labor of love for the three men most responsbile for pulling it together: Gary Kastrick, Marcos Mora and Mike Giron. But the heart and soul of it, not to mention most of the collection it displays, comes from Mr. South Omaha, Gary Kastrick, a historian and educator whose dream this museum fufills.

 

South Omaha Museum: A melting pot magic city gets its own museum

©by Leo Adam Biga

Originally appeared in El Perico (el-perico.com)

 

Just like the community that forged him, the dreams of South Omaha native and historian Gary Kastrick don’t die easy. The educator developed the Project Omaha teaching museum at South High but when he retired the school didn’t want it anymore.

For years he stored his collection’s thousands of artifacts at his home while seeking a venue in which to display them. An attempt at securing a site fell through but a new one recently surfaced and has given birth to the South Omaha Museum. The nonprofit opened March 15 to much fanfare. Fittingly, it’s located in a building at 2314 M Street he helped his late father clean as a boy. It’s also where he found his first artifact.

Building owner Marcos Mora of the South Omaha Arts Institute wanted Kastrick’s font of history to have a permanent home.

“He’s got this knowledge and we need to share it with  everybody,” said Mora. “If we don’t preserve that history now, it’s going to go away.”

 

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A $10,000 City of Omaha historical grant helped but it still took 12-hour days, sweat equity and hustle to open it. Kastrick’s family, friends and former students pitched in. Artist Mike Giron designed the exhibit spaces.

Funding is being sought. Donations are welcome.

The founders are pleased by the strong early response.

“People are overwhelmed,” said Kastrick.

“People come in with expectation and come out with gratitude,” Giron said.

Offers of artifacts are flooding in.

The free admission museum marks the third leg of Kastrick’s three-pronged campaign to spark interest in “a South Omaha renaissance.” Between the museum, historical walking tours he leads and the South Omaha Mural Project he consults, he aims to bring more people to this history-rich district.

“My main goal is to generate traffic.”

The museum’s opening exhibition, “The Smell of Money,” which runs through April 15, chronicles the stockyards and meatpacking plants that were South O’s lifeblood and largest employer.

Kastrick said, “There was a pride in this industry. The owners did everything first-rate. They put money into it. They made innovations. They created state-of-the-art sheep barns. They did everything right. It’s why Omaha’s stockyards kept growing. It wasn’t expected to be bigger than Chicago but in 1955 it became the world’s largest livestock market.”

He estimates it generated $1.7 million a day.

“It was an extremely wealthy area.”

Ancillary businesses and services sprung up: bars, cafes, hardware stores, feed stores, rendering plants, leather mills, a railway, a newspaper, a telegraph office, grocers, banks, brothels. South O’s red light district The Gully offered every vice. The Miller Hotel was notorious.

Fast growth earned South O the name Magic City.

Rural families taking livestock to market also came for provisions and diversions.

“This was their visit to the big city,” Kastrick said, “so they’d do their shopping, playing, gambling here. It was a treat to come into South Omaha.”

For laborers, the work was rigorous and dangerous.

“There was a comradeship of hard labor. It defined who we were and that definition gave us a color and a flavor other parts of the city don’t have,” Kastrick said. “We’ve always been tougher than those who have it easy.”

 

 

The packing plants drew European immigrants and African-American migrants. Then the antiquated plants grew obsolete and got razed. The loss of jobs and commerce triggered economic decline. The South 24th Street business district turned ghost town. New immigration sparked revival. New development replaced the yards and plants. Only the repurposed Livestock Exchange Building remains. Kastrick’s museum recalls what came before through a scale model layout of the yards, photos, signs, posters, narratives. He has hundreds of hours of interviews to draw on.

“It’s a fascinating history.”

He envisions hosting classes and special events, including a scavenger hunt and trivia night.

Future exhibits will range from bars, brothels and barber shops to Cinco de Mayo to ethnic groups.

Kastrick, Mora and Giron all identify with South O’s melting pot heritage as landing spot and gateway for newcomers.

“There’s that common gene in South Omaha of the immigrant,” said Kastrick, whose grandparents came from Poland. “Wherever people are from, they uprooted themselves from security to come here and start over. It takes a lot of guts. It’s a great place because you run into so many different nationalities. We’re such a compact area – it’s hard not to be with each other.”

Mora, whose grandparents came from Mexico, said

“South Omaha is in our heart.”

Giron, the son of Cuban emigre parents, said, “What I see and identify with here is the underdog. People willing to sacrifice, to work hard, to do what it takes but also knowing how to have a good time. It isn’t an area where everybody takes everything for granted.” Giron said the museum’s “not just about history and facts, it’s about people’s lives,” adding, “It’s like you’re touching or expressing their experience.”

Once a South Omahan, always a South Omaha, said

Mora. “People might have moved out, but they still have that connection. Those roots are still down here. It’s a neighborhood community and extended family network.”

Kastrick said, “We have our own unique identity. It’s       something special to be from here. We enjoy who we are. We have kind of a defiant pride because we’ve always been looked down as the working class, the working poor and everything else. We don’t care. We created our own nice little world with everything we need.”

Through changing times and new ethnic arrivals the one constant, he said, “is the South Omaha culture and concept of who we are – tough, good people” who “won’t be stopped.”

For hours, visit http://www.southomahamuseum.org.

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