Historical Material from UNO Libraries' Archives & Special Collections

The American Indian Oral History and Omaha Folklore Project Oral History Collection contains oral history interviews of Native Americans in Omaha, Nebraska as well as interviews collected as part of a program called the Oral History Collection of the Omaha Folklore Project. The interviews cover the cultures and personal histories of interviewees in the U.S. as well as leaving Europe in the first half of the 20th Century. Topics of discussion include life in Omaha, World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, and day-to-day life. Those interviewed were of Native American, Polish, German, Swedish, and other ethnic or national descents.

The Land Allotment Tax Records and Learning Contracts of the Omaha, Winnebago, and Santee Sioux Tribes of Nebraska contain copies of allotment records with handwritten index cards containing further information; handwritten allotment cards; a mix of handwritten, typescript, and photocopied reports, lease agreements, land sale records, tax records, memos, and correspondence, some with handwritten annotations or accompanied by handwritten notes on separate sheets. The bulk of the records relate to the Winnebago, although the Omaha, Santee Sioux, and other tribes are also represented. The collection includes materials from least 1872 until 1982. Several different handwritings appear in the collection, and it is not known exactly who compiled and annotated these records.

Description provided by Steve Hendricks, the donor: I gathered the documents to write my 2006 book The Unquiet Grave: The FBI and the Struggle for the Soul of Indian Country, a work of history (chiefly the 1970s) and contemporary journalism.

The WPA Records are drafts and research notes used for the books and pamphlets produced by the Omaha office of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) Federal Writers' Project (FWP) (1935-1943). The bulk of the papers are typescript, with a few handwritten notes. The collection includes reports about architectural works (primarily buildings), businesses and industry, cemeteries, charities, collections, crime and criminals, defense trainee interviews, education, ethnicity (race and national origin), fine arts (artists, authors, music, and theater), folklore, hospitals, interviews and biographies, the Missouri River, the State of Nebraska, newspaper clippings on a variety of topics, information about the newspapers themselves (rivalries, strikes, unions, newspapermen, and individual Nebraska newspapers), the City of Omaha, organizations and clubs, parks, politics, printing, "Prophets of Armageddon" (including information about George F. Train), radio scripts ("Pageant of Nebraska," "Pageant of Omaha," and "Pageant of Wakefield"), religion, residences, sports and recreation, the W.P.A. (American Guide Manual, bibliographies, correspondence, indexes, projects, publications, tours, and writer's production reports), and miscellaneous information. The Nebraska category is further broken down into archaeology, Civilian Conservation Corps, Douglas County, early explorers and explorations, farming, history (the most extensive portion), military information, plants and wildlife, Sarpy County, topography, villages and towns outside of Omaha, Washington County, and miscellaneous information. The Nebraska portion of the collection also includes the Nebraska Almanac, the Nebraska Atlas, and the Nebraska Encyclopedia (biographies and county information).

The collection of Sam Walker includes posters, fliers, LPs, and ephemera documenting Omaha organizations, events, and people in the 20th and 21st centuries particularly related to activism, music, and culture. Topics covered include anti-Vietnam War protests, protests against the demolition of Jobbers Canyon, Omaha sheet music, Wounded Knee legal defense fund, Omaha music and performers, Al Smith, jazz vocalist Karrin Allyson, and the Omaha centennial celebration. The fourteen LPs in the collection were produced by Omaha church, high school, university, Boys Town, and other musical groups. The collection includes a sample ballot for the 1967 Omaha vote about whether to merge the Municipal University of Omaha with the University of Nebraska, which when passed created the University of Nebraska system.

The LGBTQ+ Oral History Collection is the home for oral history interviews conducted with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual individuals from various communities with a focus on those with a connection to Omaha, Nebraska. The interviews were consciously collected to be part of UNO’s Queer Omaha Archives.

UNO History professor Dr. Elaine Nelson's students collected oral history interviews in spring 2017 for a course that resulted in the exhibit "Women in Omaha: A Biographical Sketch Through History" in January-July 2018 at the Durham Museum in Omaha. The interviews were collected from Omaha women and other people who knew the women such as descendants. Women included in the exhibition were: Dr. Jacqueline St John, Rita Melgares, JD, Ella Jean Rogers, Sarah Joslyn, Octa Keen, MSN, Rose Blumkin, Linda Garcia-Perez, Edwina Justus, Kimi Takechi, Margaret Suchy, Ashleigh Buch, SSGT, and narrator CM. The course was History 4060/8066 : History of Women in America, 1875-1992.

Five mid-twentieth century postcards depicting racial and gender stereotypes of Native Americans in the United States.

The Harold Chenoweth Film Collection holds the digitized copies of the original films shot by Nebraskan Harold Chenoweth during the first half of the twentieth century. Most films document activities and events in Midwestern states including Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, and South Dakota along with some locations in the Western U.S. The subject matter of the films include: rodeos; commercials; state fairs; highlights from Aksarben including the racetack, parade, stock animals, and factory; Delco Farm Lighting; highlights from the 1941 Rose Bowl football game between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Stanford University; a 1933 California trip of Herbert Hoover; Bison to Barley; and other topics.

The Seven Anderton Papers are comprised of the manuscripts, correspondence, and published works of short story author Seven Anderton, from circa 1926-circa 1958. The majority of his stories are westerns or detective fiction. One series of the collection comprises seven boxes of files containing primarily manuscripts and correspondence (both professional and personal), along with some newspaper clippings, check stubs, purchase orders, tax forms, songs, poems, magazines, cards, and family photographs. The other series of the collection is the original issues of the pulp magazines in which his works were published, including but not limited to The Blue Book, Detective Fiction Weekly, Famous Detective Stories, Ranch Romances, Real Western Stories, Smashing Detective Stories, Super Sports, Ten-Story Sports, and Triple-X.

The UNO Native American Studies (NAS) Program Records cover the period from the program's founding in 1992 to the present and include records produced by the NAS Program and materials collected and used by the program. Records produced by the program include proposals, flyers, programs, brochures, course lists, syllabi, correspondence, meeting agendas, meeting minutes, faculty lists, recruitment information, awards, governance documents, and miscellaneous. Resources collected by the program include Native American newsletters, posters, and a binder index to Rinehart's Prints of American Indians.

The UNO Artifact Collection includes objects related to the University of Nebraska at Omaha and its predecessor the University of Omaha, from circa 1908 to the present. The collection includes a diverse array of OU and UNO branded items, t-shirts, hats, sweaters, blankets, scrapbooks, proclamations, trophies, award plaques, flags, pennants, pins, pens, seat cushions, coffee mugs, toys, ephemera, memorabilia, and other objects.

The University of Nebraska at Omaha yearbook was known as the Gateway from 1915-1927; then changed names to the Omahan from 1928-1929; then changed names to the Tomahawk from 1936-1970; then changed names to Breakaway from 1971-1972; before ending as the University of Nebraska at Omaha's Maverick from 1973-1975. The first yearbook, the Gateway (1915-1927), shares its name with the university’s longtime student newspaper. No yearbook was published in 1930-1935.

The UNO Photograph Collections includes prints, negatives, slides, and digital images from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and its predecessors, the Municipal University of Omaha and the University of Omaha, dating from the institution's founding in 1908 to the present. A small portion of the collection is available online

This collection includes organizational records from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and its predecessors, the Municipal University of Omaha and the University of Omaha, dating from the institution's founding in 1908 to the present. Records originated from many colleges, schools, departments, offices, committees, faculty and staff organizations, student organizations, and alumni. Materials include publications, event programs, conference materials, publicity material, meeting minutes, correspondence, budget information, internal reports, policies, architectural drawings, photographs, and miscellaneous records from various UNO and UNO-affiliated groups or relating to UNO people, buildings, events, and academic programs.

The UNO College of Education Records comprise the organizational records (1965-2001) of and resources (1948-2004) used by the University of Nebraska at Omaha College of Education, including the Teacher Corps program (1970-1981). Teacher training resources include the School Building Construction Clinic books (1948), information about Nebraska schools, manuals, resource guides, handbooks, a card file of people and organizations, the Thinking About Thinking filmstrip series with audiocassettes, and a series of reel-to-reel videotapes. Bound reports include accreditation reports (1974, 1981, 1991, 2001), the Directory of Most Commonly Visited Schools in Nebraska and Iowa (1997-2000); the Committee on the Future report (1965); the Admissions Standards Committee reports and records (1994-1995); and various other reports, assessment packets, and applications. Books include Glancing Over our Shoulder: A History of the University of Nebraska at Omaha College of Education 1908-2008 and a series of twenty culture-oriented American Indian educational booklets produced by the College of Education (1975). Materials that have not been further arranged and described include files (circa 1980 to circa 2000) of information regarding various reports, projects (including Goal III and Omaha 2000), policies, assessment, surveys, and events (including the Women's Walk). The boundary between Teacher Corps materials and other teaching materials used by the College of Education is not clearly defined. Identifiable Teacher Corps materials include assessments, case studies, training materials, Teacher Corps evaluations, Corps Member Training Institute (CMTI) documents, and booklets created by Teacher Corps members.

The UNO Department of Criminal Justice Collection comprises reports, proposals, and conference materials from the Department of Criminal Justice (now the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice) at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, from about 1973 until about 1990. The collection includes Indian Justice (1981 report); Omaha-Douglas County Metropolitan Criminal Justice Center : Base line data collection (1973 reports); the proposal for a Ph.D. in criminal justice (1990); papers presented at the Conference on Key Issues in Criminal Justice Doctoral Education (1975); and conference notebooks and papers from Historical Perspectives on American Criminal Justice: A UNO Conference (1976).

The American Indian Digital History Project is a Digital History Cooperative founded to recover and preserve rare Indigenous newspapers, photographs, and archival materials from all across Native North America. This joint project sponsored by the University of Nebraska at Omaha's History Department, Native American Studies, and Archives & Special Collections is launching with a run of the famed Akwesasne Notes from 1969-1987.