Historical Material from UNO Libraries' Archives & Special Collections

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 papers of Aleane Fitz-Carter document her life as an entertainer and educator. Through her life's work, she fought racism, taught music and Black history and culture, and entertained audiences. In this small collection are two dozen documents including correspondence related to positions she held, news clippings with biographical information and stories of her life's work, a headshot with acting resume, copies of photographs, and other material.

The 32 interviews span a wide range of subjects, including civil rights efforts at the University of Nebraska, the work of Nebraska State Senator Edward Danner, school desegregation, and labor conditions.
Interviews conducted over a two-year period, 1980-1982, for a project funded by the Nebraska Committee for the Humanities, and sponsored by the Black Studies Department, UNL; The Great Plains Black [History] Museum; and the Nebraska Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Interviewees were chosen for four research areas: Outstate Nebraska, Lincoln, Older Omaha Residents, and Active members of the Omaha Black Community. Sound recordings and transcripts are available.

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.

The collection of documentary films, unedited video interviews, and supporting documents for the Omaha Public School Making Invisible Histories Visible program for the 2017-2018 summer programs document music genres in Omaha. Topics include jazz, hip hop, funk, polka, women in indie music, Mexican American music, and music of new immigrants to the U.S. The 2019 projects were about some of Omaha's neighborhoods.

UNO adjunct instructor Jeannette Gabriel’s students collected oral history interviews in fall 2018 for the course History 2990: African-American and Jewish Collaboration and Conflict. The interviews were collected from Jewish and African American residents of Omaha. Individuals interviewed were: A’Jamal Byndon, Tuffy Epstein, Richard Fellman, and Beth Brown Gershowich.

The Omaha Music Collection documents Omaha musicians including bands, solo artists, composers, and collaborations. Material collected includes recordings as well as ephemeral material such as promotional stickers, buttons, and other material.

The UNO Demonstration and Rally Collection documents local, national, and international demonstrations, rallies, protests, and other similar actions. The collection includes posters, signs, handbills, and photographs documenting specific events as well as general movements or actions. While there is a specific interest in documenting activities in and around Omaha, example material about demonstrations in other cities can also be found in the collection. For example, the collection includes handbills and posters against the Vietnam War and supporting the war effort that were produced for specific rallies and organizations in other U.S. cities. Topics covered in the collection include the Vietnam War, women’s movement, Civil Rights Movement, anti-Apartheid movement, support for President Barack Obama, and Omaha and UNO rallies opposing the January 2017 ban on immigration from 6 majority Muslim countries. The UNO Demonstration and Rally Collection is a teaching collection and is not intended to be comprehensive.

The UNO Teaching Ephemera Collection includes various ephemeral materials not directly related to the University of Nebraska at Omaha nor to Nebraska in general, but from a variety of sources and on a variety of topics in support of UNO curriculum.

See component record for each series for details. Includes examples of early photography, trading cards, advertisements, and other ephemera.

The records of the YMCA of Greater Omaha include material from the organization’s founding in the 19th century through the 21st century. Material documenting board meetings from the 1880s to the early 21st century is nearly complete. Also included are: fundraising material, membership information, marketing material, photographs (bulk 1970s-1990s), scrapbooks, and a small amount of media formats including VHS videotapes. The scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings as well as ephemera such as broadsides and booklets. In addition to the activities of the boards of directors, fundraising, and membership, other topics with at least sporadic documentation include programming, long range planning, summer camps, athletic teams such as basketball and football, and others.

Records collected from the Department of Black Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha that document the formative years of the department.

The collection includes news clippings, resolutions, correspondence, student survey, and other documents related to the occupation student organization BLAC (Black Liberators for Action on Campus) of the office of University of Nebraska at Omaha Chancellor Kirk Naylor in November 1969 and the subsequent response. The students were arrested. The news clippings were collected by the university while the documents were collected from a variety of sources, which are not attributed, but can be ascertained in some cases. The collection also includes material about student unrest at the University of Nebraska--Lincoln the following year.

Nearly every issue of UNO’s student newspaper, The Gateway , is available on-line stretching back to the 1920s.

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.

Minutes (2001-present), reports (1997-present), resolutions, and other material are available on the Central Administration's website.

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 Ronald W. Roskens Speeches cover the period from 1960 until 1992, including Roskens' time as Vice President for Administration and Executive Vice President and Professor of Educational Administration at Kent State University (1959-1972), Chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Omaha (1972-1977), President of the University of Nebraska System (Central Administration in Lincoln, Nebraska) (1977-1989), and Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (1990-1992). The speeches consist of typed notes and scripts.

The UNO College of Arts and Sciences Records comprises the self-studies and reports of the various departments within the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The collection includes documents from 1975 (and possibly earlier) until 1986 (and possibly later).

The Office of University Communications kept these staff files in case a photo or other information about a member of the UNO staff, faculty, or administration was needed for a press release or internal statement. Covers faculty and staff from the 1960s through the early 21st century.

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 UNO Media Collection includes audiovisual material related to the University of Nebraska at Omaha and its predecessor the University of Omaha, from circa 1950 to the present. Materials include both informal audio and video recordings of UNO events, UNO promotional/recruitment material, and formal radio and television programs produced by UNO Television, University Television, KYNE-TV, KVNO Radio, and other UNO media organizations. A small number of commercial and other non-UNO media items are also included.

The UNO Newsletter Collection comprises the official newsletters sent to faculty and staff of the University of Nebraska at Omaha and its predecessor the Municipal University of Omaha, covering the period from 1948 until 2008. The "Faculty Staff Bulletin" included articles about the November 1969 sit-in and university support for the chancellor.

The UNO Poster Collection includes posters, fliers, and banners from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Omaha: Educational Publishing Company, [1919?].

Jacob J. Friedman documented his eyewitness account of the lynching of Will Brown in the typescript he titled "The Courthouse Riot." Will Brown was murdered on September 28, 1919; it is unclear on what date Friedman completed his recollection.

An excerpt of the transcription of an oral history interview with a partially identified retired doctor who was a witness to the lynching of Will Brown in 1919. Dr. Moritz was a medical student in Omaha and recounts traveling with classmates on the streetcar to downtown Omaha. He also referenced the murder of a Black man who had been on the streetcar with him and his classmates when he got off the streetcar in downtown Omaha.

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.

In 1991, Menard offered audio recordings of 25 oral history interviews he completed in 1979-1980, some with Prof. Harl Dahlstrom, to the library.

A working list of primary sources, secondary sources, and other coverage about the lynching of Will Brown in Omaha in 1919.

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 32 interviews span a wide range of subjects, including civil rights efforts at the University of Nebraska, the work of Nebraska State Senator Edward Danner, school desegregation, and labor conditions.
Interviews conducted over a two-year period, 1980-1982, for a project funded by the Nebraska Committee for the Humanities, and sponsored by the Black Studies Department, UNL; The Great Plains Black [History] Museum; and the Nebraska Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Interviewees were chosen for four research areas: Outstate Nebraska, Lincoln, Older Omaha Residents, and Active members of the Omaha Black Community. Sound recordings and transcripts are available.

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.

The Omaha Chamber of Commerce Records cover business and industry in Omaha, Nebraska, spanning the period from 1912 until 1979. The records include meeting minutes from various committees and bureaus, the Chamber's newsletter (1912-1941 as Journal, 1941-1956 as News Bulletin, 1959-2004 as Profile), photographs, negatives, slides, newspaper clippings, correspondence, pamphlets, books and journals collected and used by the Chamber, and files with information about various businesses, organizations, events and topics of Omaha commercial interest.