LibGuides: University Archives: Department of Black Studies

Exhibitions

Charting Our Path: Celebrating 50 Years of Black Studies, 1971-2021 :

UNO Libraries' Archives and Special Collections, September 2021-August 31, 2022.
Pop-up displays at events throughout 2021-2022.
Traveling exhibit premiered at the Great Plains Black History Museum in 2022 and continued at the W. Dale Clark Library, Charles Washington Library, UNK, UNL, and other locations into 2023. Contact unoasc@unomaha.edu to inquire about hosting the traveling exhibit.
Online exhibit opened in June 2022.

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Archives & Special Collections Home
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Digital Collections

Department of Black Studies Records
Records collected from the Department of Black Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha that document the formative years of the department.
Student Unrest Collection
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.
Great Plains Black History Museum Archives
Archival material from the Great Plains Black History Museum (GPBHM) consists of over 200 document boxes of letters, photographs, clippings, artifacts, and other collection material. Documented here is a small selection of material from the whole collection. This material relates to the Department of Black Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
UNO Poster Collection
The UNO Poster Collection includes posters, fliers, and banners from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Kirk Naylor Papers
The Kirk Naylor Papers are comprised of materials gathered by University of Omaha President Kirk Naylor (later University of Nebraska at Omaha Chancellor). Materials in the collection date from 1932 through 1991, with the majority from 1966 through 1971. The physical collection includes four scrapbooks of news, correspondence, pictures, and other material. Each scrapbook has a different theme: 1) General Documents, 1966-1971; 2) Acting President - OU Financial Crisis - OU/NU Merger Related Documents, 1966-1967; 3) OU/NU Merger Related Documents, 1967-1968; and 4) "UNO 54" BLAC (Black Liberators for Action on Campus) Sit-In Related Documents, 1969-1970.
Gateway Photograph Collection
The Gateway Photographs Collection is mostly prints and digital images created by photographers for use by the student newspaper. A small number of negatives and contact sheets are also found in the collection. Subjects of photographs include theater productions, athletics, campus events, and people on campus from approximately the 1970s to the 2010s.
Regents' Commission on the Urban University of the 70's
Faculty Senate Records
The records of the University of Nebraska at Omaha Faculty Senate (1967-ongoing) include minutes, agendas, publications, committee handbooks, faculty salary reports, annual reports, attendance records, bylaws, budget information, correspondence, grievances, policies, topics for consideration, election information, resolutions, retreat information, schedules, membership information, and other miscellaneous information.
Student Government Records
The UNO Student Government Records comprise the files, binders, and audio cassettes of the University of Nebraska at Omaha Student Government (UNO-SG).
Nebraska Black Oral History Project
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.

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Interviewees: Raymond Botts, Beulah Bradley, Bertha Calloway, Mary Chapman, Bessie Chism, Jennifer (Scott) Clark, Anna Danner, Izora Douglas, Ruby Douglas, Earl Douglas, Darryl Eure, Dorothy Eure, Ellyce Hariston, Buddy Hogan, C. Dennis Holland, R. F. Jenkins, Lerlean N. Johnson, Ethel Kirtley, Preston Love, Wayne Lowden, John Mackey, Mae Manion, Lawrence McVoy, Art McWilliam, Charlie May Moore, Rowena Moore, Rodney Mullen, Frank Peak, Lois Price, David Rice, Marie Robinson, Wright Robinson, Charles Washington, Marla Jane (McCaine) West, Mary Young

Historical Videos from the UNO Media Collection

UNO Scene, "Wally Gill, Visiting Professor, Black Studies"
UNO Scene, Feburary 11, 1986, episode number 8. Paul Borge interviews Dr. Wally Gill, UNO Black Studies Department, and Melanie Burke, Director of United Minority Students, to discuss the programs and activities of Black History Month.
UNO Scene, "George Garrison, Chairman of Black Studies"
UNO Scene, January 12, 1989, episode number 5. Paul Borge interviews George Garrison, Chair of Black Studies at UNO, about the upcoming events for Black History Month.
Today's UNO, "James Conyers, Chair of Black Studies"
Today's UNO, episode number 216, recorded January 26, 1996, and broadcast February 15, 1996. In the first part of the program, Michelle O'Bryant interviews James Conyers, the new Chair of UNO's Black Studies Department, about his short-term and long-term goals for the department, including new degree programs. In the second segment, Michele O'Bryant reports on UNO Theatre's upcoming production of Electra, interviewing student actors Aaron Zaviz and Heather Smith, and scenery/lighting designer Steven Williams. In the final segment, O'Bryant interviews Julia Curtis, UNO Dramatic Arts Professor, and Julie Harris, UNO Theatre student and chorus member, about the production of Electra.
UNOmaha, "James Conyers, Chair of Black Studies"
UNOmaha episode number 116, recorded February 11, 1997, and broadcast February 13, 1997. In the first segment of the program, host Tia Harrison interviews Pat Gartin, UNO Professor of Criminal Justice, about alternative sentencing as a potential solution to prison overcrowding. In the next segment of the program, Harrison interviews James Conyers, Chair of Black Studies at UNO, about Black History Month and issues facing African-Americans. The final segment of the program is a focus segment on student athletes at UNO, including comments by Tom Frette, Associate Head Athletic Trainer.

The Gateway

The Gateway Newspaper Archive was launched in 2007 by Criss Library as a UNO Centennial Project. The collection was migrated to the Internet Archive in 2024. UNO student newspaper The Gateway offers readers a glimpse into campus life. Articles, photo captions, advertisements, and specific dates can be searched in newspaper issues dating back to 1922. Current issues of The Gateway are available on the newspaper's website with paper copies continuing to be collected by Archives and Special Collections.

OU & UNO Yearbooks

The newest digital collection from Criss Library, the University of Nebraska at Omaha's yearbooks, have been digitized and are now available from the Internet Archive and JSTOR.

Breakaway. The Omahan. The Gateway. Tomahawk. Maverick. The university's yearbook went by several names beginning as the Gateway then changing names to the Omahan, Tomahawk, and Breakaway before ending as the Maverick from 1973-1975. The first yearbook, the Gateway (1915-1927), shares its name with the university’s longtime student newspaper. The Tomahawk endured as the campus publication's name the longest from 1936 through 1970. In addition to the name changes, users will notice the changing composition of the volumes over the years as materials and styles evolved.

Whatever the yearbook's name or format, users will find each volume keyword searchable or able to be read like a book online. Yearbooks typically include photos and information about students, events, and faculty. In addition to student organizations, athletics, the arts, and other activities, the yearbooks also present opportunities for alumni, current students, and interested researchers to investigate changing fashions, popular culture, advertisements, and events through the lens of the university's students.

This exciting project was made possible through the LYRASIS Digitization Collaborative – a Sloan Foundation grant-subsidized program that has made digitization easy and affordable for libraries and cultural institutions across the country.

Through the Collaborative’s partnership with the Internet Archive, all items were scanned from cover- to-cover and in full color. You can choose from a variety of formats, page through a book choosing the “read online” option, download the PDF or search the full text version.

Copies of each volume of the yearbook are also available for use in Criss Library's Archives & Special Collections.

Black History Material in University Archives

UNO Department of Black Studies
Records collected from the Department of Black Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha that document the formative years of the department.
Student Unrest Collection
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.
Gateway Digital Archive
Nearly every issue of UNO’s student newspaper, The Gateway , is available on-line stretching back to the 1920s.
UNO Yearbooks
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.

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Copies of the yearbook are available in Archives & Special Collections and on reserve at Criss Library's main service desk for check-out.
Board of Regents Documents, UN Central Administration
Minutes (2001-present), reports (1997-present), resolutions, and other material are available on the Central Administration's website.
University Archives File Cabinet Collection (University of Nebraska at Omaha Records)
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.
CPAR Publications
Ronald W. Roskens Speeches
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.
UNO College of Arts and Sciences Records
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).
University Communications UNO Staff Files Collection
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.
UNO Artifact Collection
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.
UNO Media Collection
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.
UNO Newsletter Collection
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.
UNO Poster Collection
The UNO Poster Collection includes posters, fliers, and banners from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Contact Me

Amy Schindler

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Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Library
University of Nebraska Omaha
6001 Dodge St.
Omaha, NE 68182-0237

402-554-6046

Subjects: Archives & Special Collections, Government Documents, Graduate Studies