LibGuides: Historical Material from UNO Libraries' Archives & Special Collections: Immigration in UNO Libraries' Archives & Special Collections

Immigration Materials in Special Collections

American Indian Oral History and Omaha Folklore Project Oral History Collection
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.

more... less...

The following information about the Oral History Collection of the Omaha Folklore Project was provided by UNO History professor Michael Tate: "This collection of several dozen taped interviews was assembled during the mid-1970s by mostly undergraduate UNO students under the direction of Dr. Michael Tate of the History Department. These tapes have not been transcribed, but each tape has a file folder containing an outline of the main points of the interview. These contain unique and detailed information about Omaha, Nebraska and rural towns from WWI through WWII." Prof. Tate provided the following information about the American Indian Oral History Taped Interviews portion of the collection: "This collection of several dozen taped interviews was assembled during the mid-1970s. Virtually all were conducted by UNO graduate students under the direction of Dr. Michael Tate of the UNO History Department. Most of the interview were with Native Americans who talked about education, health care, reservation life, urban life and a host of other relevant topics. These were mostly interviews with Lakota (Sioux), Omaha, and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) tribal people, but also include other tribal representations. A few of the interviews have been fully transcribed but the majority contain detailed outlines of what is contained in each separate interview. Many of the interviews deal with the militant activities of the American Indian Movement during that era. Several also were conducted with judges and law enforcement officers who dealt with the controversial trials following AIM's occupation of Wounded Knee."
UNO Demonstration and Rally Collection
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.
Shirley and Leonard Goldstein Papers
The collection of Shirley and Leonard "Buddy" Goldstein documents the work of Leonard and Shirley Goldstein as they became activists on behalf of Jewish people of the Soviet Union (known as Refuseniks) to help them leave the USSR for Israel and the United States. Most of the collection spans the years 1931 to 2019, with some family documents dated earlier, and is eight cubic feet across 22 boxes. The collection is divided into ten series including Activism and International Engagement, Correspondence, Leonard Goldstein (including WWII), Photographs, Scrapbooks, Shirley Goldstein, Synagogue Life, Clippings, and Artifacts.

more... less...

In addition to the Goldstein's humanitarian efforts, the collection also contains extensive materials about the life of Shirley and Leonard Goldstein as well as their family. The collection contains information and photographs about Shirley's parents Ben and Selma Gershun, extensive genealogical research and photographs, Shirley's childhood in Council Bluffs, Shirley's high school and college scrapbooks, the Goldstein's marriage and married life, the Goldsteins' children and family life, as well as their work in political activism as well as freeing and relocating Refuseniks from the Soviet Union.

Shirley and Leonard were married during World War II and the collection holds their extensive correspondence. These correspondence are mainly letters Leonard would send to Shirley when he was in training to when he was stationed overseas. The letters are from the years of 1942-1945. The collection also features Leonard's photo albums from his service in the U.S. Army Air Corps in the Pacific theater, as well as his travels and site seeing when he was stationed overseas.

In the 1970s, Shirley Goldstein made several trips to the Soviet Union where she met with dissidents and witnessed firsthand the oppression of Soviet Jews. Goldstein smuggled in products the dissidents could sell until she came under scrutiny of Soviet authorities and was denied visas to visit. In 1973, Shirley and her friend, Miriam Simon, founded the Omaha Committee for Soviet Jewry, which sponsored the program, Freedom for Soviet Jews. The Goldsteins were also associated with many other organizations for Soviet Jewry including the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews.

Together, Shirley and her husband Leonard worked tirelessly for the resettlement of over 100 Jewish families in Nebraska. This was accomplished through public political protests and speaking to local and national representatives within the U.S. government as well as sponsoring and relocating Soviet Jews. Shirley is an especially prominent figure within the collection as she has received numerous awards and recognition for her efforts helping Soviet Jews obtain their freedom.

Immigration Materials in U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel Papers

U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel Archives
The U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel Archives include his legislative papers, artifacts, campaign records, and other material. Press & Media, Speeches, Videos, Artifacts, Grant Files, Photographs, and Schedules are open for research. The rest of the collection is closed while it is being arranged and described.

Immigration Materials in University Archives

Lourdes Gouveia Papers
These papers reflect the scholarship of Lourdes Gouveia, Ph.D., and consist of her research materials, data, and writings dated 1973 to 2011. Through this work, Dr. Gouveia gathered a considerable amount of information about the lives of Latino immigrants in the Nebraska meatpacking industry in Lexington, Nebraska, and in other small Nebraska, Kansas, and Iowa communities from the late 1980s through the early 2010s. A substantial portion of her collection
covers her research in Lexington, Nebraska during the 1990s.

In Lexington, Dr. Gouveia studied the impact of the opening of a new Iowa Beef Packing plant, IBP, and the influx of Latino/Latin American families moving to the area. Her work focused on immigrant integration, the experiences of Latina women in migrant communities, social services available to Latinx families, and the ethical concerns of beefpacking labor. Gouveia also did research and wrote papers on issues pertaining to e. coli among other agricultural issues related to meatpacking, INS enforcement strategies, and English Language learning.

more... less...

The Gouveia Papers are 9.5 cubic feet in size and contained within 23 document boxes. The Papers are divided into eight series: Advisory Board and Task Forces; Garden City, KS; Grand Island and Schuyler, NE; Lexington, NE; Grants, Papers and Presentations; Research Materials; Clippings; and Audiovisual material.
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.