The culture of Omaha, Nebraska, has been partially defined by music and college sports, and by local cuisine and community theatre. The city has a long history of improving and expanding on its cultural offerings. In the 1920s, the Omaha Bee newspaper wrote, "The cultural future of Omaha seems as certain of greatness as the commercial future... The symphony orchestra, the Art institute, the Community Playhouse and other organizations are on firm foundations and Omaha is destined to be not only a bigger, but a better city, both financially and culturally."[1] Reviewing Omaha's contemporary arts scene in 2007, the New York Times hailed the city as having "a kind of cultural awakening".[2]
Omaha has one major museum and several regionally important museums.[6] The Joslyn Art Museum is nationally renowned for its collections of Native American art and art works relating to the early European exploration of western North America.[7] The Durham Museum is located on 10th Street in the art deco Union Station. The museum has numerous permanent exhibits and is accredited with the Smithsonian Institution for traveling exhibits from the Smithsonian.[8] Since its inception in 1976, Omaha Children's Museum has been a place where children can challenge themselves, discover how the world works and learn through play.
Omaha has a rich history in rhythm & blues and jazz as a regular stop for many Kansas City jazz bands and such homegrown talent as Wynonie Harris, Preston Love, Buddy Miles, and Luigi Waites. The city was also the subject of the Big Joe Williams song "Omaha Blues". During the 1960s several surf music bands came out of Omaha, of which The Rumbles has become the longest lasting.[17]
According to one reviewer, "Tritely tagged 'emo' by writers everywhere, the Omaha Sound is as varied and complex as the 'Athens Sound'."[18] Omaha is regarded by some as the "Indie Rock Capital" of the world.[19] During the late 1990s, Omaha became nationally known as the birthplace of the successful rock band 311 and Saddle Creek Records, a record label featuring artists such as Bright Eyes, The Faint, and Cursive.[20] Other major music groups either located in or originally from Omaha include Mannheim Steamroller, Azure Ray, Tilly and the Wall and the late indie-folk singer/songwriter Elliott Smith.
Native Omaha Days is a long-time tradition of North Omaha's African American community. A bi-annual celebration includes dozens of events throughout the Near North Side, including dances, family reunions, and other events. A large parade features notable North Omahans, as well as marching bands and floats.
In 1939, the world premiere of the film Union Pacific was held in Omaha. The accompanying three-day celebration drew 250,000 people, doubling the population of the city and requiring the National Guard to help keep order. A special train from Hollywood to Omaha carried director Cecil B. DeMille and stars Barbara Stanwyck and Joel McCrea.[28]
The 1977 Elvis in Concert television special in Omaha is considered by many experts[who?] to be the worst concert Elvis ever performed. The show was filmed, though, and some of the performances made it into the special, including the great performance of "How Great Thou Art", probably the only good performance of the concert.[29]
Omaha has been showcased by a handful of relatively big budget motion pictures and by productions with a lesser budget, including the adventure Omaha (The Movie).[30]
The city's most extensive exposure can be accredited to Omaha native Alexander Payne, the Oscar-nominated director shot parts of About Schmidt, Citizen Ruth and Election in the city; his handling of the scenes suggests a deep-rooted love for his hometown, exemplified by his decision to eventually make a feature film called Nebraska.[31] Portions of The Assassination of Richard Nixon and The Indian Runner were also shot in Omaha, including scenes of the now demolished Delmar Hotel. In 2005, Payne joined the board of directors of Film Streams, a nonprofit arts organization opening a two-screen cinema in downtown Omaha.
The demolition of Omaha's Indian Hills Theater, at one time the largest Cinerama in the nation,[32] remains a source of contention between the local artistic community and Methodist Hospital. At present, the Dundee Theatre is the lone surviving single-screen movie theater in the city.[33]
The Omaha metropolitan area is served by the Omaha World-Herald, the city's major newspaper, as well as suburban newspapers and independent newspapers and magazines including The Reader and Omaha Magazine. The Omaha Star, founded in 1938 in North Omaha, is Nebraska's only African-American newspaper.[34]
The Omaha World-Herald is the largest employee-owned newspaper in the United States, and also has one of the highest penetration rates, meaning the percentage of the population in the country that subscribes to the newspaper. The Omaha World-HeraldFreedom Center is a $200 million printing press facility on the north end of downtown.[35]
A portion of Omaha's renovated downtown area is known as the Old Market. Part of the former "Jobbers Canyon" that included fruit markets, warehouses and other agricultural and industrial buildings, it is home to a number of shops, restaurants, bars, and art galleries. The area also has uneven brick roads, horse-drawn carriages, and street performers.
Between the zoo and the Old Market lies the Omaha Botanical Gardens (also known as Lauritzen Gardens). This 100-acre (40ha) botanical garden features 13 outdoor areas, including a rose garden, herb garden, children’s garden and an arboretum. Recognizing Union Pacific's long history in Omaha, situated on the grounds of Lauritzen Gardens is the new Kenefick Park, featuring two of the largest locomotives ever used in the United States - Big Boy #4023, a steam engine, and Centennial #6900. These locomotives overlook Interstate 80 for motorists entering from Iowa.
There are numerous community gardens across the neighborhoods of Omaha, including Big Garden, Big Muddy Urban Farm, Benson Community Garden, City Sprouts, Dundee Community Garden, Farnam Farm Garden, Gifford Park Community Garden, Hands to Harvest Community Garden, and New Omaha Garden Park.
Omaha is home to a number of nonprofit and charity organizations, including Father Flanagan's famous Girls and Boys Town. Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo is widely considered one of the premier zoos in the world.[49] The River City Star provides cruises on the Missouri River from the historic Miller's Landing in downtown Omaha.
There are a number of visual and performance artists from Omaha, including Edward Ruscha.
Omaha is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 10 mi (15 km) north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 40th-most populous city, Omaha's 2020 census population was 486,051.
The Omaha Community Playhouse, located at 6915 Cass Street in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, is a nationally recognized community theater.
The Dundee–Happy Hollow Historic District is located west of Midtown Omaha, Nebraska. It covers the area between Harney Street on the south, Hamilton Street on the north, Happy Hollow Boulevard on the west, and 46th Street on the east. The "heart" of Dundee is located at 50th and Underwood Avenue in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It was founded in 1880 and annexed into the city in 1915. Dundee is home to Warren Buffett and nationally syndicated editorial cartoonist Jeff Koterba and was the hometown of filmmaker Alexander Payne. Actor Henry Fonda additionally lived in the Dundee neighborhood.
North Omaha is a community area in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States. It is bordered by Cuming and Dodge Streets on the south, Interstate 680 on the north, North 72nd Street on the west and the Missouri River and Carter Lake, Iowa on the east, as defined by the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the Omaha Chamber of Commerce.
Fort Omaha, originally known as Sherman Barracks and then Omaha Barracks, is an Indian War-era United States Army supply installation. Located at 5730 North 30th Street, with the entrance at North 30th and Fort Streets in modern-day North Omaha, Nebraska, the facility is primarily occupied by the Metropolitan Community College. A Navy Operational Support Center and Marine Corps Reserve unit, along with an Army Reserve unit occupy the periphery of the 82.5 acres (33.4 ha) fort. The government deeded all but four parcels of the land to the Metropolitan Community College in 1974.
Culture in North Omaha, Nebraska, the north end of Omaha, is defined by socioeconomic, racial, ethnic and political diversity among its residents. The neighborhood's culture is largely influenced by its predominantly African American community.
The Union Station, at 801 South 10th Street in Omaha, Nebraska, known also as Union Passenger Terminal, is "one of the finest examples of Art Deco architecture in the Midwest". Designated an Omaha Landmark in 1978, it was listed as "Union Passenger Terminal" on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2016. The Union Station is also a contributing property to the Omaha Rail and Commerce Historic District. It was the Union Pacific's first Art Deco railroad station, and the completion of the terminal "firmly established Omaha as an important railroad terminus in the Midwest".
The George and Sarah Joslyn Home, is a mansion located at 3902 Davenport Street in the Gold Coast Historic District of Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Built in the Scottish Baronial style in 1903, the Castle was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It was designated as an Omaha landmark in 1979.
The Near North Side of Omaha, Nebraska is the neighborhood immediately north of downtown. It forms the nucleus of the city's historic African-American community, and its name is often synonymous with the entire North Omaha area. Originally established immediately after Omaha was founded in 1854, the Near North Side was once confined to the area around Dodge Street and North 7th Street. Eventually, it gravitated west and north, and today it is bordered by Cuming Street on the south, 30th on the west, 16th on the east, and Locust Street to the north. Countless momentous events in Omaha's African American community happened in the Near North Side, including the 1865 establishment of the first Black church in Omaha, St. John's AME; the 1892 election of the first African American state legislator, Dr. Matthew Ricketts; the 1897 hiring of the first Black teacher in Omaha, Ms. Lucy Gamble, the 1910 Jack Johnson riots, the Omaha race riot of 1919 that almost demolished the neighborhood and many other events.
Theatre in Omaha has existed since the founding of the city in 1856. Nationally notable actors have come from the city. There are active community theatres, and some theatres and acting companies have reached national prominence.
Florence Mill, also known as the Weber Mill, is a historic mill located at 9102 North 30th Street near the 30th Street exit on I-680 in the Florence community in North Omaha, Nebraska. It was built in 1846 and operated into the 1960s. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Weber Mill in 1998. The mill is also known as the Mormon Mill, Grist Mill, and Old Pink Mill. It is now operated as the Winter Quarters Mill Museum and ArtLoft Gallery.
The Dahlman neighborhood is located south of downtown Omaha, Nebraska. One of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, it was originally platted in 1856. It was later named after "Cowboy" James Dahlman, an eight-term mayor of Omaha.
The Logan Fontenelle Housing Project was a historic public housing site located from 20th to 24th Streets, and from Paul to Seward Streets in the historic Near North Side neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It was built in 1938 by the Public Works Administration for housing working-class families. With the loss of thousands of industrial jobs in the 1950s and 1960s, the project became filled with families on welfare. As problems increased in the 1970s and 1980s, Logan Fontenelle was referred to as "Little Vietnam" because of drug dealing and gang violence. After Logan Fontenelle residents won a 1991 civil rights lawsuit brought against the Omaha Housing Authority and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD tore down the projects in 1995 to replace them with new, lower density housing.
Mexicans in Omaha are people living in Omaha, Nebraska, United States who have citizenship or ancestral connections to the country Mexico. They have contributed to the economic, social and cultural well-being of Omaha for more than a century. Mexicans, or Latino people identified incorrectly as being from Mexico, have been accounted for in the history of Omaha, Nebraska since 1900. The entire Latino population of Omaha increased ninety percent between 1990 and 1997.
African Americans in Omaha, Nebraska are central to the development and growth of the 43rd largest city in the United States. Black people are first recorded arriving in the area that became the city when York came through in 1804 with the Lewis and Clark expedition and the residence of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable who lived at Fort Lisa for an extended period in 1810. There were also enslaved Black people at the Church of Latter Day Saints Winter Quarters in 1846. The first free Black settler in the city arrived in 1854, the year the city was incorporated.
El Museo Latino is a museum featuring Latino and Hispanic art and history that is located at 4701 South 25th Street in South Omaha, Nebraska. Established in 1993, by Magdalena García, it is the first Latino art and history museum and cultural center in the Midwest.
Czechs in Omaha, Nebraska have made significant contributions to the political, social and cultural development of the city since the first immigrants arrived in 1868.
Tourism in Omaha, Nebraska, United States offers visitors history, sports, nature and cultural experiences. Its principal tourist attractions are the Henry Doorly Zoo and the College World Series (CWS). A 2003 study by a Creighton University economist estimated that the CWS added $33.8 million to the city's economy that year. With 1.1 million visitors annually, the Henry Doorly Zoo is Nebraska's most popular tourist attraction. In 2007 Omaha hosted the USA Roller Sports National Championships, along with 10,000 people who auditioned for the American Idol television show at Qwest Center Omaha.
References
↑ Larsen, L.H., Cottrell, B.J. and Dalstrom, H.A. (2007) Upstream Metropolis: An Urban Biography of Omaha and Council Bluffs. University of Nebraska Press. p 156.
↑ Andersen, K. (2007) Omaha’s Culture Club. New York Times T Style Magazine - Travel. 3/25/07. Retrieved 6/7/07.
↑ (2003) "Don't-miss acts," Denver Post. 9/31/03. Retrieved 6/7/07.
↑ O'Hara, E. (1911) The Catholic Encyclopedia, XII. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
↑ Gjerset, K & Hektoen, L (n.d.) Becoming American, Becoming Suburban: Norwegians in the 1920s. Norwegian American Historical Archives. Volume 33: Page 3.
↑ Pollak, O., and Greenbaum, L. (2001) "Jewish Youth and Yiddish Culture in Omaha, Nebraska, 1922–1926," Western States Jewish History, 33 (Winter 2001), p 99–119.
↑ (2003) "36 hours in Omaha." New York Times. 10/24/03. Retrieved 6/7/07.
Chudacoff, H. (1973) "A New Look At Ethnic Neighborhoods: Residential Dispersion and the Concept of Visibility in a Medium-Sized City". The Journal of American History, 60 (1) (June 1973):76-93.
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