The Enterprise was an African American newspaper in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, published from 1893 to 1914. Originally edited by George F. Franklin, the paper changed hands and was edited by Thomas P. Mahammitt for the bulk of its life. Compared to its contemporary African American paper in Omaha, the Afro-American Sentinel, it focused less on faith and culture, and had a more cautious view of war. The paper spawned the creation of a competitor, the short-lived Progressive Age, and after the paper folded, the Mission Monitor was expanded to fill its void.
Sections of the paper included stories from others, personal news, church notices, and regular columns such as those by civil rights activist W. H. C. Stephenson and minister John Albert Williams.[2]Ella Mahammitt, the wife of Thomas Mahammitt and a civil and women's rights activist in her own right, also had a weekly column on women's issues.[upper-alpha 1][4] It contained fewer serialized pieces of fiction than its contemporary African American paper in Omaha, the Afro-American Sentinel, and focused less on faith.[2] It had correspondents from Nebraska, as well as several other states in the region.[2] While at times it could be sensationalist, it frequently reported on instances of racism in Nebraska,[2] and it endorsed the educational and industrial policies of Booker T. Washington.[upper-alpha 2][6] It supported the Spanish–American War, but some of its writers believed at the same time that intervention in Cuba would result in the importation of the American color line.[upper-alpha 3][7] During the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition—a world's fair in Omaha—the Enterprise urged the local black community to prepare exhibits because of the opportunity, and while they originally supported a separate "Negro building or department" at the exposition, the community as a whole opposed it.[upper-alpha 4][8] Advertisements were placed by both black-owned and white-owned businesses, the latter of which brought considerable sums of money to the paper's operation.[2]
In 1896, the Enterprise made mention of an unknown free silver black newspaper in Lincoln, even though the earliest known black newspaper in the city was founded in 1899, the Leader.[9] In 1913, a competitor newspaper was launched by businessman G. Wade Obee for Omaha's black community, the Progressive Age.[upper-alpha 5][10]
Closure and access
The paper closed in 1914.[11] John Albert Williams, who had contributed columns to the Enterprise before its closure, felt it was important to establish another African American paper for Nebraskans; he began publishing the Mission Monitor beyond his church audience as a result.[11]
In 1941, the Committee on Negro Studies of the American Council of Learned Societies sponsored a historical preservation project, which included microfilming the Enterprise and several other African American newspapers.[12] Two years of its run—1895 to 1897—are collected and available for viewing in the Omaha Public Library's main building.[13] It is assigned OCLC number 10529510.[12]
Notes and references
Notes
↑ She was also the president of Omaha's Colored Woman's Club.[3]
↑ In the end, they rejected Washington's racial reconciliation views, just as the Afro-American Sentinel did.[5]
↑ Ultimately, the Afro-American Sentinel was much more supportive of the war.
↑ Franklin supported a separate department, and wrote in the Enterprise his reasons for supporting it.
↑ Only one copy of Obee's Progressive Age survives today, and it ceased publication in 1915.
Mahammitt, Ella (August 17, 1895). "Woman's column". Enterprise.
Paz, D.G. (1996). "The black press and the issues of race, politics, and culture on the Great Plains of Nebraska, 1865–1985". In Suggs, Henry Lewis (ed.). The black press in the middle west, 1865–1985. Greenwood Press.
Peavler, David J. (July 2008). "African Americans in Omaha and the 1898 Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition". The Journal of African American History. 93 (3): 337–361. doi:10.1086/JAAHv93n3p337. S2CID142257149.
"The Enterprise". Chronicling America. Library of Congress. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
This is a list of media serving the Omaha metropolitan area in Omaha, Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Iowa.
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.
John Albert Williams was a minister, journalist, and political activist in Omaha, Nebraska. He was born to an escaped slave and spoke from the pulpit and the newspapers on issues of civil rights, equality, and racial harmony. He was a highly respected minister, journalist, and civic leader. He served on many committees and boards among Omaha's black community and in the Omaha and Nebraska Episcopal Church.
Lucinda (Lucy) Anneford W. Gamble or Gambol was a teacher and civic leader in Omaha, Nebraska. She was the Omaha Public Schools' first black teacher, teaching at Dodge School and Cass School from 1895 to 1901.
Ella Lillian Davis Browne Mahammitt was an American journalist, civil rights activist, and women's rights activist from Omaha, Nebraska. She was editor of the black weekly The Enterprise, president of Omaha's Colored Women's Club, and an officer of local branches of the Afro-American League. On a national stage, in 1895 she was vice-president of the National Federation of Afro-American Women, headed by Margaret James Murray, and in 1896 was a committee member of the successor organization, the National Association of Colored Women, under president Mary Church Terrell.
Cyrus Dicks Bell was a journalist, civil rights activist, and civic leader in Omaha, Nebraska. He owned and edited the black newspaper Afro-American Sentinel during the 1890s. He was an outspoken political independent and later in his life became a strong supporter of Democrats. He was a founding member of the state Afro-American League and frequently spoke out against lynchings and about other issues of civil rights.
Ferdinand Lee Barnett was a journalist, civil rights activist, politician, and civil servant from Omaha, Nebraska. He was founder and editor of the newspaper The Progressive, which ran from 1889 to 1906 and served for a time as deputy clerk in the county court. He was elected to the Nebraska State House of Representatives in 1926.
George F. Franklin was a journalist and civic leader in Omaha, Nebraska, and Denver, Colorado. He owned and published two African-American newspapers, The Enterprise in Omaha, and The Denver Star in Denver. He was active in civil rights and was a member of the Nebraska branch of the National Afro-American League.
The history of African-Americans in Omaha in the 19th Century begins with "York", a slave belonging to William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition who came through the area in 1804, before the city existed. African-Americans have lived in the Omaha area since at least 1819, when fur traders lived in the area.
James S. Bryant was a journalist and civil rights activist in Omaha, Nebraska. He worked with Ferdinand L. Barnett on his paper, The Progress in the 1890s.
Victor B. Walker was a soldier, political activist, lawyer, civil rights activist, police officer, saloon owner, journalist, and gangster in the Old West, particularly in Omaha, Nebraska, and in Denver, Colorado, at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. Before coming to Omaha, he was a Buffalo soldier on the frontier, and when he first arrived in the city, he worked as a police officer. For a short time, he owned the Omaha saloon, The Midway, a center of gambling and criminal activity in the city. As well as a working as defense lawyer, he worked for civil rights and was a member of the Omaha Afro-American League, a civil rights organization in the city.
Ophelia Clenlans was a civil rights activist and journalist from Omaha, Nebraska.
Comfort Baker was a teacher in the American South and was the first African American to graduate from a High School in Omaha, Nebraska.
Will M. Maupin (1863–1948) was a newspaper man from Nebraska who worked for papers like the Omaha World-Herald, The Commoner, and the Hastings Democrat.
The Afro-American Sentinel was a newspaper in Omaha, Nebraska. It was established in 1893, and ran issues until 1899. The newspaper published articles relevant to Nebraska's black community. It was strongly in favor of self-defense against lynching, and issued reports about the extent of discrimination within the city.
The Western Post was the first African American newspaper published in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It was published in the town of Hastings between 1876 and 1877. No surviving copies of the paper remain.
The Omaha Guide was an African American newspaper in Omaha, Nebraska, published between 1927 and 1958. It was founded by Herman J. Ford, but editorial control was handed over to C.C. Galloway, a local businessman, after Ford's departure from the paper in 1930. Mildred Brown and her husband worked for the paper for a time, but left and founded the Omaha Star in 1938. The paper suffered low circulation in its final years due to competition from the Omaha Star and others, and it closed in 1958.
The Omaha Monitor, known as the Monitor for the bulk of its life, was an African American newspaper in Omaha, Nebraska. It ran issues from 1915 to 1929, and focused on the civic participation and racial equality of Omaha's black community. It was founded by John Albert Williams, who left the paper the year prior to its closure.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
