Poles in Omaha, Nebraska arrived relatively early in the city's history. The first Polish immigrants came in the 1870s, and the community grew past 1000 in the late 1890s. By the 1930s there were 10,000 of Polish descent, and Omaha claimed the largest such community of the Great Plains. [1] According to the 2000 United States Census, Omaha had a total population of 390,112 residents, of whom 18,447 claimed Polish ancestry. [2] The city's Polish community was historically based in several ethnic enclaves throughout South Omaha, including Little Poland and Sheelytown, first dominated by Irish immigrants.
Poles have had a presence in Omaha since the late 1870s, when they started arriving to work in the meatpacking, stockyards, smelting and railroad industries. More arrived in the 1880s, but most after 1900. [3] The state of Nebraska, and Omaha in particular, was advertised heavily in Poland as a destination for jobs starting in 1877 by the Chicago-based Polish Roman Catholic Union of America and the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad. Ralph Modjeski, a Polish-American civil engineer, helped build the Union Pacific Missouri River Bridge in Omaha in 1872. [4]
Poles continued to immigrate to Omaha, with most coming in the early 20th century, before immigration was reduced by World War I and new laws in 1923. By the 1930s South Omaha counted more than 10,000 Polish residents. As with other early 20th-century European immigrants, their industrial jobs contrasted with their traditional farming and rural pasts. [5] Many were employed by the Omaha Stockyards and the meatpacking plants throughout the area. [6] Numerous Polish immigrants lived in the Burlington Road neighborhood [7] Sheelytown, and the city's "Little Poland". This neighborhood extended west from South 25th to South 29th, F Street south to L Street. It eventually extended west to South 45th Street, earning the name Golden Hill. [8]
About 1895, only two hundred Polish families lived in Omaha. With close-knit ties to their families, the Polish community was Roman Catholic. As their numbers grew, the immigrants and descendants supported three ethnic Polish parishes in the city. [9] Few spoke English well, and few were skilled laborers. Their social lives revolved around a number of heritage societies. They included the Polish Roman Catholic Union, the Polish Union of the United States, the National Alliance, the Pulaski Club, the Polish Welfare Club and the Polish Citizens' Club. [10]
Neighboring enclaves included concentrations of other immigrants, such as Little Bohemia and Greektown, as well as a Jewish neighborhood. Immigrants tended to settle together where they were linked by language, culture and religion. [11] Nellie Tayloe Ross, the first woman to serve as governor of an American State, taught at a school in one of Omaha's Polish neighborhoods in the late 1890s. [12]
In 1891 several Polish families constructed a Roman Catholic church at South 29th and Elm Streets in the Sheelytown neighborhood. That year Father T. Jakimowicz arrived from Elba, Nebraska, but left after a few years because of "misunderstandings" with the congregation. Dissidents within the congregation put forward Stephen Kaminski, a Polish nationalist and Franciscan friar, as their priest. The bishop did not agree with this choice (and at that time, parishioners did not have the right to choose). Those who supported Kaminski held title to the building and its land. The courts ruled on March 27, 1895, that the Roman Catholic bishop (or diocese) legally owned the church and land. Before the dispute was resolved, supporters took sides and burned down the church. The diocese reorganized the parish afterwards, distributing residents among other churches, [13] [14] including the Immaculate Conception Church, which remains a congregation of primarily parishioners of Polish descent.
Around the turn of the century, members of the Hanscom Park Methodist Episcopal Church became concerned with the "lawlessness and destitute behavior" of Poles living in Sheelytown. They organized dances to compete with the "loose establishments" in the area. These caused a stir among local residents and were held for many years. [15]
The Western Star was a Polish language newspaper published in Omaha from 1904 to 1945. [16] During the 1920s, Polish neighborhoods in Omaha produced many successful amateur baseball teams. [17] A statue was placed in honor of Poles from the Omaha area who fought with the Blue Army during World War I at St. John's Cemetery in the suburb of Bellevue. [18] In the 1950s, a study of the city noted that "nearly all the Poles live in this area [South Omaha]", and that the neighborhoods were "the most segregated and congested of all the districts in Omaha." [19] [20]
Immigration was slowed by the World Wars and changes in US immigration law in 1923, which decreased the numbers arriving from Central Europe. After WWII, Communist rule in Poland cut off immigration. Few new Polish immigrants arrived until the reduction of the Soviet Union's influence and the Solidarity-era in Poland. [21]
As ethnic Polish descendants assimilated and moved to the suburbs, their old neighborhoods were filled by new immigrants, chiefly Mexican immigrants and other Latinos. They also work in the meatpacking industry. [22]
The Immigration History Research Center Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries, holds the Omaha Photograph Collection records. The collection includes numerous photos of Little Poland and Poles in Omaha. [23]
Omaha is the largest 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 39th-largest city, Omaha's 2020 census population was 486,051.
Polish Americans are Americans who either have total or partial Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 9.15 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing about 2.83% of the U.S. population. Polish Americans are the second-largest Central European ethnic group after German Americans, and the eighth largest ethnic group overall in the United States.
South Omaha is a former city and current district of Omaha, Nebraska, United States. During its initial development phase the town's nickname was "The Magic City" because of the seemingly overnight growth, due to the rapid development of the Union Stockyards. Annexed by the City of Omaha in 1915, the community has numerous historical landmarks many are within the South Omaha Main Street Historic District.
The history of Omaha, Nebraska, began before the settlement of the city, with speculators from neighboring Council Bluffs, Iowa staking land across the Missouri River illegally as early as the 1840s. When it was legal to claim land in Indian Country, William D. Brown was operating the Lone Tree Ferry to bring settlers from Council Bluffs to Omaha. A treaty with the Omaha Tribe allowed the creation of the Nebraska Territory, and Omaha City was founded on July 4, 1854. With early settlement came claim jumpers and squatters, and the formation of a vigilante law group called the Omaha Claim Club, which was one of many claim clubs across the Midwest. During this period many of the city's founding fathers received lots in Scriptown, which was made possible by the actions of the Omaha Claim Club. The club's violent actions were challenged successfully in a case ultimately decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, Baker v. Morton, which led to the end of the organization.
Racial tension in Omaha, Nebraska occurred mostly because of the city's volatile mixture of high numbers of new immigrants from southern and eastern Europe and African-American migrants from the Deep South. While racial discrimination existed at several levels, the violent outbreaks were within working classes. Irish Americans, the largest and earliest immigrant group in the 19th century, established the first neighborhoods in South Omaha. All were attracted by new industrial jobs and most were from rural areas. There was competition among ethnic Irish, newer European immigrants, and African-American migrants from the South, for industrial jobs and housing. They all had difficulty adjusting to industrial demands, which were unmitigated by organized labor in the early years. Some of the early labor organizing resulted in increasing tensions between groups, as later arrivals to the city were used as strikebreakers. In Omaha as in other major cities, racial tension has erupted at times of social and economic strife, often taking the form of mob violence as different groups tried to assert power. Much of the early violence came out of labor struggles in early 20th century industries: between working class ethnic whites and immigrants, and blacks of the Great Migration. Meatpacking companies had used the latter for strikebreakers in 1917 as workers were trying to organize. As veterans returned from World War I, both groups competed for jobs. By the late 1930s, however, interracial teams worked together to organize the meatpacking industry under the United Packinghouse Workers of America (UPWA). Unlike the AFL and some other industrial unions in the CIO, UPWA was progressive. It used its power to help end segregation in restaurants and stores in Omaha, and supported the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Women labor organizers such as Tillie Olsen and Rowena Moore were active in the meatpacking industry in the 1930s and 1940s, respectively.
The Near North Side of Omaha, Nebraska is the neighborhood immediately north of downtown. It forms the nucleus of the city's African-American community, and its name is often synonymous with the entire North Omaha area. It is bordered by Cuming Street on the south, 30th on the west, 16th on the east, and Locust Street to the north.
Little Bohemia, or Bohemian Town, is a historic neighborhood in Omaha, Nebraska. Starting in the 1880s, Czech immigrants settled in this highly concentrated area, also called "Praha" (Prague) or "Bohemian Town", bounded by South 10th Street on the east, South 16th Street on the west, Pierce Street on the north, and Martha Street on the south, with a commercial area went along South 13th and South 14th Streets, centered on William Street. It was located south of downtown, and directly west of Little Italy. A portion of the neighborhood along South 13th Street was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020.
The Sporting District was an area near 16th and Harney Streets in Omaha, Nebraska where city boss Tom Dennison kept the majority of his gambling, drinking and prostitution interests from the late 19th century until the end of his reign in 1933. "Cowboy" James Dahlman was reputedly voted to the first of eight terms as mayor of Omaha because he was more tolerant of the Dennison's "Sporting District" in the middle of the city.
Hanscom Park United Methodist Church is located at 4444 Frances Street in the Hanscom Park neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska. Established in 1886, the congregation has long been a leader in Nebraska Conference of the United Methodist Church, and hosted at least one annual regional meeting. In 1953, the congregation's pastor gained national attention for forming a psychiatric support group for Methodist ministers.
Sheelytown was a historic ethnic neighborhood in South Omaha, Nebraska, USA with populations of Irish, Polish and other first generation immigrants. Located north of the Union Stockyards, it was bounded by Edward Creighton Boulevard on the north, Vinton Street on the south, South 24th Street to the east, and 35th Street to the west. Sheelytown was named for the Sheely Brothers Packing Houses that were located in the area. Sheelytown was annexed by Omaha in 1887. The Omaha Quartermaster Depot was built just east of the community across the Union Pacific tracks.
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. The first free black settler in the city arrived in 1854, the year the city was incorporated. In 1894 black residents of Omaha organized the first fair in the United States for African-American exhibitors and attendees. The 2000 US Census recorded 51,910 African Americans as living in Omaha. In the 19th century, the growing city of Omaha attracted ambitious people making new lives, such as Dr. Matthew Ricketts and Silas Robbins. Dr. Ricketts was the first African American to graduate from a Nebraska college or university. Silas Robbins was the first African American to be admitted to the bar in Nebraska. In 1892 Dr. Ricketts was also the first African American to be elected to the Nebraska State Legislature. Ernie Chambers, an African-American barber from North Omaha's 11th District, became the longest serving state senator in Nebraska history in 2005 after serving in the unicameral for more than 35 years.
Germans in Omaha immigrated to the city in Nebraska from its earliest days of founding in 1854, in the years after the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states. They continued to immigrate to Omaha in large numbers later in the 19th century, when many came from Bavaria and southern Germany, and into the early 20th century. Germans created and maintained a high cultural, social and political profile locally and nationally through the 1930s. In 1890, Germans comprised 23% of Omaha's population. By 1910, 57.4% of Omaha's total population of more than 124,000 identified as being of German descent.
Matthew Oliver Ricketts was an American politician and physician. He was the first African-American member of the Nebraska Legislature, where he served two terms in the Nebraska House of Representatives from 1893 until 1897. He was also the first African American to graduate from the University of Nebraska College of Medicine in Omaha.
Joe Coe, also known as George Smith, was an African-American laborer who was lynched on October 10, 1891, in Omaha, Nebraska. Overwhelmed by a mob of one thousand at the Douglas County Courthouse, the twelve city police officers stood by without intervening. Afterward, the mayor called the lynching "the most deplorable thing that has ever happened in the history of the country."
Various ethnic groups in Omaha, Nebraska have lived in the city since its organization by Anglo-Americans in 1854. Native Americans of various nations lived in the Omaha territory for centuries before European arrival, and some stayed in the area. The city was founded by white Anglo-Saxon Protestants from neighboring Council Bluffs, Iowa. However, since the first settlement, substantial immigration from all of Europe, migration by African Americans from the Deep South and various ethnic groups from the Eastern United States, and new waves of more recent immigrants from Mexico and Africa have added layers of complexity to the workforce, culture, religious and social fabric of the city.
The Sheely Packing Company was located at South 27th Avenue and Martha Street in South Omaha, Nebraska. The plant was the namesake of the surrounding Sheelytown neighborhood, which was predominantly Polish, with many other immigrants as well. It was the first substantial meatpacking operation in Omaha, which preceded the founding of the city's large meatpacking industry.
Significant events in the history of Omaha, Nebraska, include social, political, cultural, and economic activities.
The history of Poles in the United States dates to the American Colonial era. Poles have lived in present-day United States territories for over 400 years—since 1608. There are 10 million Americans of Polish descent in the U.S. today, making it the largest diaspora of Poles in the world. Polish Americans have always been the largest group of Slavic origin in the United States.
