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.
After the American Civil War (1861–1865), many blacks moved to the city. They joined together, forming numerous black churches and black social and political organizations. Father John Albert Williams moved to Omaha in 1891 and became a fixture in black religious life. Omaha also produced Nebraska's first two black school teachers, Lucy Gamble and Eula Overall.
Three black newspapers were formed in the city in the last part of the century. They were founded by George F. Franklin, Thomas P. Mahammitt, and Ferdinand L. Barnett respectively. Many Omahans participated in the founding of the National Afro-American League in 1890. African-Americans also played a prominent role in the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition.
The city produced some of Nebraska's most politically active African-Americans, producing nominees to stand as candidates for state legislature. The earliest such candidate stood for office in 1880. In 1890, Edwin R. Overall was accepted by a party to stand as a candidate for the legislature. Nebraska's first black state legislator, Matthew Ricketts was finally elected in 1892.
Before Omaha's African-American residents gathered in North Omaha, they lived dispersed throughout the city. In the 1860s, the U.S. Census showed 81 "Negroes" in Nebraska, ten of whom were slaves. By 1880 there were nearly 800 black residents, many recruited by Union Pacific Railroad as strikebreakers. By 1884 there three black churches had been founded. By 1900 there were 3,443 black residents, in a total city population of 102,555.Quintard Taylor, In Search Of The Racial Frontier: African Americans in the American West, 1528–1990, New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1998, pp. 193 and 205.
Pre-Civil War The first recorded instance of a black person in the Omaha area occurred in 1804. "York" was a slave belonging to William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.Multiethnic Guide. Greater Omaha Economic Partnership. Retrieved October 28, 2007. The presence of several black people, probably slaves, was recorded in the area comprising North Omaha today when Major Stephen H. Long's expedition arrived at Fort Lisa in September 1819. They reportedly lived at the post and in neighboring farmsteads.Federal Writers' Project. (1939) "The Negro comes to Nebraska" , Negroes in Nebraska. Retrieved May 13, 2008.
After a short history of slavery in Nebraska, the first free black person to live in Omaha was Sally Bayne, who moved to Omaha in 1854.Pipher, M. (2002) "Chapter One ," The Middle of Everywhere: Helping Refugees Enter the American Community. Harcourt. A clause in the original proposed Nebraska State Constitution from 1854 limited voting rights in the state to "free white males", which kept Nebraska from entering the Union for almost a year. In the 1860s, the U.S. Census showed 81 "Negroes" in Nebraska, ten of whom were accounted for as slaves.(1938) Authur Goodlett. American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936–1940. Retrieved October 29, 2007. At that time, the majority of the population lived in Omaha and Nebraska City.
Some of the earliest African-American residents of the city may have arrived by the Underground Railroad via a small log cabin outside of Nebraska City built by Allen Mayhew in 1855. It is honored today as the Mayhew Cabin Museum. One report says, "Henry Daniel Smith, born in Maryland in 1835, still living in Omaha in 1913 and working at his trade of broom-maker, was one escaped slave who entered Nebraska via the Underground Railroad."(2003) "The Negroes of Nebraska: Immigration" . Retrieved October 29, 2007.
Early culture
By 1867 enough blacks gathered in community to found St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church in the Near North Side neighborhood. It was the first church for African Americans in Nebraska.(2003) "The Negroes of Nebraska: The Negro goes to church" . Memorial Library. Retrieved October 29, 2007. The first recorded birth of an African American in Omaha occurred in 1872, when William Leper was born.(1895) "Negroes in Omaha," Omaha Progress February 21, 1895. Retrieved from the Great Plains Black History Museum on May 6, 1998.
The Old Trinity Mission worked under the direction of Dean Millspaugh starting in late 1879, meeting in the old Cossens House and in 1881, Rev. W. Green was pastor.Old Trinity Mission the Growth of a Labor among the Colored People. Omaha Herald (Omaha, Nebraska). Sunday, May 1, 1881. Volume: XVI Issue: 175 Page: 8 St. Philip's was announced to be formed out of a chapel of the old Trinity Cathedral in April, 1882, and to eventually exist as a separate structure.St. Philips the New Chapel for the Colored People of Old Trinity Mission. Omaha Herald (Omaha, Nebraska). Friday, April 21, 1882. Volume: XVII Issue: 147 Page: 8 In 1891, Father John Albert Williams came to Omaha to serve the congregation at St. Philips.
George T. McPherson was known as Omaha's first prominent black musician, arriving in Omaha in the early 1870s and opening a music studio there.Papers of the WPA Omaha Ne. City Guide Project, Negro musical development. Chapter 8. Dr. C. C. and Mabel L. Criss Library Digital Collections, University of Nebraska, Omaha accessed March 15, 2016 at http://unomaha.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15301coll1/id/321 Mcpherson was called by Thomas P. Mahammitt's Enterprise "the leading pianist of the [African-American] race".Masons In Favor. Excelsior Club Entertainment Is A Grand Success. Enterprise (Omaha, Nebraska). Saturday, February 13, 1897. Page: 1
In 1879, John Lewis organized a brass band initially consisting of eleven members and instructed by professor Toozer. The band adopted the name, "Lewis' Excelsior Brass Band" and had Lewis as president, Cyrus D. Bell as secretary, Frank Bellmay as assistant secretary and D. H. Johnson as treasurer.The Colored Brass Band. Omaha Herald (Omaha, Nebraska). Thursday, November 27, 1879. Volume: XV Issue: 41 Page: 8 Toozer was a drummer in the British Army Band in the Crimean War and was the leader of the Union Pacific Band, where he was an employee from 1867 to 1905.Poast, Gene. Union Pacific Band 1871. Accessed March 10, 2016 at http://up150.com/stories/423/union-pacific-band-1871 Lewis' brass band played at numerous celebrations, including the 1880 15th Amendment anniversary celebrationTown Talk. Omaha Herald (Omaha, Nebraska). Friday, April 2, 1880. Volume: XX Issue: 148 Page: 8 and the August 4, 1887 anniversary of EmancipationThe Emancipation Anniversary. Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, Nebraska). Wednesday, July 27, 1887. Page: 1
Party politics Black men and women quickly formed political, social, and community organizations. In June 1870, Richard D. Curry was voted in Omaha's Third Ward as Republican candidate for Trustee or Alderman, but white Omaha Republican's opposed Curry's selection and nominated someone else. This created a good deal of distrust of Republican's in Omaha by blacks. A committee of black citizens in Omaha chaired by John Lewis and with G. G. Iredell as secretary was formed to encourage blacks to distance themselves from party politics and to vote more independently. This was in particular a response to the rejection by the Republican Party of Curry's candidacy.The Colored People Of Omaha. Daily Nebraska Press (Nebraska City, Nebraska). Tuesday, June 14, 1870. Page: 2
In January, 1876, Edwin R. Overall, William R. Gamble, and Rev W. H. Wilson organized a State Convention of Colored men. The convention met to discuss lynching and to select delegates for the national convention to be held in Nashville later that year. Overall, Dr. W. H. C. Stephenson, Wilson, and Gamble were selected as delegates, with Curry, John Lewis, Calvin Montgomery, and P. Hampton as alternates. Wilson served as president of the meeting, Curry, Lewis, and J. C. Boone as vice presidents, and Cyrus D. Bell as secretary.The Colored Men. A State Convention Held In Omaha Yesterday. The Proceedings--Officers Elected--Addresses. Daily Nebraska Press (Nebraska City, Nebraska). Wednesday, January 19, 1876. Page: 4 However, in February of that year, Curry attacked Edward Rosewater, then editor of the Omaha Bee for calling his saloon a "den".That Assault. Mr. Edward Rosewater Lies in a Very Critical Condition. A Murderous Assault Made. Daily Nebraska Press (Nebraska City, Nebraska). Thursday, February 17, 1876. Page: 4 Curry was imprisoned for the assault and his public career came to an endScratching the Old Sores. All the Bad Blood between Rosewater and Van Der Voort Flowing Afresh. Omaha World-Herald (Omaha, Nebraska).Saturday, January 18, 1890. Volume: XXV Issue: 110 Page: 5
Democrat Cyrus D. Bell, an ex-slave, was proposed for city, county, legislative, or state office by the Anti-Republican Omaha Herald in 1878, although this proposal was meant to show that Republicans in the city had poor commitment to black rights in Omaha, the Democratic paper, Omaha Herald commenting that "hundreds of colored men are constantly disfranchised from holding office by the Republican party whilst casting a solid vote and giving power to that party.".Why is This So the Almighty Negro. Omaha Herald (Omaha, Nebraska). Thursday, December 5, 1878. Volume: XIV Issue: 47 Page: 4 Throughout his life, Bell frequently voiced his frustration at the Republican Party in Nebraska for failing to promote black candidates for elected and appointed offices,How is This for High Some Very Pungent Remarks of a Colored Man. Omaha Herald (Omaha, Nebraska). Saturday, February 8, 1879. Volume: XIV Issue: 100 Page: 8A Little History Which a Colored Man Relates for the Benefit of Republicans. Omaha Herald (Omaha, Nebraska). Friday, February 28, 1879. Volume: XIV Issue: 116 Page: 2 a cause in which Bell was joined by C. E. BurkeThe Negro What Has the Republican Party Done for Him. Omaha Herald (Omaha, Nebraska). Wednesday, March 26, 1879. Volume: XIV Issue: 138 Page: 3
In the late 1860s, Edwin R. Overall moved from Chicago to Omaha. Overall had been working for black betterment since before the civil war, and along with Bell was frequently chosen to represent the Omaha black community. In a March 30, 1879 celebration of the anniversary of the ratification of the fifteenth amendment at the Masonic Hall, Overall and Bell spoke. Overall emphasized the ascendance of ex-confederates to federal elective office, while characteristically, Bell focused on the need for blacks to vote independently and that emancipation alone did not bring blacks to full citizenship.From Slaves to Citisens the Anniversary of the Signing of the Elective Franchise Observed by the Colored People. Omaha Herald (Omaha, Nebraska). Thursday, April 3, 1879. Volume: XIV Issue: 143 Page: 8 Other leaders in the community included Emanuel S. Clenlans, H. W. Coesley, and Gabriel Young.Meeting of Colored People. Omaha Herald (Omaha, Nebraska). Friday, September 12, 1879. Volume: XIV Issue: 282 Page: 8
In the 1870s, Omaha became a destination of the great migration, black migration to Nebraska and Kansas was a particularly noted public issue in 1879 when a large group of migrants arrived in the city.A Colored Ripple or a Slack Wave. Omaha Herald (Omaha, Nebraska). Tuesday, April 22, 1879. Volume: XIV Issue: 159 Page: 4
Republican organization