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City and state officials began asking for federal troops to come to Omaha while the riot was still building — as early as 6:20 p.m. on the evening of September 28th, more than four hours before Brown was killed. But, because the requests were directed to both local Army posts, Fort Crook and Fort Omaha, and to the War Department in Washington, the signals were confusing. The Army intervention proceeded slowly at all levels.
Lieutenant Colonel Jacob Wuest, commander of Fort ... Read more
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During World War I, about 9,000 American Indians served in the armed services. They fought and died in defense of a nation that still denied most of them the right to participate in the political process. Congress, as a result, enacted legislation on November 6, 1919, granting citizenship to Indian veterans of World War I who were not yet citizens.
"BE IT ENACTED . . . that every American Indian who served in the Military or Naval Establishments of the United ... Read more
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It was called an “unusual suggestion”.
The suggestion was “supplemental irrigation”, and it was proposed in 1913 by C.W. McConaughy, a grain merchant and mayor of Holdrege, Neb. The plan called for Platte River water to be brought via canals to south-central Nebraska farmland during the spring and fall when river flows were at their highest. The water would be used to soak the soil, allowing crops to draw upon the stored water during the growing season.
“When I have stood and ... Read more
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Another influential figure during the efforts to secure federal approval and funds for the project was U.S. Senator George W. Norris of McCook, Nebraska. Senator Norris played a pivotal role in guiding the project through the federal government’s bureaucratic maze. Senator Norris personally intervened on behalf of the Tri-County Project on several occasions. His efforts to convince Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes and President Franklin Roosevelt, with whom he had a good working relationship, that the project was ... Read more
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Even before the United States was dragged into World War II on December 7, 1941 food was always something that could be sold on a large scale, a strategic commodity. Through the Lend-Lease program established in March of 1941, the United States was already providing critical food to Allied Nations like England, France, China, and the Soviet Union. The Russians particularly enjoyed a canned beef specialty, tushonka millions of which were created at the Omaha Cudahy Plant.
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The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor changed the lives of all Nebraskans. They became united in a common goal of achieving total victory, no matter what the sacrifice. Most Nebraskans did not serve in the armed forces. As civilians, however, they faced many challenges on the home front, and they did their part to help win the war. The Uncle Sam recruiting poster and the events at Pearl Harbor helped motivate a great number of young men to enlist and ... Read more
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"My Aunt Rose was listening to the radio, and I wasn’t paying much attention until they kept hearing the word ’war’. . . . I had never heard that word before, so finally I got up there and said, ’Well, what is it? What is it?’ They tried to explain to me what war was, and I was appalled! Because up until then, I thought all the grown-ups knew what they were doing, and I could not believe that grown-ups ... Read more
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"Of course, there was the big ordnance (bombs and ammunition) plant in Grand Island and the one in Hastings . . . . I’ll never forget that because they had a lot of people working there. . . . There was something about the powder they worked in out there that turned their skin kind of yellowish-green, and their hair a kind of yellowish-green. . . . Some of the weirdest looking colored hairdos would come in there."
—Fred Merriman, Loup ... Read more
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What is it like to be born and raised an American, but to be considered an enemy because of where your parents were born? That’s what happened to many Japanese Americans in World War II.
Racism and war hysteria motivated the U.S. government to forcibly move more than 120,000 Japanese citizens and Japanese Americans from their homes on the west coast to internment camps between 1942 and 1945. Nebraska’s central location kept its Japanese American citizens comparably safe from this process, ... Read more
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"I used to think in my head, just before I dropped (a bomb), if I wait two more seconds, who is it going to affect? Whose lives? This is what you think about."
—Edward Sellz, Omaha, NE
Truman gravely made the decision to drop the atomic bomb in Japan, first on Hiroshima on August 6th, and then on Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945. Those are the only two events of an atom bomb being used in times of war. In an instant, ... Read more
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During World War II, the rationing of gasoline meant that families on the home front could not travel the way they might have wanted to. After the war, the end of rationing and higher salaries put Nebraskans on the road in record numbers. America’s love affair with the automobile was renewed, as family cars and hot rods became indispensable parts of 50s life and culture. The car culture spawned businesses, like drive-in restaurants and movie theatres.
With more people on the ... Read more
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Television, more than anything else, changed the way Nebraskans viewed the world and spent their free time. As more and more television sets were purchased, the entire country could watch the same event or entertainment show. ... Read more
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Initially, most Nebraska politicians were cautious about voicing their opinions of Sen. McCarthy. However, in 1952, former Nebraska Governor Dwight Griswold said it was a "thrilling experience" to hear McCarthy speak in Chicago. He was particularly impressed when Senator McCarthy said,
"There is no such thing as being a little disloyal." McCarthy’s ideas, if not his attacking style, hit a nerve, and legislative bodies tried to respond to the perceived threat.
The Nebraska Unicameral was one of the bodies that tried to ... Read more
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The fear of communism also affected the labor union movement in Nebraska during the 1950s. In the early 1900s, some national unions, like the IWW, Industrial Workers of the World, had adopted communists ideals in struggling to get better pay and working conditions. And so, during the Red Scare of the 50s, many assumed that unions would be full of communists who would disrupt national and local economies by encouraging strikes and violence against large companies.
In fact, Nebraska unions were ... Read more
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Patricia Jane LeMay Lodge (known as ‘Janie’) was the only daughter of Curtis and Helen (Maitland) LeMay. She was around nine-years-old when her family moved to Offutt. In 1998, she talked with historian Barbara W. Sommer about those years, her father’s career and her own upbringing.
For Jane, the Offutt years were good ones because the family was together.
"My grandparents lived on a wonderful street with very old homes. My mother had been born in the house that they lived in. ... Read more
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Did farm homes in Nebraska need fallout shelters, even if they were located far away from the supposed targets of nuclear bombs?
"Shelters make good sense," declared Mrs. Lorraine Still, Custer County home agent, "even though farm families may live hundreds of miles from military targets or large population centers." In ... Read more
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The David City Bank failed in 1984. It was the 55th commercial bank in the United States to fail that year. In this case, the Nebraska State Banking Director declared that the bank was no longer solvent. The bank’s assets were turned over to the FDIC, which began to liquidate the assets of the loans.
Farmers in the surrounding area were facing a new crisis with the failure. Borrowers were sure that there would be foreclosures, and that farmers would be ... Read more
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Native American tribes, including the Omaha, Oto, Missouri, Pawnee, Arapaho and ... Read more
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In the first Nebraska territorial census of 1854, there were only four slaves listed. In 1855, Sally Bayne arrived in Omaha and is counted as the first free African American to settle in the Nebraska Territory. Before that, both slaves and free blacks had traveled through on the Oregon Trail and settled on the west coast. Gradually, along with ... Read more
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The homesteaders came from all over the globe, from all walks of life. They were newly arrived immigrants. They were American farmers without land of their own in the east. They were families with young kids. They were single women. They were former slaves, freed during and after the Civil War.
What united this diverse group of people was the desire to own their own ... Read more
