Earliest existing film footage of a Nebraska scene, 1900, allows you to ride along with a Union Pacific locomotive as it travels via the Missouri River Bridge from Iowa into the Union Station railyard in Omaha. The film was made for the American Biograph film studios.
Thanks to Paul Eisloeffel, Curator of Audiovisual Collections at the Nebraska State Historical Society for these clips and the information. See y’all soon!
-Post by Lori Schwartz, University of Nebraska at Omaha
As you all know, a conference like #omamac would not succeed without the generosity of sponsors. Support for organizations like the Midwest Archives Conference shows the value it can bring to the archival community but also the host city. Contributions made for this conference came in many forms from time and money to member participation. The Midwest Archives Conference Local Arrangements Committee would like to thank all those who gave of themselves to help the 2017 Midwest Archives Conference succeed. We would particularly like to thank our official sponsors for the event who are:
Map: Selection of Restaurants in Downtown & Old Market
Includes the Friday Night Tour restaurants, Lunch & Dinner options near the Hilton Omaha, AND breakfast, bakery, and ice cream venues within walking distance.
Green = Friday Night Dinner Tour
Yellow = Breakfast, Bakeries, Sweets
Blue = Lunch & Dinner w/in 4 blocks of Hilton
Three fabulous restaurants are on the Friday Night Dinner Tour. Sign up at the Registration Desk to enjoy dinner with fellow archivists. Each dinner will be led by a local archivist, so there’s nothing to sweat.
Le Bouillon, 1017 Howard St., Walkable: A casual French restaurant and raw bar in the Old Market. See what one local archivist said about it in our Dining with Omaha History post! Hint: she’s a big fan of it.
Upstream Brewing Company, 514 S. 11th St., Walkable: Winner of #1 Micro Brewery, #1 Brew Pub, and #1 Bowl of Sup in the 2017 Best of Omaha Awards. Go there for a genuine Omaha Steak (without completely breaking the bank), seafood, and a decent amount of locally-sourced options.
Flavors (Indian Cuisine), 1901 Farnam St., Walkable (but 1.1 miles): Head to Flavors for authentic Indian food in a cozy and relaxed atmosphere.
Art Crawl: Also Friday night, a member of the Local Arrangements Committee and veteran of the First Friday Old Market event will lead a group through several art stops in the Old Market. Sign up at the registration desk!
Looking for a meal during the conference, but want to go nontraditional? A stone’s throw north of the conference hotel, you might see a big blue & white sign with an ice cream cone. That’s Zesto! Sadly, it’s only open in the summer. Never fear, dear readers. Turn south to find two excellent ice cream shops in walking distance. Read on to learn about these and other area favorites:
Ted & Wally’s
1120 Jackson St. in the Old Market
11am-10pm (M-Th), 11am-11pm (F, Sat)
walkable
Head south out of the conference hotel. Less than a mile later (.8 miles), you’ll be at an Omaha staple, Ted and Wally’s. The flavors change daily. Today’s include Cherry Chocolate Chunk, Girl Scout Peanut Butter Pattie, Mexican Corn Custard, Butter Pecan, and good ole Vanilla Bean. Yum. You can get a cone, dish, float, malt, shake, sundae, mix-ins, soda fountain offering, etc. There are vegan, paleo, no sugar added, frozen yogurt, and sherbet options.
Dolci
1003 Howard St. in the Old Market
11am-9pm (M-Th), 11am-10pm (F, Sat), 12-8pm (Sun)
walkable
Also located south of the conference hotel (.6 miles), head to Dolci for their soft serve ice cream, their Crunchi-Cream (soft serve with mix-ins), and homemade Italian desserts and pastries crafted from old family recipes. (Plus, the husband and wife ownership team have an Italian name, if that’s extra incentive for you.)
eCreamery
5001 Underwood Ave.
11am-10pm
You’ll need a car.
Located 3.7 miles away in the cute Dundee neighborhood, eCreamery offers up ice cream, gelato, and sorbet (dairy-free). The flavors change daily. A few of today’s flavors in the ice cream and gelato arena are Irish Cream, Sea Salt Caramel, Butterfinger, Maple Bacon, and Cookie Dough. eCreamery ships large amounts of ice cream nationwide, but this is their only store. Find someone with a car and go check them out.
Coneflower 3921 Farnam Street
12-10pm (T-Sat), 11am-8pm (Sun)
You’ll need a car.
Located 2.4 miles away in the Blackstone District, Coneflower focuses on fresh and local ingredients (seriously–they list their partner farms on their website), and their flavors change with the season. Go for their Blackstone Butterbrickle, Cinnamon Apple Butter, Dark Chocolate, or Salted Caramel flavors. I’m getting hungry. This is dangerous. They also have vegan offerings, ice pops, floats, ice cream sandwiches, and artisan bottled sodas.
Local Ice Creamery 4809 Northwest Radial Hwy
11am-8:30pm (closed Mon)
You’ll need a car.
I’d visit this place simply because of their amazing acronym. Located 4.2 miles away in the funky, hipster, trendy, city-within-a-city (none of these adjectives is quite right) Benson neighborhood, LIC strives to bring locally-sourced ice cream with organic toppings from our area’s very own local farmers.
–Post by Lori Schwartz, University of Nebraska at Omaha
During #omamac, visit the Vendor Fair on Thursday from 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm and Friday from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm. These vendors are innovators within the industry and a visit to their station will introduce you to what they have to offer. Those who will be in attendance include the following:
Omaha’s North 24th Street on Omaha’s near northside was known as “the street of dreams” and has historically served as the heart of North Omaha and the city’s African American community since the 1910s. Jewish immigrants referred to the neighborhood as the “miracle mile” in the late 19th century. The neighborhood was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016 and you can grab a bite to eat, take in local history, or enjoy some of the art the neighborhood has to offer. The neighborhood has had to rebuild after the 1913 Easter Sunday tornado tore through the neighborhood and, more recently, after several uprisings in the late 1960s as a result of police shootings and unrest.
The original Fair Deal Cafe opened in Omaha in 1954 and was known as the “Black City Hall.” The new Fair Deal Cafe opened in fall 2016 as part of a new Fair Deal Marketplace that includes a stores and a market. Enjoy this soul food menu with daily specials.
Omaha Star Building
2216 North 24th Street
The building has been the home of the Omaha Star newspaper since 1938, and before that housed a mortuary and social hall. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. The Omaha Star has been Omaha’s sole African American newspaper since 1945.
Mildred Brown Memorial Strolling Park
Next door to the Omaha Star
Mildred Brown and her husband founded the Omaha Star in 1938, and she ran the newspaper on her own after their divorce in 1943. She continued to serve as publisher of the newspaper until her death in 1989 and lived in an apartment at the back of the Omaha Star building. The park next door was dedicated in 2008. The non-profit Mildred D. Brown Study Center was created in her honor by her niece Dr. Marguerite Washington to provide scholarships for journalism students and encourage students to explore communication fields.
Jewell Building
2221 North 24th Street
The Jewell Building is the former home of the Dreamland Ballroom, which hosted blues and jazz legends like Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong on the building’s second floor. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was built in 1923 by James Jewell, Sr., an influential man in the local African American community. The Love’s Center for Jazz and Art opened in the building in 2008. Dreamland Plaza is adjacent to the building.
Carver Bank
2416 Lake St.
The North Omaha Arts Alliance took over the Carver Bank from the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in fall 2016, providing a space for North Omaha to convene around the arts. The Carver Savings and Loan Association was founded in 1944 as the first African American bank in Omaha. The bank was critically important to providing loans to African Americans fighting redlining practices by predominantly white institutions.
The Union for Contemporary Art moved into this new-to-them space in 2017, which provided more space for the organization’s after school programs and instruction, galleries, community garden, and other projects.
Calvin Memorial Presbyterian Church
3105 North 24th Street
The Calvin Memorial Presbyterian Church was built in 1910 and said to be inspired by the buildings of the 1898 Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition held in Omaha. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 and is considered a fine example of the Neo-Classical Revival Style of architecture.
Malcolm X Birthsite
3448 Evans St.
Omaha native Malcolm X lived the first years of his life in his family’s home at 3448 Pinkney St. in North Omaha. The historical marker and a mural honoring Malcolm X are located on the grounds of the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation.
–Post by Amy Schindler, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Omaha has a long, storied baseball history. There are a lot of places you can get this history. For example, here’s a short, accessible article on the history of professional baseball in Omaha, courtesy the Omaha Storm Chasers website (the Chasers are our Triple-A Royals’ affiliate). Here are some highlights of Omaha’s baseball past:
Professional baseball started in Omaha in 1879 with the formation of the very short-lived Northwestern League.
The Omaha Rockets was an independent baseball team with African-American players.
Omaha once had a team named the Omahogs.
In 1949, historic Rosenblatt Stadium (no longer standing) became the home of the Omaha Cardinals, the St. Louis Cardinals’ Class-A affiliate.
Screenshot from the film, part of the Harold Chenoweth Film Collection at the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Archives & Special Collections.
In related news (to baseball, not chickens), MAC baseball fans have one day left to buy a ticket for the Creighton-St. John’s game at TD Ameritrade Park (home of the College World Series) on Friday, April 7th, at 6:30pm. It’s only a parking lot away from the conference hotel! Here’s our original post on it.
Cheers!
–Post by Lori Schwartz, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Malcolm X birthsite historical marker looking south toward Adams Park, March 2017
Omaha native Malcolm X lived the first years of his life in his family’s home at 3448 Pinkney St. in North Omaha. Malcolm was born to Earl and Louise Little on May 19, 1925. The Littles had moved to Omaha in 1921 and his father was a member of Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA).
The historical marker honoring Malcolm X is located on the grounds of the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation where you are surrounded by hills. Grab a seat on a bench for views of Adams Park to the south of the property and woodland to the north of the foundation’s building. A mural of Malcolm X is also on the property along with the foundation’s building.
Unfortunately, the home where the Littles lived was torn down in 1965 without the owners realizing it was the first home of one of Omaha’s most famous residents. The cross streets of Pinkney and 34th St. no longer run through the property, but when you visit you can see where Pinkney ends just up the hill and a 34th St. sign is attached to a nearby post to help you orient yourself.
When I moved to Omaha the only thing I remembered about the city from The Autobiography of Malcolm X was that the Ku Klux Klan terrorized Louise Little when she was at home with her children and pregnant with Malcolm. An Omaha World-Herald article from 2015 shares more about this episode.
Malcolm X Memorial Foundation sign facing the road at 3448 Evans St., Omaha
When you visit: Parking is available in the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation’s parking lot. The historical marker is located just to the south of the parking lot down a slight hill with an accessible sidewalk. The mural is located east of the historical marker and foundation building. When I visited in early March there was construction nearby, so it will probably be best to approach from 30th St. and take a left on Evans St. You will need a car to visit. The Malcolm X birthsite is northwest of the North 24th and Lake St. Historic District.
History panel on pedestrian bridge from CenturyLink Center to Missouri River
Closer to the Hilton Omaha, you will find Malcolm X included on the panels of an interpretive history display about the Civil Rights Movement in Omaha. The history panels are posted on the pedestrian bridge leading from the south end of the CenturyLink Center (across 10th St. from the Hilton) to the Missouri River.
–Post by Amy Schindler, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Reuben Sandwich from I’m Omaha Famous: The Coloring Book by Christopher Vaughn Couse. From the UNO Libraries’ Archives & Special Collections Zine Collection.
Omaha is home to a thriving food scene with new and delicious restaurants regularly opening along with many old favorites and classic Omaha establishments. This post will highlight a few restaurants in historic settings or with interesting (to me) connections to history.
Now, when I’m talking about food with some history, I’m not thinking of the 5 year old McDonald’s cheeseburger Happy Meal on display in a suburban Omaha chiropractor’s office or the former site of Swanson, which coined the term “TV dinner,” but you can visit both along with the birthplace of the Reuben sandwich while you are in Omaha for the MAC Annual Meeting if you would like.
This list is by no means exhaustive, so get out there and enjoy what Omaha has to offer.
Le Bouillon
1017 Howard St.
Walkable
#lunch #dinner
Casual French restaurant and raw bar Le Bouillon makes its home in downtown Omaha’s historic Old Market, which was built to sell retail and wholesale groceries. The neighborhood is one of Omaha’s most historic with cobblestone streets lined with restaurants, bars, unique shops, galleries, and street performers. Le Bouillon is in the part of the Old Market that has retained its covered sidewalks adding another layer of charm. Inside the restaurant offers a comfortable setting along with historic touches retained through the years including a large scale from its warehouse days still in the floor in the dining room. The French menu is accessible with entree and small plates options making use of local producers as well as the popular raw bar daily happy hour special of 6 oysters for $6 from 3-7pm. I have never made a bad choice when ordering at Le Bouillon.
Beet chips with malt vinegar and the Queen of the Night cocktail named for legendary Omaha madame Anna Wilson at Wilson & Washburn. Photo by Amy Schindler.
Wilson & Washburn offers craft cocktails, over 20 specialty beers including many from Nebraska and regional breweries, and comfort food in a casual setting. The bar & restaurant takes its name from Anna Wilson, Omaha’s “Queen of the Underworld” with a heart of gold, and Josie Washburn, a sex worker in Wilson’s brothel, a madame in her own right, and author. A group of archivists doing research to benefit MAC attendees all gave high YUM ratings to the beet chip and pretzel stick appetizers (the pretzels were especially popular with toddler Mr. O, president of the Omaha junior archivists organization), Reuben sandwich, mac and cheese, and fish and chips. Wilson & Washburn is in a restored 19th century building on the edge of Omaha’s notorious “Sporting District,” which was home to the city’s dens of iniquity. Note that Anna Wilson’s mansion and brothel were not located on the site of the restaurant. Wilson amassed wealth from her business and real estate during her lifetime and became an important funder of charities in Omaha such as the Creche Home for Children. Josie Washburn opened her own brothel in Lincoln, Nebraska and in 1909 published the book The Underworld Sewer: A Prostitute Reflects on Life in the Trade.
View the Birthplace of the Reuben Sandwich & Butter Brickle Ice Cream Crescent Moon 36th & Farnam St. Farnam House Brewing Company 3558 Farnam St. You will need a car #lunch #dinner
Omaha claims to be the home of the Reuben sandwich and Butter Brickle ice cream, so if you would like to enjoy a meal with a view of their birthplace from your table, Crescent Moon Alehouse and Farnam House Brewing Company are your options and pretty great options in my opinion. The story goes that the Reuben sandwich was born at Omaha’s Blackstone Hotel when Reuben Kulakofsy, a Lithuanian-born grocer, invented the sandwich for his weekly poker game held at the Blackstone in the 1920s. The Blackstone also introduced Butter Brickle to the world in the 1920s. The Blackstone is now an office building, but you can see it from the windows while enjoying some refreshments at Crescent Moon and Farnam House.
The Crescent Moon is part of a group of offerings otherwise known as Beer Corner USA, which includes Crescent Moon, the Huber Haus German Bier Bar, Max & Joe’s Belgian Beer Tavern, and Beertopia craft beer store. At Crescent Moon you can enjoy a Reuben sandwich that is routinely voted the best Reuben around. If you are like me and not interested in a Reuben, I can tell you that the burgers are delightful. Not surprisingly, Crescent Moon has an extensive beer list to wash down your meal.
Farnam House Brewing Company brews their beer in the basement below the restaurant in what was the vault of Crandell Furs and the original safe doors are still in the building. I’ve been known to enjoy a pint of the Taft stout and I give my YUM rating to Farnam House’s house made pretzels, pierogi, and “faux”lafel tacos to get you started. Ingredients for the food on Farnam House’s menu are local and it shows.
Want to say you ate Butter Brickle ice cream in its home city? You may want to visit local ice cream shop eCreamery in the Dundee neighborhood for their version.
Fair Deal Cafe 2118 North 24th St. You will need a car #lunch #dinner
The original Fair Deal Cafe opened in Omaha in 1954 and was known as the “Black City Hall.” The new Fair Deal Cafe opened in fall 2016 as part of a new Fair Deal Marketplace that includes stores and a market. Enjoy this soul food menu with daily specials. The Fair Deal Cafe is located in Omaha’s North 24th and Lake Streets Historic District, a short drive from the conference hotel. Omaha’s North 24th Street on Omaha’s near northside was known as “the street of dreams” and has been the heart of North Omaha and the city’s African American community since the 1910s. Jewish immigrants referred to the neighborhood as the “miracle mile” in the late 19th century. The neighborhood was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016 and you can grab a bite to eat, take in local history, or enjoy some of the art the neighborhood has to offer.
The exterior of Omaha Rockets Kanteen. Photo by Amy Schindler.
The restaurant Omaha Rockets Kanteen pays tribute to Negro Leagues baseball history over your Southern-inspired meal. The sandwiches, entrees, and desserts are named for players and teams from the Negro Leagues professional baseball leagues such as the Buck O’Neil salad and the Birmingham Black Barons’ Sweet Potato Pie. There is also a food truck version. Omaha is home to a number of food trucks including Southern Pitch food truck offering up variations of Southern comfort food coupled with historical facts about Negro Leagues baseball. Their slogan is “enjoy the food, digest the history.” We don’t know if Southern Pitch will be out and about during MAC, but food trucks can be found in downtown Omaha including several gathered at the Gene Leahy Mall for food truck Thursdays.
Southern Pitch Food Truck. Photo by Amy Schindler.
Johnny’s Cafe 4702 S. 27 St. You will need a car (and the trip to Johnny’s is currently a bit longer than usual due to construction on south bound I-480) #lunch #dinner
Omaha is known in some quarters as a place to get a steak thanks to the company Omaha Steaks (you can buy your Omaha Steaks products at the airport on your way to either terminal when you head home from OMAMAC) and the South Omaha stockyards that were the nation’s largest from 1955-1971. Johnny’s Cafe is one of Omaha’s oldest steakhouses tracing its roots back to an eight seat saloon that opened in 1922 next to the stockyards. The third generation of the family still owns Johnny’s Cafe. As the stockyards grew, so did Johnny’s. You may recognize the restaurant from Jack Nicholson’s retirement party in the Alexander Payne film “About Schmidt.” Not interested in steak? Johnny’s lounge and round lobby can offer you some of the flavor of Omaha history with its vintage 1970s interiors, photos of the Omaha stockyards, saddle barstools, and other nods to local stockyard history.
Some of the photos lining the walls of Blatt Beer & Table. Photo by Amy Schindler.Our lunch of mac & cheese and falafel sliders at Blatt Beer & Table. Photo by Amy Schindler.
How did Blatt Beer & Table make it on this list of restaurants with a bit of history? Well, a six year old restaurant in North Downtown makes it a pioneer for this redeveloped corner of Omaha. You will also find historic photos on the walls of Blatt, so that’s a little bit more history. Members of the local arrangements committee just had a really nice lunch at Blatt Beer & Table and are happy to report that this restaurant between the conference hotel & TD Ameritrade baseball stadium (so that means it is really close to the conference) has good food, over 20 Nebraska and regional beers on its menu (Tuesday is 50% off all Nebraska beers all day), and super welcoming and attentive staff. We also noticed that it is a child-friendly lunch spot. And if we are lucky enough to have lovely spring weather, we may be able to enjoy Blatt’s outdoor seating or rooftop seating.
–Post by Amy Schindler, University of Nebraska at Omaha
MAC Omaha 2017 