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Downtown Omaha
Downtown Omaha is the central business, government and social core of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area, U.S. state of Nebraska. The boundaries are Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha's 20th Street on the west to the Missouri River on the east and the centerline of Leavenworth Street on the south to the centerline of Chicago Street on the north, also including the CHI Health Center Omaha. Downtown sits on the Missouri River, with commanding views from the tallest skyscrapers. Dating almost to the city's inception, downtown has been a popular location for the headquarters of a variety of companies. The Union Pacific Railroad has been headquartered in Omaha since its establishment in 1862. Once the location of 24 historical warehouses, Jobbers Canyon Historic District was the site of many import and export businesses necessary for the settlement and development of the Western United States, American West. Today dozens of companies have their national and regional headquarters in downt ...
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Gene Leahy Mall
Gene Leahy Mall, also known locally as Central Park or The Mall, is a park located at 1302 Farnam on the Mall in Downtown Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.A., and bordered by South 10th Street. There are also two huge slides, a sculpture garden, a remote-control boat cove, a large children's play area, and an amphitheater where outdoor concerts are held in the summer. The mall is decorated with thousands of lights during the winter holiday season. Connected on its eastern edge with the Heartland of America Park, it is also borders the W. Dale Clark Library, the former Burlington Headquarters Building, the Old Market and the ConAgra campus. About Originally conceived in the 1970s, the Gene Leahy Mall was named after Omaha Mayor Eugene A. Leahy, and is regarded as being a major impetus for the redevelopment of downtown into a thriving commercial, residential and cultural center in Omaha. In 2005 a major redevelopment process began focused on redesigning The Mall and several areas surrounding th ...
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William D
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of England in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is sometimes abbreviated "Wm." Shortened familiar versions in English include Will, Wills, Willy, Willie, Bill, and Billy. A common Irish form is Liam. Scottish diminutives include Wull, Willie or Wullie (as in Oor Wullie or the play ''Douglas''). Female forms are Willa, Willemina, Wilma and Wilhelmina. Etymology William is related to the given name ''Wilhelm'' (cf. Proto-Germanic ᚹᛁᛚᛃᚨᚺᛖᛚᛗᚨᛉ, ''*Wiljahelmaz'' > German ''Wilhelm'' and Old Norse ᚢᛁᛚᛋᛅᚼᛅᛚᛘᛅᛋ, ''Vilhjálmr''). By regular sound changes, the native, inherited English form of the name should b ...
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Old Market (Omaha, Nebraska)
The Old Market is a neighborhood located in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, United States, and is bordered by South 10th Street to the east, 13th Street to the west, Farnam Street to the north and Jackson Street to the South. The neighborhood has many restaurants, art galleries and upscale shopping. The area retains its brick paved streets from the turn of the 20th century, horse-drawn carriages, and covered sidewalks in some areas. It is not uncommon to see a variety of street performers, artists, and other vendors. Historic designation The area is on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district, and borders the former site of the Jobbers Canyon Historic District, as well as the extant Omaha Rail and Commerce Historic District and the Warehouses in Omaha MPS. There is a walking tour of historic buildings available from the Omaha Chamber of Commerce. There are also several specifically noted historic buildings within the district. Historic buildings Buildings within ...
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Sporting District (Omaha, Nebraska)
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. The term '' sporting'' was a common 19th-century euphemism for gambling and/or prostitution. Many communities around the U.S. used this term; brothels were often referred to as ''sporting houses''. History The Burnt District had been Omaha's red-light district in the late 19th century. The area was located east of Creighton University from Douglas Street six blocks north to Cass Street and from the Missouri River west to Sixteenth Street. The district was closed down around the turn of the century, and business transferred to the Sporting District. It has b ...
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Tom Dennison (political Boss)
Tom Dennison, known as Pickhandle or Old Grey Wolf, (October 26, 1858 – February 14, 1934) was an American political boss and racketeer in Omaha, Nebraska. A politically savvy, culturally astute gambler, Dennison was in charge of the city's wide crime rings, including prostitution, gambling and bootlegging in the 1920s.Beerman, B.J. (2004) Where the hell is Omaha?'' AmericanMafia.Com Retrieved 6/18/07. Dennison is credited with electing "Cowboy" James Dahlman mayor of Omaha eight times, and when losing an election, inciting the Omaha Race Riot of 1919 in retribution against the candidate who won.(nd"Dennison's Political Machine" NebraskaStudies.org. Retrieved 6/21/07. Early life The son of Irish immigrants, Tom Dennison came to Nebraska from Iowa in 1860 at the age of two. When he was young, Dennison traveled throughout the West as a prospector, saloon-keeper, gambler and robber. Dennison had owned and operated gambling houses such as the Opera House Gambling Saloon in Leadv ...
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Political Boss
In politics, a boss is a person who controls a faction or local branch of a political party. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves; most historical bosses did not, at least during the times of their greatest influence. Numerous officeholders in that unit are subordinate to the single boss in party affairs. Bosses may base their power on the support of numerous voters, usually organized voting blocs, and manage a coalition of these blocs and various other stakeholders. When the party wins, they typically control appointments in their unit, and have a voice at the higher levels. Reformers typically allege that political bosses are corrupt. This corruption is usually tied to patronage; the exchange of jobs, lucrative contracts and other political favors for votes, campaign contributions and sometimes outright bribes. History The appearance of bosses has been common since the Roman Republic, and remains fairly common or maybe widespread today. In Spanish America, Braz ...
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Edward Parsons Smith
Edward Parsons Smith (September 30, 1860 – May 21, 1930) was the List of mayors of Omaha, Nebraska, mayor of Omaha, Nebraska, from 1918 to 1921. Biography Smith was born in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, on September 30, 1860, and was a son of Edward Smith and Celia (Schockley) Smith. He attended the local schools and graduated from Mount Pleasant's Howe's Academy. He graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law with an bachelor of laws, LL.B. degree in 1885, and was admitted to the bar. Smith relocated to Seward, Nebraska, in the summer of 1885, and established a law practice that specialized in interstate commerce. He moved to Omaha in 1890 and continued to practice law. In addition to his law practice, Smith was active in several businesses. He was the attorney for the Omaha Grain Exchange, of which he was also a board of directors member. In addition, Smith was vice president of the Omaha Cooperage Company, and served on its board of directors. Mayor of Omaha A Democr ...
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Willy Brown
The Omaha Race Riot occurred in Omaha, Nebraska, September 28–29, 1919. The race riot resulted in the lynching of Will Brown, a black civilian; the death of two white rioters; the injuries of many Omaha Police Department officers and civilians, including the attempted hanging of Mayor Edward Parsons Smith; and a public rampage by thousands of white rioters who set fire to the Douglas County Courthouse in downtown Omaha. It followed more than 20 race riots that occurred in major industrial cities of the United States during the Red Summer of 1919. Background Three weeks before the riot, federal investigators had noted that "a clash was imminent owing to ill-feeling between white and black workers in the stockyards.""For action on race riot peril"
''The New York Times'', 5 Oct 1919, Ret ...
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Joe Coe
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." Biography and death Coe was a married man with two children who lived on North 12th Street north of downtown Omaha. On October 7, 1891, Lizzie Yates, a five-year-old white child who also lived in North Omaha, accused Coe of assaulting her. Before the verdict was passed rumors swept through Omaha about Coe getting away with the crime, about the girl dying, and about Coe receiving a small punishment. A crowd of men was already gathered at the old Douglas County Courthouse the day when Coe was brought in, to witness an unrelated, scheduled hanging, an official execution. Rumors flew around Omaha that the g ...
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Lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an extreme form of informal group social control, and it is often conducted with the display of a public spectacle (often in the form of a hanging) for maximum intimidation. Instances of lynchings and similar mob violence can be found in every society. In the United States, where the word for "lynching" likely originated, lynchings of African Americans became frequent in the South during the period after the Reconstruction era, especially during the nadir of American race relations. Etymology The origins of the word ''lynch'' are obscure, but it likely originated during the American Revolution. The verb comes from the phrase ''Lynch Law'', a term for a punishment without trial. Two Americans during this era are generally credited for coinin ...
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Douglas County Courthouse (Omaha)
The present Douglas County Courthouse is located at 1701 Farnam Street in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Built in 1912, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Notable events at the courthouse include two lynchings and the city's first sit-in during the Civil Rights Movement. Five years after it was opened, the building was almost destroyed by mob violence in the Omaha Race Riot of 1919. The 1912 building was designed in the French Renaissance Revival style by local architect John Latenser, Sr. Decorative stonework covers the structure's exterior, and the building serves as a prominent landmark in Downtown Omaha. First courthouse Three years after the city was founded in 1854, on March 18, 1857 the City of Omaha built a jail and courthouse in an area known as Washington Square. It bounded by 15th, 16th, Douglas and Farnam streets. The original courthouse in Douglas County, with a council room and mayor's court room, several offices and jail cells, was ...
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Founding Figures Of Omaha, Nebraska
The following people were founding figures of Omaha, Nebraska. Their period of influence ranges from 1853 through 1900. The original founding event to establish the City of Omaha was recorded as a picnic on July 4, 1854. It took place on the hillside that eventually became home of the Nebraska Territory Capitol, and later Omaha Central High School. Some of the figures in attendance at this event are included on this list; others were left off because their influence in the city did not continue afterwards.+ Some of the attendees included Hadley A. Johnson; Alfred D. Jones and his wife; A.J. Hanscom and his wife; William D. Brown and his wife; Thomas Davis and his wife; Frederick Davis and his wife; and a Mr. Seely and his wife.Alfred Rasmus Sorenson (1889) ''History of Omaha from the Pioneer Days to the Present Time.'' New York: Gibson, Miller & Richardson, Printers. p.51. Others in the following list were members of the Old Settlers' Association and/or the Omaha Claim Club. M ...
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