The Omaha Star building is located at 2216 North 24th Street in

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

Omaha 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 north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

. As the site of publication of ''The'' ''Omaha Star'' newspaper since 1938, the building is notable for its long service to Omaha's African-American community and its connections to the civil rights movement in the city. In recognition of its significance, the building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2007.

History

Through the Great Migration decades, the Near North Side of Omaha was the center of the city's African-American community when

Mildred Brown Mildred D. Brown (December 20, 1905–November 2, 1989) was an African-American journalist, newspaper baker, and leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Omaha, Nebraska. Part of the Great Migration (African American), Great Migration, she came fro ...

and her husband Edward S. Gilbert founded the ''

Omaha Star ''The'' ''Omaha Star'' is a newspaper founded in 1938 in North Omaha, Nebraska, by Mildred Brown and her husband S. Edward Gilbert. Housed in the historic Omaha Star building in the Near North Side neighborhood, today the ''Omaha Star'' is the on ...

'' in 1938. The building, built in 1923, originally housed a mortuary and then a social hall. Brown lived in an apartment at the back of the building from the founding of the paper through 1989 when she died. (She and her husband divorced in the 1940s.) Since 1945, the ''Omaha Star'' has been the only African-American paper in Omaha. In the 1940s, the building provided a home for the

DePorres Club The DePorres Club was an early pioneer organization in the Civil Rights Movement in Omaha, Nebraska, whose "goals and tactics foreshadowed the efforts of civil rights activists throughout the nation in the 1960s." The club was an affiliate of CORE ...

, an important civil rights organization in Omaha. Brown invited the DePorres Club, a youth-led activism organization, to use her offices after the group was exiled from nearby

Creighton University Creighton University is a private Jesuit research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate and undergra ...

. Brown ensured that the ''Omaha Star'' kept the community apprised of national issues, especially the civil rights movement's successes and failures across the country and throughout the city. Journalists researched the issues and presented the facts to its readers, and then urged involvement, but it also provided a voice and a face for the community in general. In 2007, the

City of Omaha 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 north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

unanimously approved a community development block grant to fund a $40,000 renovation for the building.Bradley, Q. (2008
"North Omaha building gets national recognition"
''

Omaha World-Herald The ''Omaha World-Herald'' is a daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, the primary newspaper of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. It was locally owned from its founding in 1885 until 2020, when it was sold to the newspaper ch ...

''. January 13, 2008. Retrieved 5/23/08. During the renovation, the building's hallmark 1940s sign was temporarily taken down for refurbishing. The sign features the newspaper's name, a map of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and a large star that lights up at night. Dr. Marguerita Washington, Mildred Brown's niece, ran the paper from her aunt's death in 1989 until her own death in 2016. Speaking of the NRHP designation, Dr. Washington said, "I wanted it in recognition for my aunt because of all that hard work she did in the community." The building is owned by the Mildred D. Brown Memorial Study Center, which also currently owns The Omaha Star as well. The city dedicated the Mildred Brown Memorial Strolling Park in May 2008 next to the Omaha Star Building. Constructed as a

service learning Service-learning is an educational approach that combines learning objectives with community service in order to provide a pragmatic, progressive learning experience while meeting societal needs. Service-learning involves students in service proje ...

project by students from the Metropolitan Community College, the park includes walkways and planting beds."Mildred Brown Honored as a Nebraska Journalism Pioneer"
KETV.com. May 15, 2008. Retrieved 5/24/08.

References

External links

Official Omaha Star website

Contemporary photo of the Omaha Star sign at night
{{NRHP Omaha Commercial buildings completed in 1923 National Register of Historic Places in Omaha, Nebraska Office buildings in Omaha, Nebraska North Omaha, Nebraska African-American history in Omaha, Nebraska Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Nebraska 1923 establishments in Nebraska

History

See also

References

External links