An excerpt from the Preface to Ahead of Their Time - The Story of The Omaha DePorres Club
The story of the Omaha DePorres Club and its prolonged effort to battle racism is an "out of time and place" story, happening years before what is commonly known as the Civil Rights movement and a thousand miles removed from the deep south of the United States. The Omaha DePorres Club existed as a forerunner, its members pioneers, waging campaigns against discrimination and segregation in Omaha, as one national civil rights leader later put it, "Long before it was acceptable."
My dad was the president of the Omaha DePorres Club for seven years, so growing up I had heard about the club. But it wasn't until the summer of 2000, as I was nearing completion of a master’s degree, that I really began to dig deeper into its history. My upcoming degree had reminded me of a story I had heard about my dad and an incomplete master’s degree, so I decided to check into it. My questions led me to my parents’ attic and a trove of fifty year old treasure – nearly every piece of paper that the Omaha DePorres Club had produced in its seven years of existence – meeting minutes, letters, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, flyers and photographs. Talking to my parents and looking through the boxes, I learned the story behind why my dad didn’t receive his degree. As I worked for the next two years to convince officials at the University of Nebraska at Omaha to address the events of fifty years earlier, I also began to fully appreciate the depth and breadth of the story of the Omaha DePorres Club.
It is a story that involves many of the people and organizations that would figure in the story of the later Civil Rights movement. A story that was all but ignored by the white media but was featured by African-American newspapers in Omaha and other cities. A story of my hometown - described by one writer as “that troubled and troubling city” - and the entrenched racism that existed in its civic, business and religious organizations. A story of a courageous and dedicated group of men and women - black and white, young and middle-aged, led by a remarkable Jesuit priest – that, for seven years, pushed to change that system of racism by trying to change the answer to the question; “Are racial discrimination and segregation morally wrong?” from a nearly universal “No,” to an uncompromising “Yes.” A story of campaigns and actions so new and unfamiliar to Omahans that one businessman targeted by the group called their tactics “a series of impulsive, threatening and peculiar actions.”
It is a story that was summed up years later by the Jesuit priest who led the group:
"By all legitimate means, such as persuasion, arbitration, picketing when felt to be necessary, sometimes by means of a boycott, they succeeded down through the years in opening up restaurants, hotels, recreation places, homes, jobs, positions and schools to the Negro members of the Omaha community. As was to be expected, the actions of the club met with criticism and opposition, sometimes from high civic and ecclesiastical officials. The methods were said to be radical, extreme. Members of the club were branded as troublemakers and disturbers of the peace, even Communists, at times."
The story of the Omaha DePorres Club and its prolonged effort to battle racism is an "out of time and place" story, happening years before what is commonly known as the Civil Rights movement and a thousand miles removed from the deep south of the United States. The Omaha DePorres Club existed as a forerunner, its members pioneers, waging campaigns against discrimination and segregation in Omaha, as one national civil rights leader later put it, "Long before it was acceptable."
My dad was the president of the Omaha DePorres Club for seven years, so growing up I had heard about the club. But it wasn't until the summer of 2000, as I was nearing completion of a master’s degree, that I really began to dig deeper into its history. My upcoming degree had reminded me of a story I had heard about my dad and an incomplete master’s degree, so I decided to check into it. My questions led me to my parents’ attic and a trove of fifty year old treasure – nearly every piece of paper that the Omaha DePorres Club had produced in its seven years of existence – meeting minutes, letters, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, flyers and photographs. Talking to my parents and looking through the boxes, I learned the story behind why my dad didn’t receive his degree. As I worked for the next two years to convince officials at the University of Nebraska at Omaha to address the events of fifty years earlier, I also began to fully appreciate the depth and breadth of the story of the Omaha DePorres Club.
It is a story that involves many of the people and organizations that would figure in the story of the later Civil Rights movement. A story that was all but ignored by the white media but was featured by African-American newspapers in Omaha and other cities. A story of my hometown - described by one writer as “that troubled and troubling city” - and the entrenched racism that existed in its civic, business and religious organizations. A story of a courageous and dedicated group of men and women - black and white, young and middle-aged, led by a remarkable Jesuit priest – that, for seven years, pushed to change that system of racism by trying to change the answer to the question; “Are racial discrimination and segregation morally wrong?” from a nearly universal “No,” to an uncompromising “Yes.” A story of campaigns and actions so new and unfamiliar to Omahans that one businessman targeted by the group called their tactics “a series of impulsive, threatening and peculiar actions.”
It is a story that was summed up years later by the Jesuit priest who led the group:
"By all legitimate means, such as persuasion, arbitration, picketing when felt to be necessary, sometimes by means of a boycott, they succeeded down through the years in opening up restaurants, hotels, recreation places, homes, jobs, positions and schools to the Negro members of the Omaha community. As was to be expected, the actions of the club met with criticism and opposition, sometimes from high civic and ecclesiastical officials. The methods were said to be radical, extreme. Members of the club were branded as troublemakers and disturbers of the peace, even Communists, at times."
Copyright 2013 Matthew Holland