African Americans in Omaha, Nebraska

African Americans in Omaha, Nebraska are central to the development and growth of the 43rd largest city in the United States. The first free black settler in the city arrived in 1854, the year the city was incorporated.Pipher, M. (2002) ," The Middle of Everywhere: Helping Refugees Enter the American Community. Harcourt.Nebraska Writers Project (n.d. est 1938) Workers Progress Administration. Retrieved 10/29/07. The 2000 US Census recorded 51,910 African Americans as living in Omaha (over 13% of the city's population). In the 19th century, the growing city of Omaha attracted ambitious people making new lives, such as Dr. Matthew Ricketts was the first African American to graduate from a Nebraska college or university, and Silas Robbins was the first African American to be admitted to the bar in Nebraska. In 1892 Dr. Ricketts was also the first African American to be elected to the Nebraska State Legislature.Peattie, E.W. (2005) "Omaha's Black Population: The Negroes of this City: Who are they and where do they live?", Impertinences: Selected Writings of Elia Peattie, a Journalist in the Gilded Age. University of Nebraska Press. p. 58. Ernie Chambers, an African American barber from North Omaha's 11^th District, became the...
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