A History of Original Omaha University in North Omaha

Toward the end of the 19th century along the tree-lined North 24th Street with its fine middle and upper class homes of Kountze Place, Presbyterians decided to open Omaha’s first non-religious university. For 30 years, North Omaha was home to the eventual University of Nebraska at Omaha. This is a short history of the University of Omaha.

A New Kind of University

University of Omaha opened in North Omaha in 1907, and moved away in 1937. — The University of Omaha opened in North Omaha in 1907. Its locations included Redick Hall, Jacobs Gymnasium, Science Hall and Joslyn Hall. It moved away in 1937.

The first higher education institution in Nebraska was proposed for the town of Saratoga in 1863. It never came together though.

Omaha was just over 20 years old when its first higher education facility was opened. Before 1900, the city’s religiously affiliated universities and colleges were increasingly popular and successful. Creighton University, Omaha’s most famous higher education institution, was founded in 1878 by Catholics. Clarkson College began in 1888 and was started by the Episcopal church. The Nebraska Methodist College was started in 1891, and the Omaha Medical College was started as a private business in 1880.

It was into that reality that the Presbyterians decided the city needed a non-religious higher education institution. It was the staff of the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary who decided in the early 20th century to start the new institution, first called the University of Omaha.

An original sign for North Omaha’s University of Omaha campus. It lists the College of Liberal Arts; College of Law; College of Commerce and Finance; School of Music; and Science Hall. The gymnasium is in the background.

First discussed in the city’s media in 1891, the intention of opening the University of Omaha took more than 15 years to actualize. It was in 1908 when a group of faculty from the Seminary founded the University of Omaha. It was private, nonreligious and coed. Seeking to start a higher ed institution that was “free from ecclesiastical control,” they also wanted to ensure “sound learning and practical education.” They succeeded.

The site of the University was near North Omaha’s 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition. The Redick Mansion, which was built as a farmhouse in the 1860s and made into a mansion in the 1870s, predated the Expo. However, everything else on 15-acre site of the campus was built after UO was opened.

The “Magnificent Campus”

University of Omaha, North Omaha, Nebraska — This is the original general conceptual plan for the University of Omaha, from 1908. It was a “General plan of grounds and buildings” designed by prolific Omaha architects Fischer and Lawrie.

In 1908, a proposed “magnificent campus” was slated for development between North 21st and North 25th Avenue. With twenty three buildings, the campus had two clusters of buildings. Spread over several blocks, the eastern side of the campus was supposed to abut Kountze Park, with the west side at North 25th Avenue. According to the plan, there eight academic buildings envisioned, including a Law Building. There were also an Administration Building, Gymnasium, President’s Home, Chapel, and a YWCA/YMCA Building, as well as four dormitories and five professors’ homes.

Only a few elements of this plan were built. The following section identifies which ones.

Campus Facilities in North Omaha

There were several buildings on the University of Omaha campus in North Omaha. Here are details about them.

1. Redick Hall

Redick Mansion, aka the Mayne Mansion, aka Omaha University Redick Hall, 3612 North 24th Street in North Omaha, Nebraska — This was the Redick Mansion, aka the Mayne Mansion, aka Omaha University Redick Hall, at 3612 North 24th Street in North Omaha.

The first building was the Redick Mansion, located at North 24th and Pratt Streets. It was renamed to be appropriate for the campus, and used for more than a decade for classes and other student activities. In 1917, Redick Hall was sold and moved to Minnesota. Learn more from my article called “A History of the Redick Mansion in North Omaha.”

2. Jacobs Gymnasium

Jacobs Gymnasium, North 24th and Evans Street, North Omaha, Nebraska — This is the exterior of the Jacobs Gymnasium at the University of Omaha, built in 1910 near North 24th and Evans Street.

Jacobs Gymnasium was built for the University in 1916. Jacobs Hall was a gymnasium facing North 24th Street, built with $14,000 from the sale of land donated by Lillian Maul. The building was named in honor of her deceased son, John C. Jacobs. Often called the John Jacobs Gym, the building featured a large room, as well as a viewing area on a balcony above the floor. The university hosted several sports teams, including basketball starting in 1910; football in 1911; baseball in 1913, and; women’s basketball in 1915.

Jacobs Gym, University of Omaha, North 24th and Evans Street, North Omaha, Nebraska — The interior of the Jacobs Gym at the University of Omaha near North 24th and Evans in the 1920s.

Part of the original “Magnificent Campus” plan of 1908, Omaha University stopped using the building in 1937, leading to its second life explained below.

3. Joslyn Hall

Jacobs Hall, University of Omaha, North Omaha, Nebraska — Jacobs Hall at the University of Omaha with streetcar tracks on a brick-paved North 24th Street, circa 1917.

George Joslyn, a wealthy printer in Omaha, contributed a lot of his money to charities around Omaha. You know him from the home built for his wife Sarah, which we call the Joslyn Castle now. She contributed the money for the Joslyn Art Museum in memory of her husband after he died. However, when he was still alive George donated $25,000 to Omaha University in 1915, and they named a new building for him. Learn more about it here »

4. Saratoga Science Hall

Omaha University Science Hall, North 24th and Ames Avenue, North Omaha, Nebraska — This is the Omaha University Science Hall at North 24th and Ames Avenue around 1920.

Built in the first decade of the twentieth century, North Omaha’s Saratoga School went unused during World War I. Desperate for space, Omaha University started using the building as its science hall from 1917 to 1925. This building was demolished in 1937 when the University abandoned it.

5. Saratoga Field

Omaha University Saratoga Field, North 24th and Ames Avenue, North Omaha, Nebraska, — This was the Saratoga Field of Omaha University at North 24th and Ames Avenue, with the Saratoga Science Hall in the background, around 1920.

In 1927, businessmen formed the North Omaha Activities Association in order to redevelop Saratoga School’s playing field into a football field for the University’s football team. New bleachers were built for a thousand spectators, and the Saratoga Field was home to OU’s football team until 1951. Then it was redeveloped, as explained below.

6. Other Facilities

Faculty Offices, Omaha University, North 24th and Evans, North Omaha, Nebraska — These houses along North 24th Street were converted into staff offices for faculty at the University of Omaha.

There were other buildings, too. The University of Omaha College of Commerce and Finance was located at 1307 Farnam Street, and the College of Law was at 1307 Farnam Street. They stayed in these places from from around 1918 until each of the colleges were consolidated at the present-day UNO campus in 1938. There were at least three other buildings on the North 24th and Evans campus (called the “U” Campus) as well.

Abandonding North Omaha

Instead of building the magnificent campus though, in 1931 the Omaha University president proposed to abandon North Omaha. He suggested building an entirely new facility in line with the major universities growing throughout the Midwest. Proposals included taking over Miller Park to the north, while a US Army board recommended selling Fort Omaha to the university, but neither of those passed. A group of civic leaders wanted to give an area of land near John A. Creighton Boulevard and Lake Street to the university, but that failed. In 1937, a new college president bought a dairy farm on West Dodge Road, and with the help of the Works Progress Administration and other federal and state assistance, the next year the university moved away from North Omaha forever.

Repurposing the Buildings

University Apartments at 3620 North 24th Street, North Omaha, Nebraska — 1956 ad for the University Apartments at 3620 North 24th Street. It says, “3 room apts. with private bath. Utilities furnished. $65.00”

There were several outcomes from the closure of Omaha University’s North Omaha campus. The population of the surrounding neighborhood was changing during the 1930s, and the closure of the university likely accelerated that process.

The Saratoga Science Hall was demolished as soon as the university was done with the building in 1937. The land became a used car lot for the bustling Saratoga neighborhood. The UO football field behind the Science Hall continued to hold competitions into 1951. That year, it was redeveloped as a commercial site for an A&P Grocery Store, which became a Hinky Dinky store. The grocery store closed around 1968, but the building still stands on the northeast corner of North 24th and Ames Avenue today.

In 1937, Joslyn Hall became known as the University Apartments.

In 1938, UO leased the Jacobs Gym to the City of Omaha, which used funds from the Works Progress Administration to operate it as a community center. The gym and meeting rooms in it were made open to the public all day, with regular activities scheduled by the City of Omaha recreation department. Included at the center were classes on woodcraft, music, handcrafts, sewing, quilting, shopwork, art and dancing, each with seperate programs for children and adults. There was also volleyball, basketball, archery and other sports offered. A 1938 article said, “There will be regular classes in reducing for women,” which was either related to the Great Depression underway at that point, or a fitness program. By 1941, there were three basketball leagues playing in the facility, by then called the Main Recreation Center. The facility proved essential for flood relief by housing victims of the 1943 East Omaha flooding. When it was demolished, a time capsule in the cornerstone was opened to find a copy of the university’s charter and some newspapers inside.

By 1964, both the former Jacobs and Joslyn Halls were the last two original OU buildings left. Left abandoned by the City of Omaha for a decade, the buildings had been badly vandalized and the City did not want to maintain them. Both were demolished in June of that year. Over the next two years, the Evans Tower was built on the site and continues to stand there today.

If you like the photos you see in this article, go like at this awesome photoset by UNO’s Criss Library on Flickr. It’s a great collection and begins to hint at what life was like on the campus.

Finally, here’s a clipping of what the neighborhood is laid out like today for you to compare with the Magnificent Campus plan above.

*The approximate current location of North Omaha’s historic Omaha University Magnificent Campus plan.*

Tour of the Omaha University Campus in North Omaha

Redick Mansion: 3612 North 24th Street (Built in 1875; Redick Hall in 1907; deconstructed in 1917)
John Jacobs Gymnasium: 3614 North 24th Street (Built in 1916; Renamed the WPA Gym in 1937; demolished in 1964)
Joslyn Hall: 3620 North 24th Street (Built in 1916; Renamed the University Apartments in 1937; demolished in 1964)
Saratoga Science Hall: 24th and Ames Avenue (Built in 1892; Science Hall starting in 1927; demolished in 1938)
Saratoga Field: 24th and Meredith Avenue (1925 to 1928)
South Lab Building No. 11: Designed by John Latenser and Sons sometime between 1916 and 1920. I’m unsure of whether it was built and at what location.
North Wing Addition: Designed by John Latenser and Sons before 1930, I’m unsure of whether it was built and at what location.
North Lab: Designed before 1930, this was designed by John Latenser and Sons, also. I’m unsure of whether it was built and at what location.
North Lab: Designed in 1930 by John Latenser and Sons, I’m unsure of whether it was built and at what location.

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BONUS PICS!

Omaha University girls basketball team, North Omaha, Nebraska — The Omaha University girls basketball team in 1922. They played at Jacobs Gymnasium near 24th and Evans in North Omaha.

Jacobs Gymnasium was built at 3624 North 24th Street in 1916. After the University moved in 1937, it became the WPA Gym and served as a public facility for a decade. The building was demolished in 1964.

Joslyn Hall was built in 1916 at 3620 North 24th Street. Part of the original Omaha University campus, it was renamed the “University Apartments” when the University moved in 1937. It was demolished in 1964).

These are random pics from the University of Omaha campus in North Omaha. They include the Music Auditorium, Library and Office of the Dean, all located in Joslyn Hall.

1928 Random pics from University of Omaha

These are pics from the original Omaha University campus in North Omaha. Pictured are the Saratoga Science Hall and two interior pics.

1928 pics from the Omaha University in North Omaha Nebraska

Campus life glows in these 1928 pics from the original Omaha University campus in North Omaha. This is the Office of the President, Gymnasium and Art Class Room.

1928 University of Omaha advertisement — This is a 1928 advertisement for the University of Omaha. It includes the departments of the University and the address of the campus.

Joslyn Hall, Omaha University, North 24th and Evans Streets. — This is Omaha University’s Joslyn Hall, opened in 1916 near North 24th and Evans Streets.

1928 University of Omaha Omaha and Council Bluffs Street Railway Company advertisement — This is a 1928 advertisement for the Omaha and Council Bluffs Street Railway Company service to and from the University of Omaha and its various facilities.

4 Comments

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Dele Lowman says:

April 19 at 12:51 pm

My grandfather graduated with his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Omaha University well before the Civil Rights Movement, but there is no discussion or even evidence of Black students and their role in the academic community. Any idea where I might find that type of information?

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1. Adam F.C. Fletcher says:
  
  April 19 at 3:35 pm
  
  Hi Dele. I would start by researching the Omaha Star and the Omaha Guide, both Black-run newspapers from that era. The Omaha Guide is available free from the Library of Congress; the Star has a pay wall but is available free through the Omaha Public Library.
  
  It was irresponsible of me to publish this article without acknowledging the role of race in the history of Omaha University in its first 25 years when it was in North Omaha. I know passingly that the first Black students graduated from the University within 10 years of its opening. I’ll do some research and add to the article in the near future. Thanks for the heads-up.
  
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