Omaha was home to several Black newspapers in the decades before its longest-standing icon was started. One of the most successful ran for more than 20 years. This is a history of The Enterprise, an African American-owned newspaper for African American readers in Omaha, Nebraska.

Established and edited by journalist and community leader George F. Franklin in 1893, The Enterprise was started in a field crowded with competitors.

A civic leader, newspaper publisher and influential civil rights advocate, George F. Franklin (1852-1901) was an important figure in the Black histories of Omaha, Nebraska, and Denver, Colorado. Arriving to Omaha in 1890 as a barber, Franklin had a shop near 16th and Burt. Over the rest of his life, Franklin started two Black newspapers—The Enterprise (Omaha) and The Denver Star—and was one of the first African American city appointees in Omaha, was a influential Republican activist, and was a founder of the Omaha chapter of the National Afro-American League in 1890.

When he started The Enterprise in 1893, there were two other Black newspapers serving the city, and competition was fierce. A real estate agent, Franklin started his business and joined St. John AME when he and his wife moved to Omaha around 1885. Advocating for full citizenship and equality for African-Americans, The Enterprise was the official newspaper for the Nebraska State Afro-American League in 1893. In addition to news stories, the paper included personal news, church notices and features by local guest writers.

Some of these writers included Rev. John Albert Williams, W.H.C. Stephenson, Ella Mahammitt and others. There were correspondents reporting from Black communities across Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming and other states. Frequently calling out racism in Nebraska, the paper supported Booker T. Washington.

In 1898, Franklin left Omaha and sold the newspaper to Thomas P. Mahammitt, a restauranteur and community leader. After moving to Denver, Franklin started a new newspaper for the city’s African American community called The Denver Star. His on Chester entered the newspaper business with his father, eventually moving to Kansas City and starting an influential Black newspaper there. In 1901, Franklin died after a prolonged illness.

Thomas Mahammitt was the editor from 1898 to 1914. In 1900, the newspaper’s header said it was, “The official organ of the M.W. Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M. of the State of Missouri and its Jurisdiction.” After Mahammitt ran the paper for more than 15 years, an undertaker G. Wade Obee launched a competitor called Progressive Age in 1913. Unfortunately, Mahammitt did not want the competitor and in 1914, The Enterprise folded.

Rev. John Albert Williams soon established another African American paper for Nebraskans called The Monitor that served the city for almost 20 years.

You Might Like…

• A History of African American Newspapers in Omaha

Elsewhere Online

• The Enterprise from Wikipedia
• “About The Enterprise” from the Library of Congress
• The Enterprise, Friday, January 12, 1900
• The Enterprise, Friday, January 26, 1900