A History of North Omaha’s Second Baptist Church

North Omaha’s finest churches are its oldest, each with architectural distinctions and important histories revealing the community’s realities throughout the last 150 years and more. This is the history of Second Baptist Church at 1802 Emmet Street in the Kountze Place neighborhood.

Built and Abandoned

Designed by Omaha architect Harry Lawrie (1858-1935) and built in 1914, this building was Plymouth Congregational Church for forty-six years. Originally established in 1884, this congregation was among the original churches in the Kountze Place neighborhood. Built in an eclectic vernacular fashion, it features Gothic revival style elements mixed with other styles and is all clad in dark brick. It had 3,100 square feet and an unfinished basement, along with fine stain glass windows surrounding the sanctuary.

The upper middle class enclave was a study in urban growth: its built environment of the neighborhood was at its zenith in the 1920s when it was fully in-filled and surrounded by all kinds of services, but the culture of the neighborhood was negative because it was deeply segregated and classist. Its white residents relied on race restrictive covenants to keep their exclusive addresses redlined from African Americans moving in. There were segregated businesses lining every busy street, racially segregated elementary schools doting the area, and a nice park in the middle of the neighborhood that Black people were made known that they could not use. It often participated in interdenominational activities in the neighborhood along with the congregations of North Presbyterian, Covenant Presbyterian, Bethany Presbyterian, North Side Christian, Trinity Methodist, Hartford Memorial Evangelical, United Brethran and Immanuel Baptist, including holiday services, holy day celebrations and other special events. All of these churches shared in the racist, white supremacist norms of Plymouth Congregational and the rest of the neighborhood.

For that reason, it should come as no surprise that the congregation joined the white flight from Kountze Place to a new location in west Omaha in 1961. That year it merged with the Irvington Congregational Church to form the Northwest Congregational Church, which still operates today as the Northwest Hills Church of the United Church of Christ.

Becoming Primm

The first congregation to move into the building at 1802 Emmet Street after Plymouth was called Primm Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church. In April 1961, Primm Chapel was dedicated as an outreach of Bethel AME Church. Named in honor of the leader of the AME Church, Bishop H. Thomas Primm was the inspiration for the “Divine call of church expansion.” As the Omaha Star explained,

“The AME Connection recently purchased from the Congregational Church the very fine structure at 1802 Emmet Street, containing a well arranged auditorium, equipped with stain glass winders, comfortable pews and a wonderful pipe organ. There are several rooms furnished with tables, chairs, blackboards, and pianos. There are library sections and nursery facilities. These rooms are servicable for Sunday School and community activities. The building also contains a well equipped kitchen and a spacious dining room.”

In the 1970s, Primm Chapel’s choir joined the Associated Methodist Ministries Enterprise’s annual musical performance along with Cleaves, Clair, St. John, Allen Chapel, Bethel, and Gregg Memorial. These were all AME and UMC congregations. Rev. General R. Woods was the first minister of the church, Rev. John OrDuna was the church’s leader in the mid-1970s, and Rev. Rose Reynolds (1933-2017) was one of the ministers at Primm. For more than 25 years, notable African American architect Ambrose W. Jackson, Jr. (1925-2015) was a board member of Primm Chapel as well.

However, by the late 1970s Primm Chapel had lost steam as a congregation, and by 1980 it was closed permanently.

A New Reality

This is a pic of Founding Pastor Harbert H. Stewart and his wife Olivia Stewart of Second Baptist Church in North Omaha. Pic courtesy of Beverly Thompson. — This is a pic of Founding Pastor Harbert H. Stewart (1932-1997) and his wife Olivia Stewart (1934-1996) of Second Baptist Church in North Omaha. Pic courtesy of Beverly Thompson.

Second Baptist Church bought the building on Emmet Street in 1981. According to the Omaha Star, the Second Baptist Church was founded in 1971 by Rev. Habert H. Stewart (1932-1997). Moving to Omaha from Sioux City, Rev. Stewart and his wife moved to North Omaha and lived near North 19th and Sprague Street with their family. The building was originally home to St. Paul Presbyterian Church in the early 1920s, and became New Hope Baptist in 1929. When New Hope Baptist moved out of the Sprague Street building in 1964, it took a few years before Rev. Stewart’s new congregation moved in, but seven years later they did, in 1971. The Children of Love Choir was an outreach program of Second Baptist in the late 1970s. There were also regular Women’s Celebrations and more events at the Seward Street location.

This is the logo of Second Baptist Church at 1802 Emmet Street in North Omaha.

In 1981, Second Baptist Church moved to 1803 Emmet Street. In the 1990s, the church hosted the annual African Family Reunion, including “a fashion show, tradition African dance and drumming, and African food.” Rev. David E. Triplet (1932-2019) and Rev. Lamont Smith both led the church for years.

This is the sanctuary of Second Baptist Church at 1802 Emmet Street in North Omaha.

Today, Dr. Shawn Thompson is the pastor of the church. The church building is beloved by the congregation for its historical beauty, and it is an active and vibrant space in the neighborhood. Recently, the church has hosted fundraisers to improve the building. The congregation participates in significant activities with other nearby Baptist churches, including Greater New Hope, King Solomon, Mt. Moriah, Mount Nero, Pilgrim, Pleasant Green and Zion. Some of them have included a march in celebration of the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., shared holiday services, and more. The church also hosted a women’s conference in 2023.

Despite its historical role in the segregation of Omaha, the integration of African Americans throughout the city, and its religious roles over the decades, as of 2024, the Second Baptist Church at 1802 Emmet Street has not been listed on the National Register of Historic Places or been acknowledged as an official Omaha Landmark.

Maybe raising awareness of its history will contribute? If you have more information about any of the information in this article or memories to share, please leave them in the comments!

Thanks to DeWaun Marcel, Beverly Thompson and Montel Jones, Jr. for their contributions to this article.

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BONUS

This is the original Plymouth Congregational Church, founded in 1883. In 1889, a new church was dedicated at Florence Boulevard and Spencer Street on land donated by Herman Kountze in his exclusive Kountze Place neighborhood, in 1913 Easter Sunday tornado destroyed the building, and the
congregation built a new church at 1802 Emmet Street in 1914.

St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, N. 26th and Seward St, North Omaha, Nebraska 68110 — Located at N. 26th and Seward Streets, St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church was an important site for the Omaha Civil Rights movement in the 1920s. It became the first home of Second Baptist Church when it opened in 1971.

This is Rev. and Mrs. Harbart Stewart on the anniversary of Second Baptist Church. Pic from the Omaha Star.

This 1977 pic shows Rev. Thomas Rollerson (1938-1996), an associated minister of Second Baptist Church, from an article about an annual youth day celebration. Pic from the Omaha Star.

On the left is Rev. and Mrs. Harbart Stewart in 1973; on the right is Rev. Thomas Rollerson, an associated minister of Second Baptist Church, in 1977.

This is a 2019 pic of Second Baptist Church at 1802 Emmet Street in North Omaha. Built in 1914 as Plymouth Congregational Church, is has been home to Primm Chapel AME Church as well.