Greeks in Omaha, Nebraska

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History of Greece

The community of Greeks in Omaha, Nebraska has a history that extends back to the 1880s. After they originally moved to the city following work with the railroads, the community quickly grew and founded a substantial neighborhood in South Omaha that was colloquially referred to as "Greek Town." The community was replete with Greek bakers, barbers, grocers and cafes. After a 1909 mob attack on the community, Greek immigrants fled from Omaha. Today even though the Greek-American community is smaller than it was in 1909, it includes many prominent doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, business people and others who have achieved great success here. It currently maintains two Greek Orthodox Churches.^[1]

History

South Omaha, Nebraska was incorporated as a city in 1886. The home of many European immigrant communities, it once hosted a bustling Greek Town where thousands of Greek immigrants settled from the 1870s to 1909.^[2]

Greek Town

The principal Greek community in Omaha was centered on South 26th and Q Streets. This was the heart of Greek Town. Other Greek establishments were located around South 24th and Q and South 24th and L Streets.^[3]

In 1909, there were over thirty-two businesses owned by and catering to the Greek community in South Omaha, as well as a Greek Orthodox church, a school, and several two and three-story commercial buildings.^[4]^[5] After a small immigration that started in the 1880s, large-scale growth of the Greek population in Omaha started around 1900, when workers were attracted to jobs in the meatpacking industry. Male Greek immigrants were hired by the South Omaha plants to be linebreakers in a series of strikes as labor tried to organize.^[6] According to one estimate, by 1909 there were an estimated 2,000 Greeks living in South Omaha.^[5]

Nativist sentiments were aggravated by the Greeks being hired as strikebreakers. Attitudes about the Greek community in Omaha were often negative, as expressed by the Omaha Daily News when they wrote, "Their quarters have been unsanitary; they have insulted women... Herded together in lodging houses and living cheaply, Greeks are a menace to the American laboring man – just as the Japs, Italians, and other similar laborers are." Men of these groups had been hired as strikebreakers, and American and ethnic working men also feared their willingness to work for low wages.^[1]

Riot

Main article: Greek Town Riot

A Greek immigrant was arrested for loitering after being accused of having sex with a native white Anglo-Saxon American woman in February, 1909. During the arrest, a police officer was shot. The accused man was captured later. On February 21, a mob of 3,000 men and boys gathered outside the South Omaha jail where he was being held. Police distracted the crowd while the prisoner was moved to the Omaha City Jail, but after discovering this, the mob attacked Greektown, a local ethnic enclave. They forced Greek residents to abandon the area, destroyed businesses, and completely demolished 30 buildings.^[7]^[8]

Modern

The Greek community in Omaha has never recovered from this incident. Today, Greek Americans in Omaha number 1,000 at the most; with the Greek economy having improved and restrictive immigration laws of the US, few Greeks have immigrated in recent decades.

There are now two Greek parishes: St. John's Church, the historical anchor of the community, and the Greek Orthodox Church of Greater Omaha, which is also known as GOCGO.^[9] Although there are two Greek Orthodox parishes in Omaha, the total number of parishioners is fewer than during the 1960s and 1970s.

Saint John the Baptist continues to grow in its original location, undergoing a revitalization effort in concert with Omaha's mid-town rebuilding program. The Church is known for its "Omaha's Original Greek Festival", which is held in September. On June 13 through June 15, 2008, St. John the Baptist celebrated its Centennial anniversary highlighted by a visit from Archbishop Dimitrious the head of the Greek Orthodox Church in America. The Greek Orthodox Church of Greater continues to expand as well through new families and events. The church celebrated four years of service on June 4, 2010.

With two flourishing parishes under the jurisdiction of Bishop Isaiah of the Denver Metropolis, Omaha's Greek community continues to assimilate with Omaha. With more than 100 years in Nebraska and Iowa, Greek Americans have a long history in the Omaha area.^[10]^[11]

Notable Greeks from Omaha

Alexander Payne, movie director.

Omaha has been featured in films by Omaha native Greek-American Alexander Payne. The Oscar-winning screenwriter and director shot parts of About Schmidt, Citizen Ruth and Election in the city. On January 15, 2012, Alexander won a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture for The Descendants.

In 2005, Payne joined the board of directors of Film Streams, a nonprofit arts organization which opened a two-screen cinema in downtown Omaha in 2007. They want to build an audience for more challenging films, as well as continue to promote Omaha as a place for film production.

Van Argyrakis, Attorney

On May 15, 2008, Van Argyrakis, an attorney from Omaha, announced his intention to run for Mayor of Omaha in 2009. Mr. Argyrakis is an alumnus of Northwestern University, Creighton University, Creighton University School of Law and The University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy. He has been practicing law since 1992, mostly in Omaha. He founded Argyrakis Law Offices in 1993 and his practice continues to this day.

References

1 2 "Racial Tensions in Nebraska in the 1920s", NebraskaStudies.org. Retrieved 12/30/07.
↑ (nd) "History." St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church website. Retrieved 6/7/07.
↑ "South Omaha mob wars on Greeks", The New York Times. February 22, 1909. Retrieved 5/25/08.
↑ (nd) "About St Johns Community." St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church website. Retrieved 6/7/07/
1 2 Larsen, L. & Cotrell, B. (1997). The gate city: A history of Omaha. University of Nebraska Press. P 163.
↑ Hill, J. (nd) “Interview: Helen Papanikolas.” Joe Hill: Early 1900s Labor – Papanikolas. Retrieved 6/7/07.
↑ "South Omaha mob wars on Greeks", The New York Times. February 21, 1909. Retrieved 4/16/08.
↑ "Racial tension in Nebraska in the 1920s." NebraskaStudies.Org. Retrieved 6/7/07.
↑ GOCGO. Retrieved 4/23/08.
↑ (n.d.) About St. John's
↑ (n.d.) About GOCGO

Links to related articles

Ethnic groups in Omaha, Nebraska

Groups	African Americans American Indians Asians Canadians Czechs Danes Germans Greeks Irish Italians Jews Latinos Mexicans Poles Slovaks Sudanese Swedes Ukrainians

Ethnic enclaves	Greek Town Little Bohemia Little Italy Near North Side Sheelytown South 24th Street

Institutions	Czechoslovak Museum El Museo Latino Great Plains Black History Museum Little Ukrainian Catholic Church Lithuanian Bakery Omaha Black Music Hall of Fame Omaha Jewish Community Center St. John's Greek Orthodox Church

Events	Timeline of racial tension in Omaha, Nebraska Timeline of riots and civil unrest in Omaha, Nebraska Omaha race riot of 1919 Greek Town riot

Related	Racial tension in Omaha, Nebraska Civil Rights Movement in Omaha, Nebraska DePorres Club A Time for Burning History of slavery in Nebraska Public school controversy Meyer v. Nebraska Omaha Star Omaha Star building Rice/Poindexter case

European Americans

Central Europe	Austrian^1, ⁸ Czech⁸ Silesian German^1, ⁸ Amish Frisian German Texan⁸ Pennsylvania Dutch German Mennonites from Russia Hungarian⁸ Hungarian Ohioans⁸ Liechtensteiner Luxembourgian⁸ Polish^1, ⁸ Kashubian Slovak⁸ Slovene⁸ Sorbian Swiss

Eastern Europe	Azerbaijani⁵ Belarusian Georgian⁵ Kazakh⁶ Russian^1, ² Chechen Cossack Kalmyk Ukrainian Cossack Rusyn

Northern Europe	Estonian⁸ Finnish⁸ Latvian⁸ Lithuanian⁸ Scandinavian Danish⁸ Faroese Greenlandic Icelandic Norwegian Norwegian Dakotan Norwegian Minnesotan Sami Swedish⁸

Southeast Europe³	Albanian Bosnian Bulgarian⁸ Croatian⁸ Greek⁸ Macedonian Moldovan Montenegrin Romanian Serbian Turkish⁴

Southern Europe	Italian ⁸ Sicilian Maltese⁸ Monacan Portuguese⁸ Sanmarinese Spanish⁸ Asturian Basque Canarian Catalan Galician Hispano

Western Europe	Belgian⁸ Flemish British^8, ⁹ Cornish English Manx Scots-Irish Scottish Welsh Dutch⁸ French⁸ Basque Breton Cajun Corsican Irish⁸ ⁹

Other Europeans	Roma Hungarian Slovak Romanies⁷ Louisiana Creole Cajun Isleños

¹ Poles came to the United States legally as Austrians, Germans, Prussians or Russians throughout the 19th century, because from 1772-1795 till 1918, all Polish lands had been partitioned between imperial Austria, Prussia (a protoplast of Germany) and Russia until Poland regained its sovereignty in the wake of World War I. ² Russia is a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. The vast majority of its population (80%) lives in European Russia, therefore Russia as a whole is included as a European country here. ³ Yugoslav Americans are the American people from the former Yugoslavia. ⁴ Turkey is a transcontinental country in the Middle East and Southeast Europe. Has a small part of its territory (3%) in Southeast Europe called Turkish Thrace. ⁵ Azerbaijan and Georgia are transcontinental countries. They have a small part of their territories in the European part of the Caucasus. ⁶ Kazakhstan is technically a bicontinental country, having a small portion in European hands. ⁷ Disputed; Roma have recognized origins and historic ties to Asia (specifically to Northern India), but they experienced at least some distinctive identity development while in diaspora among Europeans. ⁸ Ancestral home is a member of the European Union today despite disputes facing only for the United Kingdom over EU referendum. ⁹ Only for the UK and Ireland; they use a regional variation of the English language but traditionally distinguishes certain customs from Continental Europe.

Ethnic enclaves

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Greek Americans by location

Hawaii Maryland (Baltimore) Nebraska (Omaha) Michigan (Detroit) New York (Syracuse)

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