Nebraska History posts materials online for your personal use. Please remember that the contents of Nebraska History are copyrighted by the Nebraska State Historical Society (except for materials credited to other institutions). The NSHS retains its copyrights even to materials it posts on the web.

For permission to re-use materials or for photo ordering information, please see: http://www.nebraskahistory.org/magazine/permission.htm

Nebraska State Historical Society members receive four issues of Nebraska History and four issues of Nebraska History News annually. For membership information, see: http://nebraskahistory.org/admin/members/index.htm

Article Title: Who’s In Charge? A Framework for Examining Community Leadership in Omaha over the Past Century

Full Citation: Garneth O Peterson, “Who’s in Charge? A Framework for Examining Community Leadership in Omaha over the Past Century,” Nebraska History 72 (1991): 99-110.

URL of article: http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/NHOmahaLeadership.pdf

Date: 4/30/2014

Article Summary: This article examines who Omaha’s leaders have been and what roles they played in the community. Divided into four periods, there are the Ground Floor Men, the Organization Men and the Political Machine, the Interregnum [the “interval”], and the Rise of the Corporate Leaders.

Cataloging Information:

Names: A J Hanscom, A J Poppleton, Byron Reed, John I Redick, Herman Kountze, Edward Creighton, John Creighton, William A Paxton, Gurdon W Wattles, Edward Rosewater, Ezra Millard, Joseph Millard, Frank B Johnson, Tom Dennison, Roy Towl, Dan Butler, Henry Doorly, Charles W Leeman, A V Sorensen, Paul Williams, Michael Boyle

Keywords: Omaha National Bank; First National Bank; Creighton University; Union Pacific Railroad; Trans- Mississippi and International Exposition of 1898; Grain Exchange; Omaha’s National Corn Expositions [1908 and 1910]; Omaha and Council Bluffs Street Railway; Omaha Business Men’s Association; Ninth Street Warehouse Canyon; Martin Bomber Plant; Offutt Field; Life magazine; Midwest Electric Supply; Central Park Mall; Northwestern Bell; ConAgra; Enron [Internorth]; McManis and Associates

Photographs / Images: Central Park Mall [courtesy of Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce]; Andrew J Poppleton; John A Creighton; J A Millard; William A Paxton; Union Pacific headquarters, Omaha, from Daily Graphic April 8, 1881; Omaha stockyards area; Mayor Dan Butler from Bostwick-Frohardt Collection, owned by KMTV; Henry Doorly and A V Sorensen [courtesy of Omaha World Herald]; Omaha Douglas County Civic Center [courtesy of Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce] WHO'S IN CHARGE? A FRAMEWORK FOR EXAMINING COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP IN OMAHA OVER THE PAST CENTURY

By Garneth O. Peterson

Garneth Peterson, now a resident of St. officials to biographies of mayors to relating in some way to the questions of Paul, Minnesota, has been an Omaha city questions of what leadership is and leadership in Omaha, these studies planner and has also written and taught which groups held it, research has been reported the various types of men who Omaha history. She is apastpresident ofthe Historical Society ofDouglas County. carried out to identify the various led Omaha over a century. This article facets ofthe ratherintangible quality of attempts to examine who Omaha's "leadership." leaders have been and what roles they Studies of community leadership Scholars and journalists have played in the community. It aims to have been a mainstay of publications in explored the question of leadership in provide a preliminary framework for history, political science, and urban Omaha through all of these types of examining community leadership in studies scholarship for decades. From studies, although not all authors the city, as a way of organizing our quantitative analyses of elected focused explicitly on that question. By thoughts about Omaha's growth and

Central Park Mall. Courtesy of Greater Omaha Chamber of Com­ merce. Nebraska History - Summer 1991

development throughout its history. became First National. Herman In recognizing the elusive nature of Kountze purchased land throughout "leadership," this study does not the city as well and probably had more attempt to enforce a definition of the subdivisions named for him than did word. Leadership could be identified any other man in the city's history.3 through sources such as local election Edward and John Creighton came to statistics, chamber of commerce board Omaha in 1856. Edward built the first lists, or a whole collection of other telegraph line to the West coast by quantitative indicators. This paper, 1862, while John Creighton was an however, relies on the subjective rule of early freighter, hauling supplies to who has the powerto "getthings done." Montana miners and Union Pacific Although on some occasions elected Railroad construction crews. The officials have approached that level of Creightons made their fortunes on control, more often than not that power transportation and communication in in Omaha has resided with the business the opening West, but funneled most of and corporate magnates. their wealth back into Omaha through The four categories of leaders sug­ their business activities and into gested below also parallel developmen­ Creighton University, churches, and tal periods of Omaha's growth, and are hospitals in the city. Edward Creighton perhaps more reflective of the times died young in 1874, but John lived into which shaped the context in which they the twentieth century. As a benevolent led than examples of leadership types. presence in Omaha, John oversaw the The city's leaders changed as the city family business interests and invest­ grew from its frontier roots to a ments and helped fund such major transportation and manufacturing enterprises as the Union Stockyards economy. They changed again as Company.4 Omaha evolved into the post-World Andrew J. Poppleton. (NSHS-P853) Although a contemporary of the War II financial and service center that Kountzes and Creightons, William A. has completely altered the city's image Paxtonwas a leaderofa different sortin of itself in the last quarter century. control in establishing the territorial early Omaha. A wild and rough frontier capital in Omaha. Pioneer realtor type, he started as a freighter hauling The Ground Floor Men - Nineteenth Byron Reed made his wealth in real supplies to the miners in Colorado. century expansion and the develop­ estate speculation, as did attorney Paxton secured a Union Pacific ment of new towns in the West pro­ John I. Redick and numerous other Railroad grading contract, and invest­ vided a fertile field for enterprising early businessmen who purchased ed the considerable earnings in the men who looked for opportunities to property soon after arrival and simply commodity that became the basis ofhis grow and prosper. These were the men waited for the city to expand and fortune - cattle. Anticipating the who came to the frontier to speculate in envelop their holdings.2 growth of the cattle and meatpacking land development or to provide the Despite the contributions made by industry, Paxton became the first presi­ commodities the new cities needed to these early activists whose names have dent of the Union Stockyards Com­ grow and expand. In Omaha, they survived in street, park, and town pany, which built South Omaha into a arrived soon after Nebraska Territory names, there was another group of meatpacking center.5 was opened in 1854 or in the big growth early arrivals who operated on a gran­ The "ground floor men" provided year of 1856. These men "got in on the der scale. These leaders included Omaha's early leadership, investing in ground floor," made their investments families such as the Kountzes, business enterprises and carving a city and fought to insure that their new set­ Millards, and the Creightons, who had from a speculative town site. Some, like tlement and financial security would personal wealth or business connec­ the Creightons, made their fortunes flourish.' tions that gave them power beyond from the transportation and com­ Most of Omaha's ground floor men local politics. Ezra and Joseph Millard munication networks ofthe West, while were of Yankee stock and came to the organized the bank that became others, like the Kountzes and Millards, city with some education and training. Omaha National Bank. The four developed theirwealth from the growth Early arrivals such as A. J. Hanscom Kountze brothers, who had made a for­ of Omaha as a center serving this new and A. J. Poppleton were trained as tune carrying freight for the federal hinterland. Of all of the community attorneys and exercised some initial government, established the bank that leaders, Paxton was most the rugged 100 Leadership in Omaha

individualist who followed the typical Bank. But his civic interests continued pioneer or Horatio Alger mold of"mak­ as he helped organize the Grain ing good" on the frontier.6 Exchange, served as president of One other side of Omaha in its early Omaha's National Corn Expositions in years should also be addressed. Much 1908 and 1910, and later acted as of Omaha's early growth was tied to the Federal Food Administrator of Ne­ Union Pacific Railroad, which provided braska during World War 1.9 a basis for the city's later development While Wattles's community booster as a wholesaling and processing center activities typified the new civic leader, and was a central factor for the creation his role as president of the Omaha and of the Union Stockyards. Except for Council Bluffs Street Railway pro­ Paxton, this same group of early vided another somewhatless appealing leaders had fought to secure not only aspect of leaders of his day. As presi­ the railroad but the railroad bridge as dent of the company in 1909, Wattles well. Omaha's leaders played a subser­ acted to crush the efforts of streetcar vientrole to the Eastern capitalists, but workers who went on strike for union as long as the railroad (and later the recognition and a pay raise. Wattles's stockyards) were successful, Omaha's intransigence in dealing with the union leaders would be successful. As a criti­ won out, and organized labor in Omaha cal analyst later stated, "Without the was setback for another three decades. U.P. the speculators of Omaha were Key in the battle against Omaha unions nothing; with it the world was their oys­ was the Omaha Business Men's ter." Despite the investments, risks, Association, a secretive organization and efforts made by the "ground floor founded in 1903 with the intent ofkeep­ men," their city, like most frontier ing Omaha an open-shop city.to towns, had the misfortune to be "the A recent study ofthe Business Men's headquarters for the lieutenants of a Association (BMA) has shown that the distant industry."7 bulk of members came from the job­ bing, wholesaling, and retailing trades, The Organization Men and the Politi­ most of which were local firms tied to cal Machine - By the 1890s Omaha the Omaha metropolitan area. An had changed dramatically. The 1880s analysis of twenty-six members of the witnessed the transformation from dirt Omaha BMA inner circle showed at streets and wood-frame construction John A. Creighton. (NSHS-P853) least ten who were wholesalers located to paved streets, a skyscraper, and in the developing Warehouse Canyon massive population growth and physi­ along South Ninth Street. The BMA cal expansion. As the city became more With the intent of rising in community had a strong connection to the Com­ mature, its leaders and their leadership affairs and business, Wattles soon mercial Club (a forerunner ofthe cham­ styles changed. The 1890s and the turn joined every organization in town and ber of commerce), often with the same of the century made way for a new, jumped at every leadership oppor­ men serving on the executive commit­ twentieth century leader who reflected tunity. As the old leaders were starting tees of both boards. With its local the increasing organization of to retire from the scene, Wattles rep­ focus, the BMA conspicuously lacked American life. These new leaders resented the "twentieth century go­ representatives from Omaha's big recognized by the community were getter."8 businesses such as the railroads and men who assumed civic responsibility Wattles quickly found himself in meatpacking industries. I I with a sense of "noblesse oblige" ­ charge of Omaha's grand Trans­ The Business Men's Association and who offered their superior leadership Mississippi and International Exposi­ Commercial Club represented one side skills to boost their personal images tion of 1898. Befitting his "go-getter" ofcommunity leaders in Omaha. These along with that of their community. image, Wattles later claimed the men comprised the Progressive Era Omaha's quintessential organization exposition lifted "the businessmen out reformers in the city, who pursued and man in this era was Gurdon W. Wattles. ofthe slough ofdespond by giving them achieved such "good government" A successful Iowa banker, Wattles new hope and vision and courage." efforts as the passage of a progressive came to the city in 1892 looking for Wattles was a banker by trade, as an annexation law, creation of the com­ financial and social opportunities. official of what became U.S. National mission form of government, and 101 Nebraska History - Summer 1991

profited from its businesses without interference, the official leaders could do whatever they liked. 13 Created in the late 1890s under the tutelage of Omaha Bee editor Edward Rosewater, the machine controlled Omaha's political life from the 1900s until 1933. From a power base in the First, and later the Third Ward, Tom Dennison was able to manufacture the votes necessary to keep his candidates in office. Control of city hall enabled Dennison to deliver Omaha's leading businessmen favors such as contracts or assistance in circumventing city codes or regulations. In the meantime, the machine made huge profits from the underworld economy of gambling, saloons, and vice. 14 Dennison found lieutenants of various racial and ethnic groups to con­ nect him to his constituency in each neighborhood. The Boss's contact to the upper classes and such men as the Business Men's Association was Omaha Printing Company President Frank B. Johnson. Johnson became known as Omaha's "business boss" and had a direct telephone line to Den­ nison. He kept his role as secret as possible, preferring to remain in the background as a silent partner. Johnson had come from a pioneer family and married Byron Reed's daughter, thus insuring his social posi­ tion. He made a successful living operating the Omaha Printing Com­ pany and thus was a leading business­ man in the community. IS J.A. Millard. (NSHS-P853) The eventual collapse of the machine occurred in 1933, after an aging Tom Dennison stood trial for conspiracy to various election reform measures in the In sharp contrast to the official com­ violate the prohibition act. Although he state legislature. 12 Despite all their munity leaders in this era was a less was not convicted, Dennison left efforts at civic responsibility, the BMA prominent, but much more powerful Omaha for good, leaving a vacuum of and Commercial Club members were a political machine. The machine political leadership in elected offices or lower echelon of community control. wielded more power to "get things wielded by a machine. Some locals Without control of the most powerful done" than any community leader, indicated interest in picking up the aspects of Omaha's economy, they had although the goals and desired remains of the Dennison organization, to reckon with the fact that many ofthe achievements of the two groups were but no one seemed able to sustain significant business decisions that probably never the same. The political it. 16 could affect the future of their city machine of city boss Tom Dennison The Depression of the 1930s and its would be made by men in far-off East­ cared little for community image, but economic blows created a watershed ern boardrooms. as long as it retained power and for Omaha's leadership. The men who 102 Leadership in Omaha

could have stepped in and led with a It was clearly the end of Omaha's his earlier clandestine efforts to rid the sense ofresponsibility - men like Gur­ "Golden Era" with its Gurdon Wattles city ofTom Dennison. His courageous, don Wattles or other BMA/Com­ and BMA leadership, as the Depres­ singular effort was significant in the mercial Club types - had no desire to sion brought the resurgence of union downfall of the machine, but a role that be involved in political affairs. Few men growth in the city.18 Just when a new most Omahans may not have ever with wealth and community standing generation of leaders, the grandsons of known because his later career was so enjoyed the "power and pleasure" of the ground floor men and sons of the mediocre. 19 Dan Butler, who held office being a business boss as Frank Progressive organization men, should as city clerk and as a city commissioner Johnson did. 17 The fall ofthe Dennison have stepped in to guide Omaha's since 1906 with only one break, served machine not only ended an era but left a future, none appeared. as mayor from 1936 to 1945. Although void that took three decades to begin to The Depression and the federal knowledgeable about city government, fill. dollars it sent to Omaha were not even Butler received the most press for enough to give rise to a new political stunts such as his successful effort to The Interregnum - Of all the eras in machine. There was no city boss to con­ fry an egg on the searing sidewalk out­ Omaha's history and its leadership, trol WPA money, and city officials were side city hall in the record-setting sum­ perhaps the least has been written decidedly lackluster. Roy Towl, mayor mer of 1936. He gathered additional about the period from the 1930s to the from 1933 to 1936, had played his attention for his censorship efforts to creation ofthe new city charter in 1956. greatest leadership role for Omaha in ban "filthy plays" such as Tobacco Road and dancer Sally Rand from Omaha.20 The national events of the Depres­ William A. Paxton. (NSHS-P853) sion and war probably provided a major reason why the sons and grandsons of earlier leaders failed to take charge. The Depression, in par­ ticular, caused Omaha and its leadership to draw inward at a time when it most needed to look aggressively to the future. The lack of national economic security and a local political vacuum left Omaha flounder­ ing when it could have built for the future. As Omaha drew inward, it developed some ofthe conservatism that has con­ tinued to affect its growth and its leaders into the 1980s. Perhaps Omaha's geographic location, far enough away from major metropolitan areas, allowed it to ignore national trends or economic development efforts that might have helped the city prepare for its future. While conceding that this conclusion is speculative, it is possible that Omaha's location - far enough away from Kansas City, Denver, and Minneapolis-St. Paul - allowed it to focus inward whenever the city faced unsteady economic transitions.2I By the 1930s, itwas clear that Omaha's old economy, built on the railroads and agricultural hinterland, could no longer provide a total economic backbone. The outside investors who had helped 103 Nebraska History - Summer 1991

....- .' . ' -..-. .."..- ...... - ""----~~. -~------...~----..--.... ~ ,- local businessmen, not government officials.24 As ifto reinforce the voters' choice of citizen control, the Life article included pictures of each of the citizen com­ missions, made up of stern-faced men poring over blueprints. The mayor, Charles W. Leeman, was also pictured: The caption called him "friendly, a lover of cigars and neckties. He has 1500 ties valued at $7500, changes his neckware twice daily." With Mayor Leeman in charge of his neckware and little else, the businessmen had free rein to steer the rudderless machine of city government.25 The preliminary efforts at post-war leadership exhibited in the 1947 Blue Book plan made it clear that city government was a shambles. Many blamed the commission form of government, adopted in 1912 as a more businesslike, progressive approach to governing and a potential, although unsuccessful, way to eliminate machine control of the city council. But by the 1950s, it was obvious that the commis­ Union Pacific headquarters, Omaha. From Daily Graphic (New York), April 8, 1881. sion diluted control and left a weak (NSHS-054-443) mayor unable to develop any consis­ tent direction for the city.26 It was the fuel these entities pulled back with the merits and defects." He found that effort to develop a new city charter and Depression. In the end, maybe it was Omaha had "lost the early gusto" and new form of municipal government in not that Omaha's leaders failed to pro­ that "conservative financing had run the 1950s that coincided with the rise of vide any leadership; it was that they many city institutions into miserable the corporate leader in Omaha. Such had no concept of how to lead in the condition." Doorly used his influence men reflected the new white collar changing economy and no indication of to draw together citizens' committees economy that would increasingly turn where to go. who produced the "Blue Book," a Omaha away from its nineteenth cen­ The Omaha area profited from major capital improvements plan. tury blue collar roots. World War II, thanks primarily to the Voters approved the bond issues to efforts of Nebraska senators to secure support the projects, as well as five The Rise of the Corporate Leader ­ the Martin Bomber Plant in Bellevue citizens' commissions to supervise the A. V. Sorensen was a successful and the later location of the Strategic huge undertaking.23 businessman in Omaha when he took Air Command at Offutt Field.22 The Blue Book plan was noteworthy on his first major public affairs assign­ Omaha's businessmen tried to prime as the first surfacing of the post-war ment as chairman of the municipal the post-war economic pump and businessmen's efforts to again involve charter convention in the hot summer unveiled a grand new plan to spruce up themselves in city affairs. Like the Pro­ of 1956. Sorensen had previously built the city. The July 7, 1947, issue of Life gressive reformers in the 1900s, these and operated his successful company, magazine announced "An American men sought to take charge ofone ofthe Midwest Electric Supply, and been City's Dream" and provided a twelve­ most standard of government respon­ active in civic affairs as president ofthe page picture section discussing sibilities: capital improvements pro­ Chamber of Commerce in 1955. As Omaha's "blueprint for progress." gramming. Even more telling was the chairman of the charter convention, The major civic effort had started fact that all the bonded indebtedness Sorensen presided over a four-month when Omaha World-Herald publisher was presided over by citizens' com­ effort to replace Omaha's old commis­ Henry Doorly had "totted up Omaha's missions, which were comprised of sion form of government with a new 104 Leadership in Omaha

strong mayor and council members ideas and most of all, a new face on a ness community to achieve significant elected at large. Sorensen then won city that looked increasingly dumpy. ends in Omaha. election to the first city council under He tore down the Richardsonian Despite Sorensen's leadership role the new charter and was president of Romanesque city hall, a multi-towered as mayor, he failed to be included in the that body from 1957 to 1961. He deter­ monument to the leaders ofthe Golden city's top leadership lists. In 1966, the mined to stay out of politics after 1961, Era. In its place he pushed for a new Sun newspapers analyzed Omaha's but "a lurid stretch of corruption, Omaha-Douglas County Civic Center, power structure, identifying "20 incompetence and plain goofiness in which efficiently connected to the Influentials" based on their occupa­ city government" led Sorensen to run Douglas County Courthouse and put tions and positions on various powerful for and win election as mayor in local government offices III one local corporate and non-profit boards. 1965.27 complex.28 The article, written by Paul Williams, Sorensen's term in office was not an As a small businessman, A. V. Soren­ noted the omission of Mayor Sorensen easy period in Omaha's history, includ­ sen had not come from Omaha's cor­ and that the mayor had, on occasion, ing both civil disturbances in North porate level of leaders. In his mark had some trouble with the business Omaha and the closing of the major upon the city of Omaha, however, he community. The Sun concluded that a packing houses in South Omaha. But came closer to real leadership than part of the problem was "simple resis­ Sorensen looked to the future. He many who fit that corporate mold. tance to change that afflicts many grasped, better than others, that Sorensen was so successful because he senior leadership people." The article Omaha's economy had changed, and was able to bridge the gap between also stated thatthe really powerful men that it was time for new views, new municipal government and the busi­ had "largely withdrawn into a circular

Omaha stockyards area. Photo by Nathaniel Dewell. (NSHS-054-1066) Nebraska History - Summer 1991

world in which they serve on each other's boards, and raise funds for each other's cultural and welfare pro­ jects."29 The "20 Influentials" were primarily chairmen or presidents of the city's biggest companies, including Peter Kiewit Sons, Mutual of Omaha, Northern Natural Gas, Northwestern Bell, Union Pacific Railroad, and several banks. Most had been in "top command" positions for as long as thirty years. Many had been involved in community affairs since the 1947 Blue Book plan, and active in supporting the 1959 Omaha Plan, a major capital improvements bond issue which had been overwhelmingly defeated. Williams felt the defeat of the 1959 Plan, as well as the 1956 charter con­ vention, had started to divide Omaha into two voting groups: a moderate and low income group who consistently voted against the "silk-stocking crowd."30 By 1981, when the Sun newspapers again looked at Omaha's power struc­ ture, only two of the same individuals remained on the list. Increasingly, these "20 Influentials" were not Omaha-born and bred, a factor which frustrated and angered some Omahans. But the leaders were still essentially the same types: men who could marshall significant resources and ran the major companies in the city.3\ By the end of the 1980s, business leaders could point to a substantially new Omaha downtown built with both public and private money. Downtown had a new Central Park Mall, with a new Northwestern Bell and its computer facility on opposite sides of the mall. Numerous older office buildings and warehouses had been renovated for housing and Sixteenth Street had finally become a smaller and much­ maligned version of Minneapolis's Nicollet Mall. But the most massive Omaha Mayor Dan Butler. From Bostwick-Frohardt Collection, owned by KMTVand change of the late 1980s was the on permanent loan to Western Heritage Museum, Omaha. demolition of the entire Ninth Street Warehouse Canyon for a new "campus­ like" headquarters for ConAgra, a 106 Leadership in Omaha

rapidly growing food processing firm. wholesaling and warehousing business. Because the ConAgra headquarters The area had been built between 1900 project is so recent, it is difficult to put and 1915 for the city's wholesaling busi­ into historical perspective. It is, nesses, many of which were presided over however, an important illustration of by the earlier generation ofleaders who both the power and financial made up the Business Men's Associa­ capabilities of Omaha's business com­ tion. The Omaha Development Council munity in a leadership role. This played a major role in convincing Con­ leadership role must be viewed in the Agra to move to the riverfront, and context of the political turmoil in assisted with funds to insure that the municipal government over the past project worked.33 By 1990, the decade. Warehouse Canyon had been razed and In 1981, Michael Boyle, a young initial buildings of ConAgra's new Democratic attorney who had prev­ campus had been constructed. iously been Douglas County election The development of the ConAgra commissioner, was elected mayor. headquarters is a recent but important Boyle established a strong cabinet and illustration of the role of the business instituted efficient capital improve­ leadership in the process of "getting ments programming, resumed annexa­ things done" in Omaha. This role has tion, and supported adoption of a new been especially prominent when city zoning ordinance. Although Boyle's government was in transition or flound­ first term was promising, he was ered, whether it was in the Depression recalled in January 1987. Unfor­ and war years or the late 1980s. tunately for Omaha, the recall election set in motion a critical series of events Conclusion - In fall 1985 the city of that left Omaha city government adrift, Henry Doorly. Courtesy of Omaha Omaha and chamber of commerce as Boyle was followed by two mayors World -Herald. hired McManis and Associates, a within two years.32 national consultant, to assist in While the political issue unfolded, developing a strategy to "guide local the city's economy was reeling. Enron, efforts to promote expanded business formerly known as Internorth and investment in the Omaha area." Com­ Northern Natural Gas, had acquired a ing out just prior to the Enron move to much smaller Houston Natural Gas Houston, the study was remarkably Company. In summer 1986, it was clear clear in its perceptions of Omaha. It that Houston Natural Gas had gotten pointed out that Omaha had become a the best deal- the company was being "corporate community in its middle moved to Houston. When ConAgra age" and looked to those corporate pro­ later indicated plans to move its head­ fessional managers for its CIVIC quarters out ofstate, the city's political leadership. As a result, Omaha offered and business leaders scrambled to "little encouragement to entre­ retain the company and prevent preneurs until they have succeeded on another exodus. Although ConAgra their own. Then their achievement will looked at several suburban locations be recognized quietly as long as they for its "campus-like" headquarters are not too pushy."34 design plan, the Omaha Development The 1980s in Omaha were a paradox. Council and Chamber of Commerce In one sense the city had indeed succeeded in convincing ConAgra to become a corporate community in its locate on the riverfront site ofthe Ninth middle age and desperate to retain that Street Warehouse Canyon. The segment of the business community at Warehouse Canyon, approximately any price. The city had overlooked its two blocks of turn-of-the-century entrepreneurial community leaders of massive warehouses, had been listed as early years, men like the Creightons or a National Register Historic District in A. V. Sorensen. Courtesy of Omaha William Paxton, finding their modern­ 1986, and still played a vital role in World -Herald. day counterparts a little too shaky for 107 Nebraska History - Summer 1991

business investment. As municipal their corporations to other cities which government floundered, the business offered a better deal. leaders stepped in to literally build a Yet that analysis must be tempered new major showpiece for downtown with the recognition that in every era, with the glittering new suburban-style leaders have had to make decisions campus of ConAgra rising on the river­ within the political, social, and front where Omaha began. economic context of the times in which Many of the old divisions remain in they lived. Perhaps in examining this Omaha in the 1990s. The continuing question over time we may gain a better political conflicts between sections of sense of the continuum of advantages the city show up in most elections, and and constraints that have had a signifi­ few politicians have yet been able to cant effect on Omaha's history. build lasting coalitions between the One such continuing constraint is various factions. And Omaha is still that Omaha has always been a city with searching for an image of itself. a major element of control held by per­ McManis and Associates reported that sons and companies in other cities. to many businessmen nationally, Even in the days of the pioneers, the Omaha had no image with which they major industries, like the railroads and could relate as a potential business stockyards, were controlled from a dis­ location.35 Twenty years earlier, A. V. tance. This relationship continued Sorensen sought a visual image he through the early twentieth century, could use to sell Omaha but was when even local control was in the emphatic in that he did not want a "bull hands of the political machine. on a pedestal." He did notwant Omaha Because of the Depression and World pictured as an "overgrown cow town," War II, much of what happened in the but instead as something that showed 1930s and 1940s was dictated by the "New Omaha" he had helped national events. And although the cor­ create.36 Itis ironic that one ofOmaha's porate leadership has played a role in major events supported heavily by the Omaha since World War II, the city is a business community is the annual regional centerthat will always be more River City Roundup, a fall festival that limited in its ability to control its future focuses on rodeos, barbecues, and a than major metropolitan centers such wild west past that never really had as as Denver, Kansas City, or the Twin much to do with Omaha's history as did Cities. the Ninth Street Warehouse Canyon. The political and economic changes This discussion began with a sense of the 1980s and the continuing search that the early leaders were the men of for an image make leadership in Omaha vision who had given their all to build a risky challenge for both political and the city. They were followed by the business leaders. The last decade left organization men, men who built on no clear-cut consensus among what their fathers had left them, and Omahans of"where to go." Perhaps the took Omaha through the Golden Age. 1990s will again see the rise of a leader In this scenario, the sons of these men, who can build a lasting community and grandsons of the pioneers, had coalition that can bridge the social, failed to live up to their heritage. They, economic and politica1 gaps in an in turn, were followed by a community increasingly fragmented city. that expected and allowed the cor­ porate leaders to take over and then complained when those men were NOTES increasingly not Omaha born and bred. ISee Garneth O. Peterson, "The Omaha City In the 1980s, Omahans witnessed the Council and Commission: A Profile, 1858-1930" logical end to these expectations. Men (M.A. thesis, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 1980), 26-44; and Landmarks Heritage Preserva­ who were not raised in the city had tion Commission (historical text by Garneth O. fewer compunctions about moving Peterson), A Co mprehensive Program for Historic 108 Leadership in Omaha

Omaha-Douglas County Civic Center. Courtesy ofGreater Omaha Chamber ofCommerce .... (above) Omaha's riverfront development taking shape, January 1990: (front right) building for Armour Food Company and two other ConAgra units; (front left) ConAgra 's pro­ duct development lab; (behind lab) Union Pacific train dispatching center; (right ofdispatching center) ConAgra Frozen Foods building; and just-started ConAgra corporate headquarters. Courtesy of Omaha World-Herald.

109 Nebraska History - Summer 1991

Preservation in Omaha (Omaha City Planning nison's political machine and its impact on 29Dalstrom, A. V. Sorensen, 294; Paul Williams, Department, 1980),22-23, for a more detailed dis­ Omaha. "Omaha's Power Structure," Dundee and West cussion of Omaha's early leaders. 14Ibid., passim. Larsen and Cottrell, 180-8l. Omaha Sun, April 7, 1966. 2Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commis­ 15Menard,76-84. 30Williams, ibid. See Harl A. Dalstrom, sion, ibid. (Hereafter abbreviated as LHPC). 16Ibid., 307-12. " Omaha's East-West Voting Division," paper 3Ibid.; Lawrence H. Larsen and Barbara J. Cot­ 17Ibid., 8l. presented at Missouri Valley History Con­ trell, The Gate City: A History ofOmaha (Boulder, ISPratt, 18l. ference, Omaha, Nebraska, Mar. 8,1990, for a dis­ Colorado: Pruett Publishing Co., 1982), 19-21; 19Menard,31O-12. cussion of both historic and recent voting and George R. Leighton, "Omaha Nebraska ­ 2°Larsen and Cottrell, 227, 230; Omaha World­ patterns in the city. The Glory is Departed," Harper's Magazine Herald, Mar. 14, 1953; Jan. 8, 1965. 31Paul Hammel, "Who Wields the Power in 177(July and Aug. 1938):119. 21 Leighton, 326. I am indebted to Martin H. Omaha?" Benson Sun, July 22, 1981. 4LHPC, 19; Larsen and Cottrell, 21-23, 13l. Shukert, former planning director of the city of 32This commentary is based on my personal 5LHPC, 33; Larsen and Cottrell, 72-74. Omaha, for sharing his insights on Omaha's recollections and opinions developed while a city 6Larsen and Cottrell, ibid. geographical location and its effects on the planner with the city of Omaha, Mar. 1980 to 7Ibid., 64-65; Leighton, 113, 119. city's development. Oct. 1989. It is not intended to attempt to sLarsen and Cottrell, 86-88; LHPC, 42-43; 22Larsen and Cottrell, 208-13. evaluate all the major political or economic Leighton, 309. 23 "An American City's Dream," Life 23(July 7, changes experienced by Omaha in the 1980s. 9lbid. 1947):23,25. These highlights are included in order to provide IOLarsen and Cottrell, 132-40; See William C. 24Harl A. Dalstrom, A. V. Sorensen and the New a beginning framework for analyzing a very Pratt, "The Omaha Business Men's Association Omaha (Omaha: Lamplighter Press, Douglas important and critical decade in the city's and the Open Shop, 1903-1909," Nebraska His­ County Historical Society, 1987), 24. history. tory 70(Summer 1989): 172-83, for a thorough dis­ 25"An American City's Dream," 25. 33Ibid.; "Riverfront Review," unpublished cussion of the BMA. 26Dalstrom, A. V. Sorensen, 24. See Janet Rose chronology of ConAgra riverfront development 11 Pratt, 176-81; Orville D. Menard, Political Daly, "The Changing Image of the City: Planning (Office of Economic and Policy Development, Bossism in Mid-America - Tom Dennison's for Downtown Omaha" (Ph.D dissertation, City of Omaha, undated). See Leonard K. Eaton, Omaha, 1900-1933 (Lanham, MD: University University of Pittsburgh, 1987), for a complete Gateway Cities and Other Essays (Ames: Iowa Press of America, Inc., 1989), 186-87. analysis of post-war planning and public/private State University Press, 1989) for his discussion of 12Garneth O. Peterson, "Annexation - The leadership in Omaha from 1945 to the early the architectural and historic significance of the Omaha Story" (Omaha City Planning Depart­ 1970s. Warehouse Canyon and the efforts by preser­ ment, undated); Peterson, "City Council and 27 Jim Clemon, review of A. V. Sorensen and the vationists to prevent its demolition. Commission," 66-72; See Richard K. Wilson, New Omaha by Harl A. Dalstrom, Sunday World 34McManis Associates, Inc. and Growth "Business Progressivism in Omaha: 1900-1917" Herald Entertainment Magazine, April 10, 1988. Strategies Organization, Economic Development (M.A. thesis, Creighton University, 1977), for a See Harl A. Dalstrom, A. V. Sorensen and the New Strategy Study, Prepared for the city of Omaha, complete analysis of Progressive Era leadership Omaha for a detailed discussion of A.V. Soren­ Douglas County and Greater Omaha Chamber of and reform in Omaha. sen's entire political career and its significant Commerce, Spring 1986, i, ii, 1-24. I3S ee Menard, Political Bossism in Mid­ impact on Omaha. 35Ibid., 111-3. America, for a complete analysis of Tom Den- 2sDalstrom, A. V. Sorensen, ibid. 36Dalstrom, A. V. Sorensen, 290.

110