Students Celebrate Aksarben History

OMAHA – Following a semester of research on the rich history of the Aksarben neighborhood, students from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) will present their findings on Monday, Dec. 14.

Eighteen students from a special “City of Omaha” honors course will hold a public poster presentation, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. in the Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center, on the history of 18 different homes located between UNO’s Pacific and Center campuses, as well as several community churches and area schools.

Members of the public, including the homeowners the students worked with throughout the semester, have been invited to the event.

The course, which was designed with help from UNO's Service Learning Academy, is a partnership between the UNO University Honors Program and Restoration Exchange Omaha, a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring and preserving older homes, buildings and neighborhoods throughout Omaha.

At the beginning of the semester, each of the students was assigned one of the 18 homes that will be a part of the organization’s 2016 Fall Neighborhood Tour.

In addition to speaking with individual homeowners, students spent the semester researching records from the Douglas Country Directory, documents from various historical associations, archived articles from the Omaha World-Herald and images from collections within the Durham Museum.

"What has been so exciting about this course is that many of the students, despite going to school at UNO, knew very little about the history of the area," explained UNO Honors Program Director Lucy Morrison. "But, once they started exploring, they just didn't want to stop."

Some of the more interesting findings from the research included:

- Many homes in the neighborhood were built specifically for jockeys who would be riding race horses at the track that once dominated the neighborhood

- One of the local churches would regularly host an event where mothers and daughters would talk over tea

- Two houses in the Aksarben neighborhood, despite being located side by side, were built a century apart

Many more items of interest are part of the students' final projectS that, in addition to the poster-sized presentations taking place on Dec. 14, also include binders of information about each of the homes and how they fit into the overall history of Omaha that will be presented to Restoration Exchange Omaha.

For questions, please contact:

Sam Petto | UNO Media Relations Coordinator
unonews@unomaha.edu
402.554.2704

or

Charley Reed | UNO Associate Director of Media Relations
unonews@unomaha.edu
402.554.2129


Relevant Links
UNO's P-16 Initative
Honors Students Give Back During Break
Throwback Thursday: Aksarben

About the University of Nebraska at Omaha
Located in one of America’s best cities to live, work and learn, the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) is Nebraska’s premier metropolitan university. With more than 15,000 students enrolled in 200-plus programs of study, UNO is recognized nationally for its online education, graduate education, military friendliness and community engagement efforts. Founded in 1908, UNO has served learners of all backgrounds for more than 100 years and is dedicated to another century of excellence both in the classroom and in the community.

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