For more than a century, young people in Omaha have been demanding progressive change in passionate ways. In 1992, I organized a group of my peers at North High to start an environmental campaign after being denied by the school. This article highlights young people in the past who actually accomplished things and demonstrated the power of youth. This is a history of youth activism in Omaha.
Omaha’s Roots of Youth Activism
The notion of having a voice and agency has been part of the American tradition since the Revolutionary War. During those times, young people aided the Revolutionary Army in the war as spies, lookouts, and soldiers. The roles of children and youth as agitators and instigators continued into the 19th century, especially since the Civil War was referred to as “The Boys War,” and since many enslaved people who became freedom seekers were young. This activism roiled communities, cities, states, and the entire nation over the decades.
The history of youth activism in Omaha is a century-long narrative of young people who refused to be sidelined, serving as the heartbeat of the city’s struggle for justice and systemic change. School buildings, churches, and living rooms served for generations as incubators for resistance against a community, various systems, and an economy that sought to isolate them.
An early example of high-profile labor activism comes from the youngest workers in Omaha. The history of newsboy protests in Omaha represents some of the city’s earliest and most militant examples of youth-led collective action. These “newsies,” often as young as seven or eight, functioned as independent contractors who purchased papers from publishers with no right to return unsold copies, a high-risk system that left them vulnerable to economic fluctuations. The most significant wave of unrest began in July 1899, as Omaha newsboys joined a national movement sparked by strikes in New York City. On July 25, 1899, over 100 Omaha newsboys organized a “secret conference” and declared a strike against the Omaha Daily Bee and the Omaha World-Herald. Their main demand was a lower wholesale price—asking to buy bundles at 50 cents per hundred rather than 60 cents—to ensure they could earn a living wage after covering their losses. The boys utilized sophisticated labor tactics, including forming “flying squadrons” to intercept delivery wagons and using “moral suasion” (and occasionally physical intimidation) to stop others from selling papers, shaming nonparticipants as “scabs”.
Sometimes working alongside adults, youth activists in Omaha have been involved in campaigns not solely focused on youth as well. For instance, as early as 1899, a mass meeting of 200 African Americans was held to address the suspicious death of J.A. Smith while in police custody, an event that radicalized local youth and led to the formation of committees to fund legal prosecution against the officers involved.
Early 20th Century Youth Activism in Omaha
In the early twentieth century, youth action often mirrored the volatile labor environment of the city. In May 1903, a significant “School Children Strike” occurred at the Holy Family Catholic School. Eleven boys, some no older than eight, organized a secret conference to demand shorter school hours, specifically proposing a schedule from 9:30 to 11:45 and 1:15 to 3:00. They utilized sophisticated tactics, like “waylaying” classmates to keep them from returning and using “moral suasion and otherwise” to enforce the strike. The girls at the school supported the effort by designating those who returned to class as “scabs”. Although a truant officer threatened to jail the strikers, the intervention of missionary priests led the students back in “meek submission”…