Creighton's Home Page
A Jesuit Catholic University
in Omaha, Nebraska since 1878

A Spirit Plus Luncheon

Online Ministries Home Page | Daily Reflections | Online Retreat | Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer
Audio Retreats | Spirituality Links
| Stations of the Cross | Site Map | Support Us
A Ministry of the Collaborative Ministry Office at Creighton University

Mariana Miller

Matt Holland

Matt Holland told the moving story of a piece of Omaha’s history – a courageous Jesuit and the young people he inspired to make things better.

 

Click Here to learn more about the author.

Nebraska State Historical Society posted Amy Helene Forss's Collective Activism in Omaha, Nebraska's, Near North Side, 1947-1960. Click here to read articles about the DePorres Club.

The Creightonian shares an article about the DePorres Club.

Matt Holland speaks about the DePorres Club on the Creighton University Center for Catholic Thought Podcast

The Omaha World Herald story:
"The Creighton-based Omaha Civil Rights Group You Never Knew Existed"

 

Spirit Plus Luncheon:

Matt Holland gave a presentation about Ahead of Their Time:
The Story of the Omaha DePorres Club

on Tuesday, February 10th

View a powerful video of this talk:
 Holland-talk

In the 1940s and 1950s Omaha was sometimes called the “Birmingham of the North” because of the racial discrimination its minority citizens faced. John Marcoe, S.J., a Jesuit priest at Creighton, inspired a group of students to start a club to do something about civil rights – many years before the Civil Rights movement really began. The DePorres Club was an interracial group of young people who used non-violent methods to confront and change discriminatory policies in stores, factories and businesses who refused to serve minorities.

Ahead of Their Time: The Story of the Omaha DePorres Club

Matt Holland's book reveals a little-known chapter of some of the early battles against racism in the United States. Along with detailed accounts of the Omaha DePorres Club's pioneering efforts, Holland's book also gives insights into the people who dared to challenge racism.

To order the book, click on the image of the book to the left.


Online Ministries Home Page | Praying Lent Home Page

Send us an e-mail