Historic Omaha

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Omaha's Riot Squad—Ernie, Emil, Joe, and
Rudy Dusek—gained fame as professional
wrestlers beginning in the 1920s. The
Omaha rowdies originated tag team
“rassling.” The Dusek Brothers, as a group,
were inducted into the Wrestling Hall of
Fame in 1972.
COURTESY OF JO-ANN DUSEK.
HISTORIC OMAHA
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others voiced their suspicions that the
changes proposed were being advocated by
the area’s business sector for selfish reasons.
A. V. “Al” Sorenson, who would later serve
as Omaha’s mayor, chaired the sessions.
Eventually a new charter emerged from the
discussions. It proposed a division of the
legislative powers (accorded to the council)
and executive powers (assigned to the
mayor). Under the new rules, seven council
members would be elected, at large (now by
district, thanks to the state legislature), for
four years. The mayor would also be elected
by the voters and would appoint department
heads who would form his cabinet and serve
at his pleasure.
Some local entities, like the police and fire
departments, argued against the charter
provisions, and various political leaders
joined them. An advertising campaign touted
the advantages of the new system and, in
November 1956, the charter was approved by
fifty-six percent of the voters.
The new council members and a
succession of mayors had plenty of issues to
occupy them. Urban renewal was debated,
with the proponents pointing to the sorry
state of the city’s housing and offering a
solution, but, in 1965, the proposed
legislation was shot down by a ratio of two-toone.
The Interstate System also had its critics,
with many of them concerned with the
displacement of people from their homes
along the route. Some also debated the route
through and around Omaha but the matter
was finally approved, with the Federal
Government putting up 90 percent of the
money and local communities the other 10
percent. Eventually, Nebraska would contain
the longest stretch of I-80, 455 miles, within
its borders. The section of the Interstate that
ran through Omaha was the last section in the
state to be completed.
It seemed that every new project met with
some opposition, whether it was the proposal
to build the Westroads Shopping Center or to
modernize the airport. Somehow, these and
other developments ultimately became
realities, from the high-rise Woodmen Tower to
the new city-county building, but all of this
took time and spanned several administrations.
Meanwhile, Omaha was joining the big
boys, nationally and internationally. Firms
like Peter Kiewit Sons’, Inc., ranked among
the top construction firms in the world, and
similar designations were accorded the Leo A.
Daly architectural firm and the engineering
giant, Henningson, Durham & Richardson.
The city became known as an insurance
center, with several head offices located here
led by business giants Mutual of Omaha,
whose glass dome became a fresh landmark
on Dodge Street; Woodmen of the World; and
Physicians Mutual. The Nebraska Furniture
Mart, with its irrepressible “Mrs. B” (Rose
Blumkin) became the country’s largest
furniture store under one roof. C. A. Swanson