The Jewell Building is a city landmark in North Omaha,

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

. Built in 1923, it is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. Located at 2221 North 24th Street, the building was home to the Dreamland Ballroom for more than 40 years, and featured performances by many touring jazz and blues legends, including Duke Ellington,

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, and Lionel Hampton. Diz

The building has been designated as a Landmark by the City of Omaha, and is listed on the

. It is an example of the kind of venue that was integral to the cultural transmission and interchange of musical styles and art, especially in the years before television. In addition such entertainment centers were the chief ways that musicians, both local and national, earned enough to make livings.

About

Located at 2221-2225 North 24th Street in the Near North Side neighborhood of Omaha, the Jewell Building was built in 1923 by James Jewell Sr., an influential man in the local

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

community. Architect Frederick A. Henninger designed the building in the vernacular Georgian Revival style. It originally featured commercial spaces on the first floor, as well as the Dreamland Ballroom on the second floor. In 1945 Dreamland Ballroom was used as a USO center for

soldiers. It continued to be used for music performances until 1965. The Omaha Economic Development Council (OEDC) restored the building in the early 1980s. It was designated as a landmark by the City of Omaha on September 9, 1980, and was listed on the

in 1983. For several years, the Jewell Building housed OEDC's corporate headquarters and served as an office center for professional people and small businesses. Two private apartments were kept in the building.

Dreamland Ballroom

Located on the second floor of the Jewell Building, the Dreamland Ballroom was the premier

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

for big bands and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

in Omaha. James Jewell Jr. booked the original

Nat King Cole Trio Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

for $25 a person for one show. Other performers included Dinah Washington, Earl Hines, Duke Ellington,

, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, and Lionel Hampton.(nd) Official Nebraska Government Website. A variety of Omaha music legends including Preston Love, Anna Mae Winburn and Lloyd Hunter also played at the Dreamland. The ballroom closed in the 1960s. James Jewell was an influential man in the black community, and he invited activist Whitney Young to speak in the 1950s at Dreamland Hall about the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

. Young started in Omaha and became the national director of the Urban League.

External links

Dreamland Historical Project
website for project to preserve the Dreamland Ballroom in the Jewell Building.
Modern photo of the Jewell Building
Historic Omaha

References

{{NRHP Omaha Jazz clubs in the United States Landmarks in North Omaha, Nebraska Omaha Landmarks History of Omaha, Nebraska National Register of Historic Places in Omaha, Nebraska African-American history in Omaha, Nebraska Music venues in Omaha, Nebraska Dance venues in the United States Former music venues in the United States Event venues on the National Register of Historic Places in Nebraska Defunct jazz clubs in the United States Music venues completed in 1923 Buildings and structures completed in 1923 1923 establishments in Nebraska

About

Dreamland Ballroom

See also

External links

References