ABSTRACT
In 1915, the all-African American Dan Desdunes Band cracked the color wall when upper middle class whites affiliated with the Union Pacific Railroad and other industries in Omaha, Nebraska, permitted the group to march in the annual Ak-Sar-Ben Parade. The Ak-Sar-Ben Parade was an annual fundraising event established by the all-white Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben, a disgruntled group of elite whites in Omaha that failed to secure the “Gateway City” as one of two cities that hosted the annual Nebraska State Fair. From 1872 to 1901, state officials alternated the Fair’s host city between Omaha and Lincoln, but in 1901 Lincoln became the permanent home for the Nebraska State Fair and would serve as such until 2010. The Dan Desdunes Band had the city of Omaha, its near North Side, and the Midwest ‘stompin’ and dancing from 1915 until Desdunes died in 1929. The band played black formal events, black parades and pageants, and black athletic competitions through the 1920s. After Desdunes’s death, members continued to perform individually and as the Dan Desdunes Band through the 1940s (Calloway and Smith, 64).
