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James W. Loewen (1942-2021)

We mourn the loss of our friend and colleague and remain committed to the work he began.

Plattsmouth

Nebraska

Basic Information

Type of Place
Independent City or Town
Metro Area
Politics c. 1860?
Don’t Know
Unions, Organized Labor?
Don’t Know

Sundown Town Status

Sundown Town in the Past?
Surely
Was there an ordinance?
Don't Know
Sign?
Don’t Know
Year of Greatest Interest
Still Sundown?
Probably Not, Although Still Very Few Black People

Census Information

The available census data from 1860 to the present
Total White Black Asian Native Hispanic Other BHshld
1860
1870
1880
1890 8303 88
1900 4964 4951 13
1910
1920 4190 0
1930 3793 0
1940
1950
1960 6244 1
1970
1980
1990 6412 24
2000
2010
2020

Method of Exclusion

  • Unknown

Main Ethnic Group(s)

  • Unknown

Group(s) Excluded

  • Black

Comments

“I remember being shocked to learn soon after
moving there [Plattsmouth] that blacks were not
allowed to even work in that town after 5 or 6 pm. I
had never heard of such a thing at that time… Not
only did I never see a black student at Plattsmouth
High, only once do I recall ever seeing a black person
in the town of Plattsmouth. He was working on a
construction crew shortly after I moved there [1961],
and that’s when I was told (I can’t recall by whom) that
he would have to be out of Plattsmouth by 5 p.m
because of a town ordinance that did not allow blacks
to remain beyond that hour… I would not describe the
kids that I knew as more racist than many of the
average white kids that I knew in Florida or California.
But they imbibed a form of racism based on not
having much if any normal contact with blacks in their
daily lives. Increasing their fear and hatred of blacks
were the stories of sex and mayhem, such as the
above, that they heard in regard to blacks in Omaha.
During the daily course of events, however, the
Plattsmouth people that I knew rarely talked about
race at all, reflective of the absence of blacks in their
daily lives. But when they did, they were likely to
express fear and loathing, and to use the ‘N’ word
freely.”