While it’s commonly believed slavery ended on Juneteenth, the date in June 1865 when the last slaves, in parts of Texas, learned the Civil War had ended and they were free people, the Reconstruction era brought new threats to new-found freedoms. The formation of the Ku Klux Klan, passage of the Black Code – legal slavery – and Jim Crow laws were among those challenges, according to a local museum exhibit dedicated to the history of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Located on the first floor of the Center Mall, near 42nd and Center Streets, Mama’s Attic packs a lot of historical information in a small space. The museum, open since December 2020, showcases African American history with a no-holds approach, said LaVonn Stennis Williams, its founder. “Moments to Movement – Reflections on the 160 Year History of the Emancipation Proclamation” is on display through the end of the year. It’s broken into four parts, with the Emancipation Proclamation exhibit running through the summer.

It actually took more than the Emancipation Proclamation to end slavery, Stennis Williams said. Without passage of the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments, the proclamation wouldn’t have had the impact it had, and efforts to create equality for African Americans are ongoing, she said.

“It gives context to some of the things we’re experiencing today in terms of people saying we don’t need these laws (such as affirmative action) because slavery was so long ago,” Stennis Williams said. “They’re counting it from the standpoint of the 13th Amendment or the Emancipation Proclamation. There really is no timeframe for us to start counting when it ended because it never has really ended.”

Following the Civil War, the US Congress passed the Reconstruction Act, which sought to introduce about 4 million former slaves into American society while also reintegrating the former Confederate states into the Union. While the federal legislation created opportunities for former slaves and other African Americans socially and politically, southern states attempted to find new ways to thwart that growth, Stennis Williams said.

“The Reconstruction Act was designed to give liberty to newly-freed slaves,” she explains. “On the other hand, we had the other extreme, which were black codes designed to take away each and every one of those liberties and freedoms.”

Black codes were slavery in disguise, Stennis Williams said. Passed mostly by southern states, black codes allowed courts to deem former slaves destitute and fine them. Then, a white person could pay the fine, forcing the African American to work for that person without pay until the white person deemed the fine paid off, which could take years.

Northern residents became upset over black codes, and the resentment challenged the success of the Reconstruction era, Stennis Williams said. As support for Reconstruction faded, it gave rise to hate groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan. While African Americans enjoyed political success following the war, with several men elected to state legislatures, the KKK launched terroristic attacks, essentially scaring men off from voting. This allowed whites to regain political control, setting the equal rights struggle back for another century.

Eventually, Jim Crow laws, such as black codes, took effect across the South and even some northern communities, creating separate schools, restaurants, and even drinking fountains. The Green Book is a well-known guide advising African Americans safe hotels and inns to stay while traveling across the United States. Omaha had its share of Green Book establishments, such as the Walker Hotel, Booker T. Washington Hotel and Patton Hotels.

Realizing a new emancipation proclamation was necessary for the times, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. encouraged President John F. Kennedy to issue it, but the Democrat declined. It would be a few more years before Civil Rights legislation would be federally enacted.

The “Moments to Movement” exhibit highlights these and other important issues and periods through American history. The first part of the exhibit examined the “Great Migration,” when southern blacks relocated to northern communities, including Omaha. The first section included looks at sharecropping, military service and community, Stennis Williams said. Future exhibits will explore other facets of African American life.

The Emancipation Proclamation story hopefully opens people’s minds, she said.

“True history will not make people happy,” Stennis Williams remarked. “History will tell what’s right, not what’s popular. History is not designed to appease popular opinion. It’s designed to give people accurate facts.”

Mama’s Attic, named in honor of Stennis Williams’ mother – who believed people should know history – is open 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.