by Matt Holland (Author)
Before Civil Rights heroes like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King made their courageous stands, before the creation of the iconic images that represent the struggle against racism in the United States - before there even was a Civil Rights Movement - there was the story of the Omaha DePorres Club. The DePorres Club's pioneering efforts not only challenged racial discrimination and segregation, but aimed to convince people that the two were morally wrong - sins that demanded attention. Led by Fr. John Markoe - a Jesuit priest who was a 1914 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and was called a "champion of interracial justice and human rights" by Whitney Young - the Omaha DePorres Club worked to change the pattern of discrimination and segregation in a city known by African-Americans as "the Birmingham of the North." Author Matt Holland recounts the events that led to the creation of the Omaha DePorres Club and traces the arc of the club's evolution from 1947 to 1960 - revealing the courage and camaraderie of club members as well as the challenges, fears and failures they faced as they ventured into the uncharted territory of the early Civil Rights Movement.