Students stand in line for food in a basement lunch room in this 9 1/2" x 7 1/2" black and white photograph. Four women in long dresses are serving the food from behind a long counter. Students sit at tables in the background, and plates of food sit on tables in the foreground. The room has a tile floor, light fixtures hanging from the ceiling, and small windows along the back wall.
Omaha Public School Archive Collection / Educational Research Library
Local Accession/Call Number
Archive Files: Central High School File
Historical Notes
This is one of a series of photographs taken of the interior of the newly completed Omaha Central High School building located at 20th and Dodge Streets in 1912. The white limestone building was constructed over a twelve year period to replace the original 1872 brick building. The school became known as Omaha Central High School sometime after the stone building was completed. Depending on the source, the name was changed to differentiate it from the Omaha High School of Commerce about 1912, or it was changed about 1916, after South Omaha High School became part of the Omaha Public School District. The Omaha Central High School building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. According to an article in the Omaha Daily Bee newspaper, the original lunch program at the high school was provided by the Women's Christian Temperance Union, beginning in 1896. A typical menu would include soup, sandwiches, pickles, cake, pies, and ice cream. By the time the new building was completed, the lunch program was school sponsored, and candy had been added to the offerings.
