Durham Museum (Omaha)
The Durham Museum is located at 801 South 10th Street in Downtown Omaha, Nebraska, United States. The museum is dedicated to preserving and displaying the history of the United States' western region. The museum is housed in Omaha's former Union Station. The museum is an affiliate within the Smithsonian Affiliations program.
History
In May 1971, after the establishment of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Union Pacific Railroad closed Union Station. The first suggestion in print that the building be used as a museum appeared in the Public Pulse of the World Herald on April 5, 1971, in a letter from John Edward Peterson. He suggested that either the City of Omaha or Joslyn purchase the building and develop it into a museum. He wrote, "Maybe the Union Pacific would be willing to sell the station rather cheaply or even donate it."The station was donated to the City of Omaha in 1973. The museum was originally founded as the Western Heritage Museum, which opened that same year. The museum closed from 1995 to 1996 for a $22 million renovation project largely funded by Charles and Margre Durham. For their contributions on the project, the Western Heritage Museum was renamed the Durham Western Heritage Museum in 1998.
On April 6, 2008, the Durham Western Heritage Museum became the Durham Museum. The change was driven by recent partnerships with Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, and the National Archives which have provided the museum with a larger range of exhibits and programming not limited to western heritage.