Omaha

Omaha appears as the founding site of Edward Flanagan’s work with homeless boys: in 1917 he established a home there for boys of all races and religions, an institution that later became nationally known as Boys Town.

Institutional Setting

The book identifies Omaha through the history of Flanagan’s home for boys, rather than through a dramatized scene in the Roth family’s story. The city’s specific significance is institutional: it is where Flanagan began the work for which he became known.

Edward Flanagan and Boys Town

Flanagan emigrated from Ireland to the United States in 1904, began studying for the priesthood, and was ordained in 1912. In 1917, he founded Father Flanagan’s Home for Boys in Omaha to provide for homeless boys across racial and religious lines. The account presents the home’s inclusive purpose as central to its founding.

Public Recognition

Omaha is also the origin point of an institution that reached a national audience. Flanagan became a national figure in 1938 after a popular film about Boys Town, starring Spencer Tracy, brought the home’s story to wider attention. The city’s place in the book is therefore brief but consequential: it anchors the founding of a project that grew beyond its original setting.