The Alliance Française d’Omaha began in Omaha in 1917.

In honor of this organization’s hundredth birthday, a group of members researched its past and wrote and published a book about on its history. The book tells the story of each of the president’s who served the Alliance. Here are some excerpts:

Felix Despecher–First President

“In 1903, Felix and Mary [Despepecher] designed and built a houseboat in their backyard. Equipped with many tools including a lathe to turn out custom nuts, bolts and other parts, Felix and Mary constructed the boat in their spare time over a period of two months. This time the neighbors knew better than to dismiss their efforts and watched as the boat took shape, complete with a screened-in porch watertight window shutters, oiled pine panels, blue ceiling, curtains, multi-purpose furniture, and trailing vines that climbed the sides of the house.”

Bess Bozell–Third President

“Bess retired from teaching in 1953 and spent the next two years in Paris, where she was the first guest at the new Alliance Française headquarters and had the honor of being one of only ten foreign nationals to be presented to the President of France, René Coty. In addition, she was hosted and entertained by General and Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower, both in France and Washington D.C. where she was also honored at a dinner by Mr. And Mrs. Malcom B Aldridge. Bess was good friends with their daughter, Letitia, who became an etiquette expert and social secretary to Jacqueline Kennedy.”

W. Edward Clark–Twelfth President

“Perhaps it is not difficult to see why Thornton Wilder, an established writer, enjoyed young Edward’s company when they met in Chicago. Twenty years after that meeting, Edward visited the writer on a trip to Yale. They took up a correspondence that lasted until Wilder’s death, filled with talk about teaching and literary ambitions and , yes, French authors. In a letter in 1956 Thornton wrote, ‘The greater part of French literature is about something they call amour. It’s a local product, not exportable…'”

Copies of the book can be found here.