Collection

Zydek, Fredrick J. Papers

Span Dates: 1965-2016
Bulk Dates:
Volume: 53.4 Cubic Feet (54 boxes), 976 Megabytes (27 digital files) : Videos

Description

The Fredrick J. Zydek papers primarily document his work and career as a poet. Zydek’s collection thoroughly documents his poetry with a folder of material about each of his poems containing drafts and final versions of the poems as well as correspondence with publishers when the poems were published, which was frequently the case (15 cubic feet). Many of Zydek’s poems were published and they covered a range of topics. The collection also includes his short stories. Folders of material about Omaha’s Metropolitan Community Church, personal correspondence, and other topics are also part of the collection. The collection also includes information about courses Zydek taught for the Writer’s Workshop at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the College of St. Mary in Omaha. A scrapbook about Omaha’s Metropolitan Community Church where Zydek and his spouse Garold F. Storm were founding pastors contains news clippings about the founding and early years of the church in Omaha. Two boxes containing bound pamphlet binders primarily of Zydek’s class notes from his student days as well as his poetry and short stories are also part of the collection. New material added 2017-02-10: Videos created by Fredrick Zydek include readings of his writings, the history of Metropolitan Community Church of Omaha (MCC Omaha), family history, LGBT topics such as "Native American Gay History," and other videos reflecting Zydek's interests. All videos are available for viewing from Zydek's YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/user/MrMoroni12 as of February 10, 2017.

Hist/Bio Note

Fredrick J. Zydek graduated from "Buckley High School where he was the Class Speaker of his graduating class, he joined the United States Air Force in 1956. He served at the Lincoln Air Force Base, Lincoln, NE from 1956 to 1960. After that, he used the GI Bill to attend Seattle University where he received his Bachelors Degree. He then attended graduate school at the University of Washington. After graduate school, he returned to Nebraska to be the founding Pastor of the First Metropolitan Community Church in Omaha ca. 1974. He later taught Creative Writing at the University of Nebraska and Theology at the College of St. Mary. Fred published several novels, collections of poetry and other non-fiction." Zydek was married to Garold F. Storm. They had moved to Omaha together as the first pastors of the Metropolitan Community Church. (Obituary, Omaha World-Herald, 10 May 2016)
https://archives.nebraska.edu/agents/people/442

Finding Aid

An online finding aid is available.
https://archives.nebraska.edu/repositories/4/resources/564

Location

Archives and Special Collections, Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Library, University of Nebraska at Omaha
https://archives.nebraska.edu/repositories/4/resources?

Tags

MCC | Nebraska | Omaha