Kearney Public Library and UNK-History Department welcome you to the history brown bag lunch series Wednesday, March 2 from noon-1:00 pm. Vickie Sakurada Schaepler will present A Legacy Saved: Japanese and Japanese Americans in Nebraska.
Japanese immigrants and their descendants have been in Nebraska for over 100 years, forming a rich community network. Learn of the historical events that impacted the lives of early Japanese immigrants including laws directed at Asians, the discrimination they faced, and the people who would support them. Japanese Americans from Nebraska would serve during WWII, and serve their country, with distinction though faced with discrimination. Other Japanese Americans escaped incarceration, left camps, and came to Nebraska where heroes emerged. It will include how post war Japan rebuilt its relationship with the United States and Nebraska. The impact of changing laws and how this history will be preserved including the economic relationships between Japan and Nebraska that have enriched our Nebraska economy.
Vickie Sakurada Schaepler is Coordinator of the Japanese Hall and History Project at the Legacy of the Plains Museum in Gering, Nebraska. There, she leads an effort to preserve the history of the Japanese on the High Plains and Nebraska. She was instrumental in raising funds, planning exhibits, and moving a Japanese Hall built in 1928 to the museum where this history will be showcased. Schaepler spent her career working with individuals with disabilities and medical conditions working for the Union Pacific Railroad, Burlington Northern Railroad and the State of Nebraska’s Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services. She has served on many boards, and most recently served as a trustee on the History Nebraska Board of Trustees, the Buffalo County Historical Society Board and Kearney Area Community Foundation. She completed her undergraduate and master’s degrees at Kearney State College.
Mark your calendars for this ongoing series on April 6 with a presentation on “Atomic Spinsters” with Dr. Catherine Biba from Hastings College.
This program is free and open to the public so bring your lunch and learn! This collaborative program is presented by UNK-History Department, and the Kearney Public Library.