On Display April 22, 2023 – October 1, 2023
In partnership with Legacy of the Plains Museum in Gering, we are pleased to present the exhibition “Preserving a Legacy: Japanese in Nebraska” to expand on the story told by the traveling Smithsonian exhibition “Righting a Wrong.” The story of Japanese Americans in Nebraska is filled with hope and support in the state. This exhibit strives to tell these stories.
Japanese immigrants first settled in Hawaii and the Pacific Coast. By 1940, California alone had 93,000 residents of Japanese ancestry. Nebraska then had about 510 residents of Japanese ancestry. About 30 percent were first-generation immigrants, called the Issei. They were not allowed to become U.S. citizens. The other 70 percent were called the Nisei. They were native-born U.S. citizens.
Japanese Nebraskans lived mostly in western farming communities. They worked on farms and in stockyards, in hospitality and domestic service, in professions, and as entrepreneurs. Omaha’s small Japanese community included Harry Watanabe, who founded the Oriental Trading Company in 1932.
Unlike the West Coast, Nebraska Japanese were not incarcerated during World War II, but some lost jobs, and community leaders were arrested and questioned. Japanese immigrants were designated “enemy aliens.” Newspapers across the state reprinted warnings that they and their U.S.-born children might act as spies and saboteurs.
Some Nebraskans responded with anti-Japanese hostility. Others spoke against mass incarceration and even hastened the release of those incarcerated by opening jobs to workers and enrollment to students.
Nebraskans of Japanese ancestry have led the way in righting the wrongs of the 1940s, honoring the rights and dignity of all Americans today.
This exhibit is made possible thanks to the partnership with Legacy of the Plains Museum in Gering, NE.
“Preserving a Legacy” is graciously supported by Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp, U.S.A.
Funding was provided by the Ginger Lew and Lenny Ehn Fund and Humanities Nebraska and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.
