LINCOLN, Neb. (July 21, 2015) – An Aug. 2 NET Television event in Scottsbluff at the Midwest Theater, 1707 Broadway, will offer a screening of the upcoming “Nebraska Stories” segment – The Invisible People.
The Invisible People explores the Japanese settlement of the Panhandle region and will be included in upcoming “Nebraska Stories” episodes broadcast on NET Television after January 2016.
The Invisible People begins at the turn of the 20th century when a number of young male Japanese immigrants left their railroad jobs to live in Nebraska. They became farmers and business owners, had large families and were – and still are – integral members of their communities.
Surnames like Hara, Kano, Sakurada, Ushio and Kuroki became as common as Anderson, Williams, Smith and Mueller. They believed in education, embraced the American way and their American born children fought prejudice to enlist in the armed services during World War II. Honor was their tradition. This is their story.
Doors open at 1 p.m. and the screening starts at 1:30 p.m.
In addition, part of the documentary “The Most Honorable Son” will be shown. A co-production of NET Television and Independent Television Service, the program features wartime experiences and interviews with Ben Kuroki and some of the men who flew with him during World War II.
A panel discussion will follow the screenings. Panelists include:
— Julie Ushio, born and raised in Alliance, Ushio lives in Hawaii, but travels to Alliance frequently to help care for mother Sai Ushio. Her grandparents Shigeo and Taka Ushio arrived in the U.S. just after the turn-of-the-twentieth century.
— Miyeko “Mickey” Hara, born in a two-room house in the woods of Henry — a small Nebraska town that at one time boasted 147 residents – joined the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps after graduating from Henry High School. The retired registered nurse, is active in volunteer work, including the Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff.
— Sandra Reddish, raised on a farm outside of Lincoln, joined the Marine Corps out of high school. After military service, she attended community college and was hired by Boeing Commercial Airplane Group in Wichita. She is now executive director of the Legacy of the Plains Museum.
— Kay Hall, “Nebraska Stories” series producer, is a multi-Emmy Award-winning producer whose body of work encompasses stories of the Northern Great Plains. In her more than 15 years at NET, Hall has produced, directed, written, recorded and edited content for television broadcast and the Web. A number of Hall’s NET productions have been distributed by PBS, including “Buffet and Gates Go Back to School,” “Solomon Butcher: Frontier Photographer,” “My Dad’s Illness,” and most recently, “Twirl Girls.”
A reception in the Japanese Friendship Hall on the corner of Railway Avenue and Avenue C in Scottsbluff will follow the event.
The event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP by calling 800-634-6788 or email Michele Peon-Casanova at [email protected].
For more information in Scottsbluff, contact Sandra Reddish, executive director of the Legacy of the Plains Museum, at[email protected].
To learn more about “Nebraska Stories,” visit the “Nebraska Stories” website at http://www.netnebraska.org/nebraskastories, Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NebraskaStories or download the NET Nebraska App.
“Nebraska Stories” — funded in part by The Margaret and Martha Thomas Foundation, the H. Lee and Carol Gendler Charitable Fund and the Nebraska Arts Council and Nebraska Cultural Endowment — is a production of NET Television. For a complete television program schedule, visit NET’s website at netNebraska.org/television.