For more than 50 years, the Wing Luke Museum in Seattle has served as an institution that chronicles and preserves the history, art and culture of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. A June 26 program at the Eureka Public Library will examine the Seattle Museum. (Wing Luke Museum photo) 
 

The Eureka Public Library will highlight lesser-known American stories by exploring Asian American Pacific Islander history and culture in Seattle in a program at 1 p.m. Wednesday, June 26.  

For more than 50 years, the Wing Luke Museum in Seattle has served as a institution that chronicles and preserves the history, art and culture of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. 

As part of the program, the sixth director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Crosby Kemper, will explore Asian American immigrants’ early oppression in the United States to their influence and growth in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District. 

Kemper begins with a visit to the Wing Luke Museum. Established in 1967, the Wing Luke Museum is the only pan-Asian, community-based museum in the United States. After an exhibition tour with its current director Joel Tan, Crosby meets with recently retired director Beth Takekawa and author Lawrence Matsuda for a discussion on the resilience of Japanese Americans during the internment of World War II. 

Following the conversation, Kemper sits down with former Washington Gov. Gary Locke who shares his own Seattle roots and the history of the city’s Chinatown-International District before visiting Bettie Luke, the youngest sister of Wing Luke. She discusses her brother’s legacy in the community and her own life spent advocating for social justice concerns. 

Five weeks after the “Visions of America” episode was filmed, Seattle’s Wing Luke Museum suffered an attack of hate and vandalism.  

IMLS joined with PBS Books to produce “Visions of America: All Stories, All People, All Places” in

The sixth director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Crosby Kemper, will explore Asian American immigrants’ early oppression in the United States to their influence and growth in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District.

celebration of America250 or the semiquincentennial anniversary of America’s independence. The digital-first series of three half-hour episodes includes conversations that explore our post-pandemic nation with a renewed interest in the places, people, and stories that have contributed to the America we live in today. 

The America250 effort is being led at the national level by the nonpartisan U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission, created by Congress, and its supporting nonprofit America250 Foundation. The commemoration period began in 2020, culminates on July 4, 2026, and officially concludes in 2027. 

The trio of episodes tours lesser-known historical sites that symbolize an aspect of the spirit of our independence. Guided by some of our nation’s most notable historians and authors, each episode shares tales and themes that reverberate within the walls of these landmark institutions. 

Each episode explores the cities these institutions call home to probe what makes each of these communities so important to our national identity. After the episode, participate in a discussion led by Eureka Public Library staff. Sign up to attend at the adult circulation desk or by calling the library at 309-467-2922, Ext. 1. 

To watch earlier conversations with Kemper and his illustrious, invited guests who discuss America250 and the importance of museums and libraries as places for the freedom of exchanging ideas and their essential roles in elevating American citizenry, visit https://www.pbsbooks.org/visions-of-america. For more information on these programs visit the library’s website https://www.eurekapl.org.