Tue. July 28, 2026
CHICAGO, ILL. -
By Michael Oboza, Special to GoPride.com
Co-curated by Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame inductee, freelance writer, public relations specialist, and author Angel Abcede, a new exhibit at the International Museum of Surgical Science highlights the history of Filipino nurses in America.
The exhibit, titled "Unheard Voices of Care: Filipino Nurses in America," is currently on display at the museum until Aug. 2, 2026. Exploring the vital contributions and migration journeys of Filipino nurses across generations, the exhibit features historical narrative placards and personal artifacts collected from Abcede's own family.
As part of the programming, the museum will also host a free dramatic reading of Abcede's theatrical adaptation, "House of Nurses, the Play," from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. July 31. The workshop reading brings to life the story of three Filipino sisters experiencing America across three distinct decades: the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s.
Abcede, author of "House of Nurses: An American Journey," recently spoke about his path from writing his book to inspiring the exhibit and play.
Theatre was a first choice before writer, journalist, and columnist.
"Through an after-school arts program, I was completely convinced that I had to find a financially supportive career that would allow me to sing, act, and dance on the side," Abcede said. "In high school, I wrote an essay about my experience in a local community theater production of 'Gypsy.' My writing teacher read my essay in front of the class. It made me proud, and it also got me thinking of how I could make money to support my future in musical theater."
Following school, writing became an art form.
"My high school choices were a part of it," he said. "I always excelled in storytelling. I was the editor of the school paper. And I picked Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, for its well-known journalism school. Thankfully, the university had a thriving theater program, and I found myself taking acting classes that were allowed in my journalism curriculum.
"After graduating, I got a job with a trade publication that covered owners and operators of gasoline stations and convenience stores. I was able to make a living reporting on that channel of retail trade for decades. In the meantime, I did secure a column in a local LGBTQ magazine called 'Gay Chicago.' I was a pretty popular columnist through the 1990s.
"I had also started a nonprofit that taught AIDS awareness in high schools, so talking about STDs was a part of why I took on that columnist job. I also liked writing about my personal experiences and telling stories.
"Looking back, I realize that storytelling is an art. You have to accept feedback and question if you’ve told your story the best way possible. You also have to know a good story when you see one. From my experience, you can smell it."
The writing process of a new book inspired a traveling exhibit about Filipino nurse history.
"In 2019, I was visiting my mom’s older sister who had dementia and was declining quickly in California," Abcede recalled. "I stayed with her daughter, my cousin. We looked through old photo albums.
"She remembered the house she lived in when she started college in San Francisco. My mom’s youngest sister was living there with other Filipino nurses, and since my cousin was studying to be a nurse, they thought she could live there and go to school nearby. My aunt promptly filled it with friends and relatives, mostly female nurses, to create support and community.
"I smelled a good story of sisters helping sisters move up in the world, and women, young women, pioneering their way into their own American dreams.
"I published the book in an electronic format (houseofnurses.org), and when a friend who oversaw a cultural exhibit for Filipino heritage month in Chicago heard about it, he encouraged me to create a small display. I was able to collect enough items of interest from my mom, aunts, and cousins to populate the cabinet they gave me, and researched narrative placards explaining the migration story behind Filipino nurses.
"That cultural exhibit opened last fall at the Harold Washington Library. A retired nurse, who was also on the board of the local Filipino American National Historical Society, saw the exhibit and approached me. She thought we could do something more. That led to the exhibit that is currently on display at the International Museum of Surgical Science until Aug. 2, 2026.
"The exhibit will move to the Trickster Cultural Center, which focuses on Indigenous populations, in Schaumburg in September, and then the Asian American Resource and Cultural Center at the University of Illinois Chicago for the fall."
Writer advice for future generations of Asian writers, journalists, and columnists.
"Artificial intelligence may kill a lot of writing jobs near term," Abcede noted. "But certain kinds of writing will require the intellect, insight, and heart that only humans can offer. Writing is not about words on a page; it’s about understanding the breadth and value of things, people, and any series of events. It’s about communicating and pinpointing details that make outcomes meaningful.
"Apples are only apples, rain is only rain, until you talk about the Garden of Eden or how scientists say the biggest threat from climate change today is flash flooding, because rain has never come so fast and so hard until now.
"Then when you’re a minority within a minority, getting intimidated professionally is inevitable.
"For me, the gift of working on this project about Filipinos is realizing that my family has been a part of American history for decades. The Philippines is a part of America’s great experiment in colonialism, and for better or worse, I am here to help write the next chapter."
For the complete article (non-reader view with multimedia and original links),
Tap here.
Head to the local LGBTQ news, events, directory and people network at ChicagoPride.com