The report includes images and documents, including a full reproduction of the book Rizal Park: Symbol of Filipino Identity. This report details his life and assesses his role in the fight to achieve full citizenship. In , voters repealed the several Alien Land Laws that had made it illegal for Chinese, Japanese, and for a time Filipino immigrants to own land in Washington State.
This essay examines first the campaigns to restrict land rights and then efforts to repeal Alien Land Laws in the s ad s. In , the Seattle Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League changed course on a museum exhibit that was supposed to merely celebrate their community, and instead decided to also revisit the painful history of internment. On December 17th, U. Major General Henry C. Pratt announced that the federal government would officially end the exclusion order that prevented Japanese and Japanese-Americans from returning to the West Coast.
This essays explores both sides of the resettlement debate in Seattle. The union was still in its infancy when two of the founders, President Virgil Duyungan and secretary Aurelio Simon, were murdered, but their deaths only solidified the members determination to make their organization survive and succeed.
Historians have concentrated on the early years of the Cannery Workers Union and on the two sets of assassinations that plagued the Filipino-American-led union, the murder of Duyungan and Simon in and the second dual assassination of union leaders Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes in This essay explores the critical middle period as the union negotiated the s and s, dealing with deportation threats, internal turmoil, but also consolidating and becoming a critical resource for Filipino-American communities on the West Coast.
Journalism became very important to Filipino American community development and politics and no one did more to establish the journalistic enterprise than Victorio Velasco, who is best known as the editor of the Seattle-based Filipino Forum This paper looks at his early career as a student and journalist after coming to the US from the Phillipines in In an era of American history marked by racial segregation and anti-immigrant attitudes, Washington was an anomaly: the only state in the west, and one of only eight nationwide, without laws banning racial intermarriage.
When anti-miscegenation bills were introduced in both the and sessions of the Washington State Legislature, an effective and well-organized coalition led by the African American, Filipino, and Labor communities mobilized against the measure. This essay looks at the early years of the newspaper. This essay examines the sharply conflicting editorial positions of some of the smaller newspapers in the region: the Seattle Argus, West Seattle Herald, Bainbridge Review, Northwest Enterprise, and Japanese American Courier.
The Philippine-American Chronicle was a biweekly newspaper published in Seattle from — General national and international news, local society news, poetry, wit and humor sections, and numerous advertisements were also a part of the paper. The online encyclopedia of Washington State history has dozens of articles on Asian American historical topics. Here links. Chew, Ron Born in Seattle's Chinatown, Ron Chew attended the University of Washington in the early s, establishing there his interest in journalism.
Lowry, Mike Mike Lowry was born in St. Smith, Charles Z. Sugiyama, Alan Alan Sugiyama was a leader in the Asian youth movement in the late s and s. Tagawa, Mike One of only three Japanese Americans to join the Black Panther Party, Mike Tagawa was born in an internment camp, grew up in Seattle, and served in the military before joining the party in Would you want to talk about that afterwards? And yet, not everyone was willing to forget and move on from their internment experience.
Some Japanese Americans fought for acknowledgment and justice for what had happened to the Japanese in the United States.
Although over , people had been removed from their homes, many among the general public were unaware of the extent to which the Japanese and Japanese American suffered during World War Two. The ignorance and prejudice of most Americans regarding the internment insulted and alarmed those who were victimized by it. Furthermore, many of the younger Japanese Americans were not fully aware of what their elders had endured.
The desire to inform these two unknowledgeable groups coincided with a growing but understated desire to seek retribution from the government for the injustices inflicted upon the Japanese.
As that need became more strongly felt in the Japanese American community, it was clear that awareness about the internment experience would have to be raised among the public. The Asian youth movement of the late s was part of this awareness raising. Although these efforts were met with some action by the government, it was not considered adequate by JACL activists.
Quickly, then, the MOHAI exhibit expanded to incorporate booths from community groups throughout the city, and shifted its focus to include political as well as social topics. Initial support for the shift was gauged by a letter dated April 3, , in which the Seattle JACL described the possible museum exhibit and called for support from within the Japanese community. It gave people an opportunity to release some pent-up emotions, feelings that were bottled up.
Work on the exhibit brought people of various organizations and of widely varying ages together to work towards a common goal for the first time. This overwhelming show of support and fraternity encouraged all involved, and allowed the JACL to move along in the planning stages excitedly. An important aspect to the exhibit was the creation of a strong and compelling title. To complete the Japanese American story, however, it was essential to include and acknowledge the shame of being discriminated against, interned, and betrayed by the American government.
The report further described:. The committee accepted the title for the exhibit and continued advertising the exhibit. Included within the framework of these overarching themes were details of early occupations of the Japanese, Japanese American organizations and activities, well-known, local Japanese American personalities, and the Japanese American World War Two experience.
These subjects were displayed through the use of photographic essays, scale models, and cultural objects along multiple panels. The internment experience did not dominate the exhibit, even if it is what the Pride and Shame would be most remembered for. The pride of the Japanese for their community, heritage, and perseverance was well documented in the exhibit. Numerous pictures featured Japanese from different eras engaging in cultural and American activities. A female mannequin displayed the traditional dress of a Japanese woman, while pictures on the panel behind her showed Japanese men and women in American attire.
Other panels showed the various Japanese religious institutions. The Buddhist Church received three panels and exhibited pictures of the church, a picture collage of Japanese youth, and information about Buddhism.
Photographs were the main medium used to convey information, showing people, the church structures, and portraits of various pastors. Multiple panels chronicled the early occupations of Japanese settlers through pictures, including railroading, lumbering, fisheries and canneries, farming, and hotel work. A scale model on display portrayed Japanese men working on the construction of railroad tracks. Finally, several panels spoke to the Sansei, the third generation of Japanese in the United States, describing current events and activities within the community.
The accomplishments of the Japanese Americans on display depicted and kindled pride within the community. The inclusion of these positive aspects of the Japanese American experience was vital to the exhibit. It also showed examples of yellow peril propaganda. A second panel showed pictures of the evacuation process. The photographs displayed groups of Japanese leaving their homes, boarding trains to the internment camps, waiting with luggage, and other images of relocation.
Other pictures portrayed the barracks and the camps, highlighting the desolate and inadequate living conditions in which the Japanese were forced to subsist. The third panel in the series showed more images of camp life. A map of the United States illustrated where the ten internment camps were located, and an aerial shot of one camp provided viewers with an idea of the camp structure.
A picture of a guard tower reminded viewers that the Japanese had not been relocated into normal housing conditions, but rather to heavily secured barracks. The photo of a lonely, dusty, and ugly street displayed a typical camp scene. The internment experience was further depicted through a full-scale model of the interior of a barrack. The set showed the cramped living quarters and the lack of privacy that a barrack provided. Included in the model were a twin bed, a table and three chairs, a dresser, a desk, and a wood-burning stove.
This life-size model gave many viewers their first glimpse at the living conditions in which Japanese lived during World War Two. Unfortunately, not all of the reactions were sensitive to the Japanese experience. When she returned, she was disturbed by parts of the exhibit—namely the displays and panels about Japanese internment. Gustison had thought that the exhibit would showcase harmless Japanese cultural items and practices, such as traditional clothing and art.
Gustison so off guard that she attempted to have the questionable parts removed. The exhibit was on display from July 7 to September 7, Flyers and pamphlets were also created and distributed. The P-I provided a somewhat longer article than the Times , but not much more in the way of opinion. It is hard to know how the Japanese American community as a whole felt about the exhibit. Many had spoken openly about internment while others had long been silent, and reactions to the exhibit likely varied.
An interview with Matsuda in November provides some insight into the complicated reactions of Japanese Americans to internment. On the one hand, Matsuda noted that his parents spoke openly about internment, and actually participated in reunions with people they met while interned. Moriguchi turned things over to Dr. Minoru Masuda, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Washington and co-Chair of the Pride and Shame Committee, because of his knowledge of attaining grants.
The application further explained the breakdown of the traveling exhibit, listing how it would travel, where to, and what would be included in the exhibit. A new committee was created within the JACL to take on the many tasks of changing the original exhibit into a traveling one. Members worked to revise the display; they built new pieces and structures and designed the panels to be easily put up and taken down.
Furthermore, the committee decided to enhance the exhibit with a live presentation by knowledgeable people. Not only would the pictures and displays speak to viewers, but members of the Japanese community would share stories, lead discussions, and answer questions.
Like the naming of the original exhibit, the quest for the exhibit logo produced an informative, artistic, and crucial graphic design. With the logistics of the exhibit worked out, the committee set to finding places to showcase the exhibit.
It is not designed to be shown only in educational institutions, but should be placed in shopping center malls, civic centers, public buildings and community centers…and military reservations.
This extension allowed even more people to view the Japanese American history and culture. The last showing of the exhibit was in at Western Washington University. Moriguchi and the Pride and Shame organizers had hoped to make a huge splash in the region and the nation. He reflected that. We just thought thousands of people would have to come to see our exhibit.
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