Category: women’s history
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Women in the Redress Movement and Beyond: A Conversation with Kathy Masaoka
Kathy Nishimoto Masaoka, a child of WWII incarceration survivors, was born and raised in multicultural Boyle Heights, California. She served as a high school teacher for three decades and is…
The World of Mary Mon Toy, the Broadway Actress Who Hid Her Japanese Identity Behind a Chinese Name
Actress and performer Mary Mon Toy is best known for her breakout role as Minnie Ho in the original Broadway production of The World of Suzie Wong — which led…
“Little Benedict Arnolds in Skirts”: The Shitara Sisters’ Scandalous WWII Treason Trial
In late 1943, three Japanese American sisters helped two German prisoners of war escape from a southern Colorado POW camp. The men were soon caught and sensationalized stories of “Japanazi…
The Women Who Led the Fight to Overturn the WWII Supreme Court Japanese American Incarceration Cases
Lorraine Bannai was part of the legal team that in 1983 successfully overturned Fred Korematsu’s conviction for his wartime civil disobedience. Along with similar wins for fellow resisters Gordon Hirabayashi…
Tying a Family Together: My Grandmother’s Wedding Obi
Growing up I was always fascinated by the blue trunk in our sunroom. When opened, it reeked of mothballs but contained all the treasures my grandmother saved over the course…
Diana Emiko Tsuchida On How Her Grandmother’s Story Helped Her Write Her Own
In this guest post for Women’s History Month, Diana Emiko Tsuchida, creator of the journal and oral history project Tessaku, writes about how her grandmother’s experiences during WWII have shaped…
This Classic Novel by Yoshiko Uchida Chronicles the Dreams and Struggles of Japanese Picture Brides
In an excerpt from her foreword to a new re-release of Yoshiko Uchida’s Picture Bride, Elena Tajma Creef shines a light on the unsung history of the women who inspired…
A Japanese Picture Bride in Montana: The Story of Aya Hori Masuoka
In this guest post, Kathryn Tolbert, creator of the oral history archive The War Bride Project, shines some light on the experiences of Japanese immigrant women in Montana through the…
Eugenie Clark Swam with Sharks and Blazed a Path for Women in Science
Famed marine biologist Eugenie Clark, or “Genie” as she was known to friends and family, was born in New York City on May 4, 1922. Her father, Charles Clark, died…
Lane Tomosumi Shigihara: “Vocal Young Woman”
In this final piece from our 2022 Women’s History Month writing challenge, gosei poet Lane Tomosumi Shigihara shares a haiku inspired by his grandmother’s courage in standing up for her…
Patricia Wakida: “Four Suns, These Issei Women”
The latest addition to our Women’s History Month writing challenge comes from yonsei artist, writer and community historian Patricia Wakida, who shares a photo from her great-grandmother’s 88th birthday and…
Karen L. Ishizuka: “Why, Oh Archive?”
Karen L. Ishizuka is a writer and chief curator of the Japanese American National Museum. In response to our Women’s History Month writing challenge—in which we ask writers to share…
Nine Nikkei Women Writers You Need to be Reading Right Now
We asked writers, teachers, artists, and activists to help curate a special Women’s History Month reading list featuring books by Nikkei women authors. They came up with a phenomenal list…
Brynn Saito: “What exists outside the frame”
Brynn Saito is a Korean American and Japanese American poet, educator, and organizer, born and raised in Fresno, California. In response to our Women’s History Month call for writers to…
Nikiko Masumoto: “How to Wonder”
This Women’s History Month, we asked writers to submit short responses to photographs of women in the Densho archives or in their own family collections. Today’s submission comes from Nikiko…
Lauren Ito: “Arrival As We”
To celebrate Women’s History Month this year, we invited a select group of writers to submit short responses to photographs of women in the Densho archives or in their own…
Yoshiko Uchida’s Remarkable—and Underappreciated—Literary Career
I have long been a fan of Yoshiko Uchida, a Berkeley-based writer best known for her children’s and young adult books about the World War II forced removal and incarceration….
Ask A Historian: How Did Japanese American Mothers Feed Their Babies in Camp?
Densho Content Director Brian Niiya answers a fascinating question from a 99 year old camp survivor who worked in an “assembly center” milk station providing food for infant incarcerees.
Issei Mothers Played an Important—and Largely Forgotten—Role in the Japanese American Draft Resistance Movement
The resistance of nearly 300 young men who refused to be drafted into the U.S. military out of U.S. concentration camps has become a prominent part of the Japanese American…
The Nisei Women Who Fought—and Won—an Early Redress Battle in Seattle
On February 27, 1942, the Seattle School Board accepted the forced resignations of 27 Nisei women working as clerks for the school district. Four decades later, those women fought for,…
Setsuko Matsunaga Nishi: Creating Community and Building Bridges After WWII Incarceration
Setsuko Matsunaga Nishi was born in Los Angeles on October 17, 1921, the second of four children—and oldest of three sisters—of Hatsu and Tahei Matsunaga. She grew up in a…
Patsy Mink: Ahead of the Majority and Ahead of Her Time
Patsy Takemoto Mink was born in Pā`ia, Maui, on December 6, 1927, to Nisei parents Suematsu and Mitama Takemoto. Like many Japanese Americans growing up in Hawai`i at that time,…
Surviving Racism, Toxic Masculinity, and Some Gruesome Medical Ordeals
There’s a tendency during women’s history month to focus our celebrations on the women who accomplished great things as activists, artists, and thinkers. And indeed these women should be celebrated!…
Smashing the Patriarchy since 1895: The Anti-Violence Advocacy of Issei Pioneer Yeiko Mizobe So
Yeiko Mizobe So was born in Fukuoka on December 4, 1867 to samurai Nobuhara Mizobe and his wife Ino. She and her three siblings grew up in a fairly privileged…