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Asian names are so difficult!
A recent news item from Texas is getting lots of attention from Asian Americans. In a hearing on voter registration legislation, Republican state representative Betty Brown asked Ramey Ko of…
Summer Interview Trips
I am excited about the interview trips we have planned for this summer. We are going to at least five areas where we haven’t yet done any interviews. Whenever we…
Aloha, Densho
Densho is supporting a bill submitted by Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii to have the Secretary of the Interior conduct a study of internment camp sites in Hawaii. The idea…
Back to School!
This week for the first time, I got to see how Densho’s teaching materials are used in the classroom. It was an eye-opening experience. Our education consultant, Sarah Loudon, and…
Fred Korematsu Center for Law and Equality
Yesterday, on a sunny spring day in Seattle I attended the launch event for the new Seattle University Law School’s Fred Korematsu Center for Law and Equality. I have very…
Separated by Generations, United in History
I have mixed reactions to this week’s Seattle Times article about our Nisei vets. Densho admires their phenomenal courage, as documented in many interviews in our Digital Archive. Also documented…
One Step Forward…
Just when we are starting to feel optimistic about race relations in this country (who in Densho’s extended family isn’t thrilled with the diversity of the Obama cabinet?), we hear…
Raising Awareness
The front page article of yesterday’s Seattle Times about Don Wakamatsu, the Mariner’s new head coach and first Asian American major league baseball coach, was both remarkable and inspirational for…
A New Resource
A few months ago the creator of a personal website asked for permission to use excerpts from the Camp Newspaper Collections. The camp papers have been a popular item ever…
Information for Freedom
Among the first executive orders signed by Barack Obama were two that require greater compliance with Freedom of Information Act requests. Now, there’s an executive order Densho likes. We are…
Happy Spring from Densho
The cold and wet weather is still lingering in the Seattle area, but Densho got to celebrate the beginning of the spring by hosting an “ike-bana” (flower arrangement) class last…
Tribal Grant
Yesterday I went with Densho board members Tomio Moriguchi and Mari Horita to the Muckleshoot Casino to accept a check for the very nice sum of $10,000. (Mari is pictured…
It “Was” in the P-I
St. Patrick’s Day 2009 turned out to be unlucky for Seattle, this being the last day of business for the local Post-Intelligencer newspaper that started in 1863. There’ll be no…
Message from Densho’s New Technical Director
This is my first entry to densho.blog as the newest member of the Densho staff, having taken over as Technical Director when Geoff departed after 8 years with Densho. Coming…
Day of Remembrance 2009
Another February 19 brings another Day of Remembrance. We Japanese Americans and friends of civil liberties observe the anniversary of FDR’s signing of Executive Order 9066 every year. And every…
Densho Remodel
In recent months, Densho headquarters have been getting a much-needed facelift. With the help of generous donors and contractors, our humble abode is becoming more presentable. We rent an annex…
A New Chapter
In a few days, I will leave my position as Director of Technology and Information at Densho to move on to another nonprofit organization. For many people, a job is…
A newspaper ends but photos live on
Sad news from Seattle: One of our major daily newspapers is succumbing to the sea change in the media market and the swamping of the economy. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has…
The Beginnings of a Speech
I am preparing a speech I will be making this Saturday for the Seattle JACL Installation dinner. The theme of the event is “Our Nisei, Okage sama de,” or, we…
Washington DC meetings
Over the weekend I traveled to Washington DC and met and talked with the Consuls-Generals from 13 different cities. (In the photo I am having lunch seated between Mitsunori Namba,…
Teachers on Board
On Saturday we held the first of two meetings with a dozen (plus a few) teachers who will help Densho test our civil liberties curriculum units in their classrooms this…
Bridge of Technology
Densho is receiving more web hits and comments from Japan these days. The connections continue to grow between Densho’s work with Japanese American history and contemporary relations with the land…
New Densho Archive Interviews
To cap off a successful year of interviewing in 2008, we have added thirteen new interviews to the Densho Digital Archive (listed below). Thank you once again to our community…
End of Year Storm
Those Densho staff members who haven’t flown home for the holidays find themselves snowbound by the Seattle winter storm of 2008–a heavier snowfall than we’ve had in decades. My backyard…