The Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach Adult Education committee is proud to present
Japanese American Concentration Camps in World War II
Presented by artist Mary Higuchi and historian Don Hata
Thursday March 10, 2016
Presentation at 7pm
Wylder Hall – UUCLB
5450 Atherton Street
Long Beach, CA
During World War II, the United States government forced some of its citizens into what were euphemistically called ‘relocation centers’. In point of fact these were concentration camps – “a guarded compound for the detention or imprisonment of aliens, members of ethnic minorities, political opponents, etc.” During this time “Families lost most of their personal possessions as they were forced to remote areas…Parents lost control of the family. The long hours of work to rebuild their lives…took a toll…”
Please join us for an evening of education and thoughtful discussion with our two speakers:
Dr. Don Hata is an Emeritus Professor of History from California State University, Dominguez Hills, recipient of many awards including Teacher of the Year and author of many publications and books including Japanese Americans and World War II: Mass Removal, Imprisonment, and Redress. At the age of 3 he became Political Prisoner #40451C of the United States of America, in the U.S. War Relocation Authority concentration camp for persons of Japanese ancestry (WRA File #312014) at Gila River, Arizona. He and his family were released in 1945. He earned a Ph.D. in History from the University of Southern California.
Hatsuko Mary Higuchi was born in Los Angeles in 1939. In 1942, Mary’s family was imprisoned in the U.S. War Relocation Authority’s Colorado River concentration camp at Poston, Arizona. They were released in 1945, but her father died in 1951, after purchasing a 10-acre farm, leaving her mother to raise four small children and work the land alone. Mary earned an MA from Pepperdine University and taught elementary school from 1962 until retirement in 2003. Her life changed in 1989 when she met luminary artist Henry Fukuhara, whose mentoring and support launched her career as an artist. In 1998, Mary was among the founding group of plein-air artists who joined Henry’s annual Manzanar Paint Outs.