Latest news with #JapaneseAmericans
Yahoo
an hour ago
- General
- Yahoo
Trauma of Japanese American WWII incarceration lasted generations: study
[Source] A West Virginia University study has revealed that Japanese American women who were likely incarcerated in World War II detention camps as children gave birth to less healthy babies decades later, demonstrating how trauma from forced displacement can ripple across generations. Key findings The research, published in the Journal of Public Economics in February, found that Japanese American mothers born on the West Coast before 1946 gave birth to babies weighing 81 grams less on average than babies born to Japanese American mothers from Hawaii. The study documented one additional low birth weight baby per 100 births, equivalent to a 15% increase, among mothers who had been incarcerated. Using birth data from 1970 to 1988, researchers analyzed outcomes for women born between 1925 and 1956. Effects persisted even for Japanese American mothers born between 1947 and 1956 — a decade after camps closed — with babies 50 to 56 grams lighter. The research used Hawaii as a comparison group since only 1% of Japanese Americans there were incarcerated, compared to nearly complete imprisonment on the mainland West Coast. Trending on NextShark: Why this matters The research examined the effects of President Franklin Roosevelt's 1942 executive order that led to the forced evacuation of approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans to prison camps. Lead researcher Daniel Grossman emphasized the study's broader implications about intergenerational trauma. 'Forced migration uproots communities,' Grossman told WVU Today. 'The trauma, loss of assets and displacement have long-lasting effects … Decades after exposure to incarceration, the nutritional, psychological and economic deprivations incarcerees experienced still harm their offspring.' Trending on NextShark: The findings contribute to growing understanding of how historical injustices can affect multiple generations, potentially informing policies for current displaced populations worldwide. This story is part of The Rebel Yellow Newsletter — a bold weekly newsletter from the creators of NextShark, reclaiming our stories and celebrating Asian American voices. Trending on NextShark: Subscribe free to join the movement. If you love what we're building, consider becoming a paid member — your support helps us grow our team, investigate impactful stories, and uplift our community. Subscribe here now! Trending on NextShark: Download the NextShark App: Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today!
Axios
2 days ago
- Business
- Axios
Historians chase Grand Avenue's hidden past
A group of Des Moines historians have launched a book project to document Grand Avenue's history — from Model T assembly lines to governors' mansions — and they're calling on the community to help fill in the gaps. Why it matters: They're uncovering never-before-told insights into the city's expansion, class divides and urban evolution that connect the past to the present, DSM historian and filmmaker Kristine Bartley tells Axios. State of play: Grand stretches nearly 17 miles from the State Fairgrounds in DSM through several western suburbs. The book will explore the area between 17th and 56th streets — a corridor renowned for its early apartment buildings, Gilded Age mansions, civic landmarks and the legacy of prominent families over generations. Behind the scenes: Research began years ago through a team at the DSM Historical Society, which approached some of the authors of a recent book about Woodland Cemetery to write and complete the project. The intrigue: The current team has launched additional research and continues to seek descendants of early property owners to uncover historic triumphs and tragedies, lead author Mary Christopher tells Axios "We're trying to find tidbits that people don't know about already," she said. Zoom in: Researchers recently obtained family history and photos of a home that once stood on the site of the iconic William O. and Mattie M. Coffee House — now the headquarters of Financial Integrators — before it was built near 42nd Street and Grand in the early 1900s. Another section will highlight how four homes along Grand were part of Des Moines' support network for Japanese Americans resettling from World War II internment camps. What we're watching: Whether researchers reveal untold stories or secrets behind well-known histories, such as Central Campus' automotive past and Terrace Hill.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Gallup war hero exhibit on display at National Medal of Honor Museum
May 25—The only thing on U.S. Army Cpl. Hiroshi Miyamura's mind when he was facing certain death in Korea was his troops. Miyamura was a machine-gun squad leader with the U.S. Army's Company H, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division when the enemy threatened to overrun his position near Taejon-Ni in April 1951. When he thought his soldiers could be killed, Miyamura said in a 2019 interview, he decided to withdraw "never thinking anything other than trying to protect my men." Giving cover to his men, Miyamura wielded a bayonet and machine gun and engaged in hand-to-hand combat against the Chinese before being captured and spending over two years in a prisoner of war camp. He would be given the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions, though he did not learn about it until after he was released from the camp in 1953. "Hiroshi's surprise was almost a physical thing," Scripps-Howard staff writer Jim Lucas wrote in the Aug. 20, 1953, article published in the Albuquerque Tribune. "His eyes widened and his chin trembled." "What!" Miyamura said. Over 70 years later, his story is being told in an exhibit at the National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas, which opened in March. "It was probably one of the greatest honors you can feel, to have your dad displayed in front of the public," Hiroshi Miyamura's son, Pat Miyamura, said in a recent phone interview. 'I was more or less by myself' Hiroshi "Hershey" Miyamura was born on Oct. 6, 1925, in Gallup, the son of Japanese immigrants (Gallup now has a high school named after him). He served in the U.S. Army's 442nd Regimental Combat Team in World War II, after the federal government lifted restrictions on Japanese Americans serving in the war. Following his discharge in 1946, Miyamura enlisted with the Army Reserve. When the Korean War began, he was called to active duty and became a squad leader in the Third Infantry Division. Months later, on April 24, 1951, his life would change forever. On that night, his men were in a defensive position near Taejon-Ni when the Chinese attacked. Miyamura jumped from his shelter wielding a bayonet and killed about 10 people. Returning to his position, he administered first aid and directed their evacuation. After another assault, Miyamura got to a machine gun and fired until it was empty. He then bayoneted his way through enemy soldiers to a second gun emplacement. Miyamura ordered his men back while he remained to cover their movement. He killed more than 50 Chinese combatants before his ammunition ran out again, according to his medal citation. "I was more or less by myself," Miyamura said in the Scripps-Howard article. He was retreating when he ran into a Chinese soldier who threw a grenade at him. Miyamura kicked it back before it blew up, injuring him. He kept moving until he stumbled into barbed wire where he was captured. "When last seen, he was fighting furiously against an overwhelming number of enemy soldiers," the citation said. "Cpl. Miyamura's indomitable heroism and consummate devotion to duty reflect the upmost glory on himself and uphold the illustrious traditions of the military service." Miyamura was released as prisoner on Aug. 20, 1953, after the armistice was signed. Two months later, Oct. 27, 1953, he received the Medal of Honor from President Dwight D. Eisenhower. "It seems impossible that human beings could stand up to the kind of punishment they received and deliver the kind of service they have," Eisenhower said during the ceremony. "There are so many Americans that do not know what the medal represents or what any soldier or service woman or man does for his (or her) country," Miyamura said in a Congressional Medal of Honor Society Living History video. "I hope one of these days they will learn of the sacrifices that a lot of these men and women have made for this country." 'We can be inspired' Miyamura is one of 341 people featured in the National Medal of Honor Museum, which has a ring of honor listing all 3,528 recipients. The medal dates back to 1861. These people not only answered the call of duty, but they served under extraordinary circumstances "and we can be inspired by those stories," National Medal of Honor Museum President and CEO Chris Cassidy said. Along with his Medal of Honor, Miyamura's exhibit includes unopened letters from his wife, Terry Miyamura, after he was taken prisoner. It also has an opened letter to her, saying in part to "Please take care of yourself, it won't be much longer. If the people back home want peace there is nothing that can prevent it." Pat Miyamura said his father, who died at the age of 97 in Phoenix just after Thanksgiving in 2022, did not want to talk about his experiences in Korea. It wasn't until Miyamura visited with other veterans over the years that Pat Miyamura said he learned more about the man who nearly died saving his fellow soldiers in April 1951 and the importance of the medal he earned. "To see and hear their stories, you're in awe of them," Pat Miyamura said. "To know what these recipients have gone through to deserve their medals is kind of sobering and emotional."
Time Magazine
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Time Magazine
Elizabeth Alexander
Few people have had careers that have championed diversity on as many fronts as Elizabeth Alexander. She has focused on the cause as a scholar, a writer, a teacher, an artist, and now as president of the $7.9 billion Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the largest funder of the arts and humanities in the U.S. So how does she feel about the rollback of diversity initiatives that she has spent most of her working life championing? 'Absolutely laser- focused, undauntedly focused, on the values that our work contains,' she says. 'And on the assertion that America is a richly and powerfully multi-vocal, multi-experiential democracy.' In April, after President Donald Trump's cost-cutting team deemed that much of the funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute for Museum and Library studies was wasteful, Mellon stepped in. 'We had grantees calling us, panicked, some of them unable to continue their projects and run their organizations,' says Alexander. 'We made a $15 million grant to the Federation of State Humanities Councils, and they will redistribute that money in all of the states and the six territories, so that these projects for now can carry forward.' That won't keep the lights on at all the reading groups, literary festivals, and free college classes that American taxpayers previously funded. But it has already spurred at least one philanthropist to make a matching grant of $250,000 to the Alabama State Humanities Council—and that, Alexander says, is the goal. 'Always in philanthropy, we are hoping that because of our extraordinary teams, and the power of the grantees, that others will be more able to see what those folks are doing and get excited about it and think about supporting it,' she says. Since arriving at the Mellon Foundation in 2018, after stints in academia and a concurrent career as a writer—she read one of her poems at President Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration—Alexander has used a social justice lens to examine the institution's grantmaking. 'We are trying to tell and lift up as broad a swath of American stories as possible,' she says. One of her signature initiatives has been the $500 million multi-year Monuments Project, which memorializes lesser-known figures and events from American history in public spaces. These can take the form of museum installations, statues, murals, or even a book of calligraphy, as in the case of The Ireichō, which lists the names of the 125,000 Japanese Americans forcibly relocated to internment camps during World War II. In February, Mellon announced a $35 million grant to help preserve the legacy of jazz, a uniquely American art form. Also new in 2025: a fellowship program that provides older jazz musicians with a $100,000 grant, plus extra cash for housing and other needs, so they can make and preserve their music. Alexander is energized by her fellow philanthropists' responses to the federal funding cuts and elimination of DEI programs. 'As much as this is a challenging time, it's actually a very powerful time in philanthropy, because people are coming together,' she says. Her hope is that by bringing these stories to light, people will begin to appreciate that American life is made richer by the differences of its varied communities. 'How do we emphasize and support… the critical thinking that allows people to learn and understand that you can tell more than one story at a time?' she asks. 'That allows people to ask the questions of how power works and what has been included and what has not been included, and how we can tell and uphold all of our history.' Though her day-to-day focus can vary, Alexander sees her books, her scholarship, and her administrative and grant-making work as all of a piece. What has surprised her about philanthropy is how sweeping its effects can be: teachers' work lives on in their students, writers' work lives on in the minds and lives of their readers, but philanthropists' work has visible ripple effects for generations. 'The reach of the work that people are doing is infinite,' she says.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Terminal Island's last Japanese American buildings are under threat
[Source] The last two surviving buildings from a once-thriving Japanese American fishing village in Terminal Island, Los Angeles, have been included in the National Trust for Historic Preservation's list of America's 11 most endangered historic places in 2025. About Terminal Island and the buildings Built in 1918 and 1923, respectively, dry goods store Nanka Shoten and grocery A. Nakamura Co. stand as the only remaining structures from a community of roughly 3,000 Japanese Americans who lived on Terminal Island before World War II. Located on Tuna Street, which served as the commercial center of 'Fish Harbor,' the buildings now sit empty on a waterfront street in what has become a heavily industrialized port dominated by container storage facilities. 'Terminal Island is unrecognizable from the once happy loving place where I was born,' former resident Miho Shiroishi said in a statement. 'Having the two buildings there when everything else is gone from the village is a huge comfort ... Without the two Tuna Street Buildings what do you have? Nothing.' Trending on NextShark: A substantial contribution Terminal Island represents a crucial but often overlooked chapter in American history. Its residents were reportedly the first Japanese Americans forcibly removed after Pearl Harbor, with FBI agents arresting fishermen in February 1942 and families given just 48 hours to evacuate. 'Japanese fishermen's contribution was substantial,' Donna Reiko Cottrell, a board member of the Terminal Islanders Association, told the Los Angeles Public Press. 'If you don't believe me, take a look at the LA County flag ... in the bottom left-hand corner, there's a tuna ... that's how important fishing was.' The Port of Los Angeles is reportedly considering demolition of the buildings to make room for container storage, despite their pending nomination for Historic-Cultural Monument status initiated in February 2025 by Councilmember Tim McOsker. Trending on NextShark: What's being done Preservation efforts are led by the Terminal Islanders Association, which has partnered with the National Trust and LA Conservancy to propose solutions, including potentially repurposing the buildings as stores serving port workers. 'We have to have hope,' Terry Hara, president of Terminal Islanders Association, told Pacific Citizen earlier this year. 'Our hope is to preserve the buildings, the last piece of what was part of the Japanese village on Tuna Street to repurpose and help contribute cultural value.' Trending on NextShark: This story is part of The Rebel Yellow Newsletter — a bold weekly newsletter from the creators of NextShark, reclaiming our stories and celebrating Asian American voices. Subscribe free to join the movement. If you love what we're building, consider becoming a paid member — your support helps us grow our team, investigate impactful stories, and uplift our community. Trending on NextShark: Subscribe here now! Download the NextShark App: Want to keep up to date on Asian American News? Download the NextShark App today!
