PARTNER

INTERVIEW ID

ddr-densho-122-11

NARRATOR

James Omura

INTERVIEW TITLE

James Omura Interview II

00:43:54 — 10 segments

DESCRIPTION

Nisei male. Born November 27, 1912, on Bainbridge Island, Washington. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, moved to Denver and took a job as English Editor of a Japanese American vernacular newspaper, the Rocky Shimpo. As editor, wrote about and supported the Fair Play Committee in Heart Mountain concentration camp. Was charged and tried for conspiracy to counsel draft evasion, and was acquitted on the grounds of the First Amendment and freedom of the press. Mr. Omura was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Asian American Journalists Association.

(This interview was conducted by filmmaker Frank Abe for his 2000 documentary, Conscience and the Constitution, about the World War II resisters of conscience at the Heart Mountain incarceration camp. As a result, the interviews in this collection are typically not life histories, instead primarily focusing on issues surrounding the resistance movement itself.)

PRODUCTION

Frank Abe, interviewer; Frank Chin, interviewer

PERSONS/ORGANIZATIONS

CONTRIBUTOR

Frank Abe Collection

PREFERRED CITATION

Courtesy of Frank Abe

RIGHTS