<Begin Segment 24>

MN: So after the case was dismissed, what did NCJAR do with all the leftover money and the books?

YH: The board decided to give the money to AFSC, the American Friends Service Committee, and the books went to the library in San Francisco. I think there's a library of books there in San Francisco, but I don't know the name of it, but I think that's where all the books went.

MN: Was it a difficult decision to disband after ten years?

YH: No, I don't think so, because I think that the board felt that they were getting pretty tired, and that the decision had been made by the Supreme Court so that there's no reason for us to continue.

MN: Did you feel that you should get involved with the redress movement going through Congress?

YH: No, because by then Congress had passed the law to give twenty thousand dollars to each individual who was in camp.

MN: Well, a lot of people think the NCJAR lawsuit influenced Congress to pass the redress bill.

YH: Yes.

MN: What are your thoughts on that?

YH: I think so, 'cause Barney Frank said that, Barney Frank said that that was so, that if it hadn't been for the lawsuit, Congress wouldn't have passed that law for twenty thousand dollars.

MN: So Congressman Barney Frank personally said that to you?

YH: Not to me, but I think it was in a newspaper. He was quoted as saying that. 'Cause twenty thousand is a lot less than two hundred thousand, which, if we had won, the court would have given each individual.

MN: So do you think the government got off easy, at twenty thousand?

YH: Well, I think so, but that's the way the government decided to give each of the individuals who was in camp and was alive at that time, 'cause there were a lot of people who died during those years who had been in camp.

MN: So when this redress bill did pass, how did you feel about that?

YH: We felt that it's better to have one bird in hand than two birds in the bush.

MN: When you got your redress check, what did you do with the money?

YH: I spent the money to pay off our mortgage.

MN: What did William do with his money?

YH: William spent his money on, bought a new car. He, at the time he thought he could buy a new car and a new garage, but by the time he got his check there was only enough money to buy a car.

MN: So the NCJAR papers were donated to the Japanese American National Museum. How did that come about?

YH: He was asked if he would donate his papers there, and so he sent them I don't know how many cardboard boxes of material, at least a dozen, I'd say.

MN: Okay, Yuriko, I have asked all my questions. Is there something else you want to add on to this that I didn't ask?

YH: No.

MN: We covered all the bases?

YH: I think so.

<End Segment 24> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.