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KK: Good afternoon, everyone. Today, we're here today to interview Bill Tashima for our Seattle JACL Legacy Grant project. And we have here Bill, who will introduce himself and his role as former president of Seattle JACL and someone who's quite active in JACL, and Elaine Kim, who is our University of Washington student intern, will be conducting the interview. So with that, I'm gonna go ahead and pass the baton to Elaine who will initiate our interview with Bill today.

EK: So, thank you, Bill, for agreeing to this interview. I am thoroughly excited not only just to get to know you, but all your achievements, and all you have done for, not just the JACL, but the overall contribution to the society. And like Kyle said, this is an interview for the Legacy Fund Grant project, which was -- it's a project that documents Seattle JACL's 100 years of activism, and so we're being a... we have received a grant or JACL -- Seattle JACL has received a grant that has allowed the chapter to interview amazing individuals who have contributed to the activism of the chapter. So I guess we'll just go right in and start off with asking Bill just about -- just an introduction. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

BT: Thanks, Elaine. Yes, my name is Bill Tashima. I'm a Sansei or third generation Japanese American. I was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and why Cleveland? Are there Japanese Americans in Cleveland? Actually, there were because, during the war, when Japanese Americans were incarcerated, one way that they could get out was to voluntarily relocate to the East Coast or Midwest. So my mom, who was from Washington, at Heart Mountain, Wyoming, relocated to Cleveland. And my dad, who was from Southern California, at Poston at the incarceration camp, relocated there to Cleveland. There they were, at the time, probably around 2,700 Japanese American Nisei all in their twenties, mostly unmarried, and one part of Cleveland, Ohio. And people met, formed their organizations, and got married, and that's where I came from. So even though you may think are there Japanese Americans in Cleveland? Yes. And because we were all thrown in the same situation, we were very close knit for a really small community. But I grew up with, in a strong JACL household, my dad was one of the first presidents in Cleveland, Ohio. And went to school in a small liberal arts college, spent my junior year in Germany going to school at a German university. Afterwards went to Kent State to major, get a master's degree -- which I didn't complete, in political science. And then I had a whole series of jobs, I mean, it was like, I was a bartender, I was a waiter, I was working in a men's budget store, I worked in a factory. [Laughs] I worked at SeaWorld of Ohio -- yes, there was a SeaWorld in Ohio also, but all sorts of types of jobs until I landed my permanent job which was working for the Social Security Administration which I worked until I retired. And, anyway, around 1980, 1981, I realized I could do that job anywhere, so I went in for some transfers and transferred to Seattle, Washington. And, gosh, say a little bit about yourself, that's kind of hard. I met my first partner who later passed away from AIDS, became involved with the community with a whole lot of different organizations. I was chapter president in 2004 and later in 2012. In 2005, I met my current partner, Chris Bentley, and we were married in 2013. And we have a son who just turned twenty-five. I retired in 2010, and very, very happy to be retired. That's a little bit about myself.

EK: Well, thank goodness that you are in Seattle. What would we do without Bill in Seattle? But thank you for that introduction.

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