The Densho Digital Repository exists today because of federal funding that is now at risk. The reality is that less than 1% of people who use Densho’s resources support us financially. Make a gift to Densho to support free, open access resources that keep Japanese American history alive!

Shigeko Sese Uno

Nisei female born April 6, 1915, in Seattle, Washington's International District. At an early age became active in the Japanese Baptist Church. Parents owned and operated a dairy plant called White River Dairy. Was a student at the Baptist Missionary Training School in Chicago, Illinois. Took a group of young women on an eye-opening trip to Japan right before the war started. Incarcerated with her family in the Puyallup Assembly Center with a newborn baby, moving to Minidoka concentration camp before relocating to the East Coast. Returned to Seattle in 1947 and became the first Asian American and first woman to work at the Rainier Heat and Power Company, then a key property owner and landlord in the International District. She was the first woman president of the Japanese American Citizens League, and played a lead role in the redress movement.

Interviews

Shigeko Sese Uno Interview — ddr-densho-1000-98
September 18, 1998. Seattle, Washington.
02:30:26 — 34 segments.
Shigeko Sese Uno
API