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Narrators
Narrators are the interview subjects of oral histories contained in the Densho Digital Repository. Our interviewees, or narrators, share their life histories to preserve history, educate the public, and promote tolerance. We urge our users to approach these materials in the same spirit.
1008 narrators
1008 narrators
Eddie Owada
Nisei male. Born December 22, 1925, in Tacoma, Washington. Grew up primarily on Vashon Island, Washington. Removed to the Pinedale Assembly Center and the Tule …
Albert A. Oyama
Nisei male. Born April 10, 1926, in Portland, Oregon. Grew up in Montavilla, Oregon, where father ran a Japanese-language newspaper. During World War II, removed …
Masuko Oyama
Nisei female. Born February 21, 1927, in Portland, Oregon. Grew up in Portland where parents ran a hotel business. During World War II, removed with …
George Oye
Kibei male. Born 1915 in Florin, California. From age seven to seventeen, lived in Japan when the family decided to move there. Returned to the …
Atsumi Ozawa
Nisei female. Born May 25, 1928, in Huancayo, Peru. Grew up in Huancayo, where father ran a successful store. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, …
Larry R. Pacheco
White male. Born November 4, 1922, in San Jose, California. Drafted into the military after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. During World War II, served as …
Frances Sumida Palk
Nisei female. Born July 31, 1939, in Portland, Oregon, where parents ran a hotel. During World War II, removed with family to the Portland Assembly …
HyeEun Park
Brent Seto and Bill Tashima interviewed HyeEun Park. HyeEun Park was Chapter President in 2013 and as a Korean American was the Seattle JACL's first …
Susan Brown Phelps
White female. Born March 1, 1941, in Bishop, California. During World War II, father was the assistant project director at the Manzanar concentration camp, California. …
Kerry Christenson Powell
White female. Grew up in California and moved to Lone Pine as a child. During World War II, visited the Manzanar concentration camp, California, on …
Chizuko Judy Sugita de Quieiroz
Nisei female. Born September 15, 1932, in Lodi, California. Grew up in Jersey Island, a small island in the Sacramento Delta. Following the bombing of …
Doreen Rapada
Female of First Squamish Nation and Filipino descent. Born August 3, 1943, on Bainbridge Island, Washington. Grew up on Bainbridge Island, where parents worked as …
Dotti Yasuko Tagawa Reisbord
Nisei-Sansei female. Born May 9, 1941, in Seattle Washington. An infant when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, family was sent to the Puyallup Assembly Center, Washington, …
Edwin "Ed" L. Rothfuss
White male. Former superintendent of the Death Valley National Park. Involved with the establishment of the Manzanar National Historic Site.
Mika Kurose Ruthann
Elaine Kim led a panel interview of Ruthann, Paul, and Mika Kurose. The conversation also touched upon reflections about Aki Kurose, Seattle teacher and peace …
Lucas Rotman
Yonsei male. Grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where several generations of family members were very involved in Japanese American community activism and the establishment of …
Miki Maehara Rotman
Nisei female. Born 1942 on Maui, Hawaii, where both parents grew up. Father was killed in action in Europe while serving with the 442nd Regimental …
Kanji Sahara
Issei male. Born April 4, 1934, in Hiroshima, Japan, while mother and older siblings were visiting Japan for an extended period. Came to the United …
Barry Saiki
Nisei male. Born June 21, 1919, in Stockton, California. During World War II, served with the Military Intelligence Service in Japan.
Joe Saito
Nisei male. Born in Portland, Oregon. Grew up in Oregon, where parents ran a farm. In 1941, volunteered for the army and served as a …
Margaret Saito
Nisei female. Born March 14, 1933, in El Centro, California. Grew up in California where parents were farmers. During World War II, removed with family …
Paul Saito
Nisei male. Born January 21, 1923, in Portland, Oregon. Grew up in Carver and Ontario, Oregon, where parents ran a farm. Remained in Ontario during …
Sumi Saito
Nisei female. Born in Asher, Washington. Grew up in Vale, Oregon, where parents ran a farm. Remained in Oregon during World War II.
Toru Saito
Sansei male. Born December 11, 1937, in San Francisco, California. Nearly age four when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Removed with family to the Tanforan Assembly …