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.

981 narrators

Joanne Chiedi

Born in Washington, D.C. During the Redress Movement, worked for the Department of Justice's Office of Redress Administration (ORA), which was established to identify and …

Michiko Frances Chikahisa

Nisei female. Born January 9, 1929, in Los Angeles, California. Grew up in Los Angeles where father ran a successful produce business. During World War …

Ben Chikaraishi

Nisei male. Born September 10, 1921, in Colusa, California. As a child, family moved to Stockton, California, where parents owned a hotel. Was attending the …

Ryan Chin

Camila Nakashima and Bill Tashima interviewed Ryan Chin. Ryan Chin was Seattle JACL Chapter President in 2011 and was also a three-time National JACL Vice-President. …

Helen Harano Christ

Sansei female. Born August 26, 1933, in Berkeley, California. Removed to Tanforan Assembly Center, California, and Topaz concentration camp, Utah. Family resettled in North Platte, …

Diana Morita Cole

Nisei female. Born May 26, 1944, in the Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho. Prior to World War II, parents lived in Hood River, Oregon. After the …

Robert Coombs

White male. Born May 26, 1918, in Visalia, California. Attended school in Sacramento, California, and then enrolled in the University of Southern California. Involved in …

Patricia Cooper

Sansei female. Grew up knowing very little about parents' World War II incarceration experience.

Tink Cooper

Born in Atlanta, Georgia. During the Redress Movement, worked for the Department of Justice's Office of Redress Administration (ORA), which was established to identify and …

Jack Dairiki

Kibei male. Born December 25, 1930 in Sacramento, California. Grew up in Sacramento where parents ran a hotel. In 1941, traveled to Japan with father …

Jun Dairiki

Nisei female. Born September 2, 1934, in San Francisco, California. Grew up in the Japantown area of San Francisco. During World War II, removed to …

Roger Daniels

White male. Born December 1, 1927, in New York City, New York. Charles Phelps Taft Professor Emeritus of History, University of Cincinnati. Served as a …

Eleanor Davis

White female. Born November 17, 1922, in Seattle, Washington. Parents were both chiropractors and supportive of Japanese Americans around the time of World War II. …

Janice Deguchi

Alison Fujimoto and Joy St. Germain interviewed 1998 Chapter President, Janice Deguchi. During her tenure, third generation Sansei Deguchi was one of the youngest Chapter …

Russell Demo

White male. Born July 2, 1924, in San Francisco, California. Grew up in San Francisco before being inducted into the military following the bombing of …

Pam Rouse Dixon

Born in Newport News, Virginia. During the Redress Movement, worked for the Department of Justice's Office of Redress Administration (ORA), which was established to identify …

Florence Ohmura Dobashi

Nisei female. Born October 26, 1927, in Los Angeles, California. Grew up in several cities in California where father was a minister, but was living …

Perry Dobashi

Sansei male. Born in 1938 in San Jose, California. Raised in San Jose, where parents and grandparents owned a store in Japantown. Removed to Santa …

Joan Ritchie Doi

Nisei female. Born in Los Angeles, California. During World War II, removed to the Pomona Assembly Center, California, and the Heart Mountain concentration camp, Wyoming.

Lisa Doi

Yonsei female. Born August 23, 1991, in Chicago, Illinois. Grew up in Chicago, where her parents and their families resettled after World War II. Involved …

Roy Doi

Nisei male. Born March 26, 1933, in Sacramento, California. Grew up in Sacramento where father was a migrant farm laborer. During World War II, removed …

Tonko Doi

Nisei-Sansei female. Born December 6, 1941, in Los Angeles, California. During World War II, sent with family to the Santa Anita Assembly Center, California, and …

Yoneko Dozono

Nisei female. Born February 4, 1915, in Portland, Oregon. Grew up in Portland before being sent to be educated in Japan at age sixteen. Married …

Chester Earls

White male. Born in Spokane, Washington. Served as pastor of the First Methodist Church in Portland, Oregon, with a mainly Japanese American congregation, for thirteen …

Roy Ebihara

Nisei male. Born January 11, 1934, in Clovis, New Mexico, where father worked for the Santa Fe Railroad. On January 19, 1942, officials rounded up …
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