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.

1002 narrators

Yoshimi Hasui Watada

Nisei female. Born August 23, 1935, in Brawley, California. Grew up in the town of Niland, California. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, moved along …

Anne Yuki Watanabe

Yonsei female. Born in 1990 in Champaign, Illinois. Father's family is from Canada and her mother is from Japan. Paternal grandparents were incarcerated in Tashme …

Edith Watanabe

Nisei female. Born August 29, 1921, in Seattle, Washington. Spent prewar years in Burlington, Washington. Was just starting college when incarcerated at Tule Lake concentration …

Harvey Watanabe

Nisei male. Born February 7, 1919, in Exeter, California. Spent prewar childhood in Visalia, California. Drafted prior to World War II. Served in an activated …

Iku Amatatsu Watanabe

Nisei female. Grew up on Bainbridge Island, Washington. During World War II, removed with family to the Manzanar concentration camp, California, and transferred to the …

June T. Watanabe

Nisei female. Born 1924 in Venice, California. Grew up in Lawndale, California, where parents farmed. During World War II, removed to the Santa Anita Assembly …

Louie Watanabe

Nisei male. Born August 22, 1925, in Walnut Grove, California. Grew up in Walnut Grove, where parents owned and operated a restaurant and rooming house. …

Martha Watanabe

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

Mary Ishimoto Watanabe

Nisei female. Born September 29, 1920, in San Jose, California. Grew up in Cupertino, California. Attending San Jose State College when World War II broke …

Masao Watanabe

Nisei male. Born December 10, 1923, in Seattle, Washington. Grew up near the Nihonmachi area of Seattle. Incarcerated at the Puyallup Assembly Center, Washington, and …

Matsue Watanabe

Nisei female. Born July 12, 1927, and raised in Bainbridge Island, Washington. Removed to Manzanar concentration camp, California, during World War II. Left camp to …

May Ohmura Watanabe

Nisei female. Born May 13, 1922, in Chico, California. Grew up in Chico, where parents ran a produce store. Was in college when Japan bombed …

Warren H. Watanabe

Nisei male. Born August 12, 1921, in San Francisco, California. Grew up in San Francisco, where father worked as the executive secretary of the Japanese …

Wesley K. Watanabe

Ni-ten-gosei (Nisei/Sansei) male. Born May 20, 1935, in Tacoma, Washington. Spent early childhood in Kent, Washington, and was removed with family to the Pinedale Assembly …

Bill Watanabe

Nisei male. Born January 5, 1944, in the Manzanar concentration camp, California. After World War II, left camp with family for the Los Angeles area, …

Ellen Watanabe-Huxtable

Sansei female. Born in 1953 in Chicago, Illinois. Grew up hearing stories of her parents' wartime experiences at the Santa Anita Assembly Center and Manzanar …

Michi Weglyn

Nisei female, born November 29, 1926, in Stockton, California. Raised in Brentwood, California, before being incarcerated at Gila River, Arizona. Graduated from high school in …

Jane Wehrey

White female. Born and raised in Lone Pine, California, a town near where Manazanar concentration camp was established.

Marianne West

Nisei female. Born November 4, 1926, in Seattle, Washington. Family lived in Leavenworth, Washington, then moved to the West Coast. After the outbreak of World …

Virgil W. Westdale

Male of Japanese and European ancestry. Born July 8, 1918, in Millersburg, Indiana. Grew up on family farms in Indiana and Michigan. Became a licensed …

Dorothy J. Whitlock

White female, born 1934 in Arkansas. During World War II, father was the project director of the Rohwer concentration camp, Arkansas, and Dorothy, along with …

Margie Y. Wong

Nisei female. Born July 5, 1936, in Boyle Heights, California, where father ran a wholesale grocery business. During World War II, removed to the Manzanar …

Mary Woodward

White female. Daughter of Walt and Milly Woodward, publishers of The Bainbridge Review, which, during World War II, was the sole newspaper on the West …

Walt Woodward

White male. Born February 25, 1910, in Seattle, Washington. Co-publisher (with his wife Milly) and editor of the newspaper, The Bainbridge Review, from 1935-1963. During …

Shig Yabu

Nisei male. Born June 13, 1932, in San Francisco, California. During World War II, removed to the Pomona Assembly Center, California, and the Heart Mountain …
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