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Description
An interview with Margaret Masuoka, a volunteer at the Japanese American National Museum (JANM), conducted for the Japanese American Project at California State Fullerton’s Center for Oral and Public History. Specifically, this interview provides insight to Masuoka’s personal history dealing with the prejudice that she and her family faced due their Japanese ancestry; her family’s settlement in California in 1925; her childhood in Los Angeles and time spent in Santa Ana, California regarding the family’s business and Japanese community; her courtship with Dave Masuoka in the 1940s; and her feelings on the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. She describes her incarceration in the Santa Anita Temporary Assembly Center and in the Poston camp in southeastern Arizona; and her family’s togetherness during these periods of incarceration; her engagement to Dave Masuoka in the camps; her family’s journey to join her sisters in the Poston incarceration camp; her exit from the camp and process of finding a sponsor; her experience as a docent for JANM and of telling her story to her grandson’s class; Dave’s family history and his involvement in the Second World War; a close friend’s family and their involvement in 442nd army infantry known as the Japanese unit in World War II; the impact of this friendship and how it led to an exhibition in JANM; and her thoughts on the impact of this story on American history. Audio is found in item: csufccop_jaoh_0049. The Japanese American Oral History Project features oral histories with narrators who talk about their lives, pre and post World War II, but most specifically, about their experience being incarcerated in camps during World War II.
Geographic communities--California Geographic communities--Arizona Identity and values--Family Immigration and citizenship Immigration and citizenship--Arrival Community activities--Associations and organizations Industry and employment--Journalism Industry and employment--Educators Race and racism--Discrimination Reflections on the past World War II--Incarceration camps--Living conditions World War II--Leaving camp--'Resettlement World War II--Mass removal ('Evacuation') World War II--Military service--442nd Regimental Combat Team World War II--Pearl Harbor and aftermath World War II--Temporary Assembly Centers--Living conditions
Place
Los Angeles, California Santa Ana, California Parker, Arizona Chicago, Illinois Temporary Assembly Centers--Santa Anita Incarceration Camps--Poston (Colorado River)
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