March 28, 1942 – Minoru Yasui was arrested.
Yasui deliberately violated the military curfew to challenge its constitutionality.
And he fought his case all the way to the Supreme Court.
quietamericans.com/minoru-yasui
#JapaneseAmericanHistory #CivilDisobedience
In 1942, 53 people from Juneau vanished from their community overnight. Their names are now etched in bronze at the Empty Chair Memorial. One family’s story helps explain why.
The Tanakas of Juneau: tinyurl.com/2evzs2mc
#AlaskaHistory #NeverForgotten #JapaneseAmericanHistory #WWII #Juneau #Alaska
A little girl sits on a trunk, holding an apple, with bags of belongings nearby. "President Ford Rescinds Japanese Internment Order" is in all caps.
On this day in 1976, President Ford signed an important Proclamation. He ended Executive Order 9066. That order saw Japanese living on the West Coast forced from their homes & placed in internment camps. To honor survivors, learn & share their stories. #JapaneseAmericanHistory bit.ly/3NK8Of2
Young Nisei man completing questionnaire before enlisting, Amache, Colorado, photo by Tom Parker, courtesy of UC Berkeley Bancroft Library
In February 1943, Japanese Americans already imprisoned were forced to answer a so-called “loyalty questionnaire.”
There were no right answers — only consequences.
quietamericans.com/loyalty-questionnaire
#QuietAmericans #JapaneseAmericanHistory #WWIIHistory #CivilLiberties
asianamericapodcast.com/2026/01/ep-5... Dr. Satsuki Ina shares about the reality and impact of multigenerational #trauma suffered by Japanese American families who were wrongly accused and imprisoned during WWII. #JapaneseAmericanhistory #justice #incarcerationcamps
Nov 25, 1978: The first Day of Remembrance was held in Seattle.
Japanese Americans returned to Puyallup, reliving what happened in 1942, and sparking the movement that led to the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.
#DayOfRemembrance #JapaneseAmericanHistory #QuietAmericans
On Nov 24, 1942, Ralph Merritt took over Manzanar during deadly unrest.
He wasn’t perfect — but agriculture, education, and community programs grew under his watch.
Read the story: quietamericans.com/ralph-merritt
#JapaneseAmericanHistory #Manzanar #QuietAmericans
On Nov 22, 1922, the Supreme Court ruled in Yamashita v. Hinkle that Japanese immigrants couldn’t own land.
They used “Negro, Indian, and Chinaman” as evidence.
Full story: quietamericans.com/yamashita-v-hinkle
#QuietAmericans #JapaneseAmericanHistory #AAPIHistory #CivilRights
Nov 21, 1945 — Manzanar closed.
After 3.5 years of incarceration, people were released with a one-way ticket, $25, and almost nowhere to go.
The last to leave were a mother and her 4-year-old son.
#Manzanar #WWIIHistory #JapaneseAmericanHistory #CivilRightsHistory #QuietAmericans
Five eye-opening facts about life in the camps. How many of these did you already know?
#JapaneseAmericanHistory #WWII
The only Asian American leader in the Black Panther Party was an FBI informant.
Born OTD, Richard Aoki’s life was one of the most complicated in the civil rights era.
Read the full story:
quietamericans.com/richard-aoki
#RichardAoki #BlackPantherParty #CivilRightsHistory #JapaneseAmericanHistory
Here’s a recipe to try this Thanksgiving: Edgewater Salad Dressing. Equal parts delicious and historical, this dressing was made by Nisei “salad girls” working at Chicago’s Edgewater Beach Hotel after World War II.
#JapaneseAmericanHistory
They didn’t need a fence or guard tower to keep loyal citizens locked up.
Gila River had no barbed wire, and its fences were removed in 1943.
Still, they imprisoned over 13,000 Japanese Americans until this day in 1945.
Nov 16, 1945 — Gila River officially closed.
#JapaneseAmericanHistory #WWII
Might be hard to believe, but November 15, 1946 was the first time Californians ever voted down a racist law.
And it helped lead to the end of the Alien Land Law.
Read: quietamericans.com/proposition-15
#JapaneseAmericanHistory #CivilRights #442ndRCT #NeverForget
Nov 15, 1942:
The first two Japanese Americans left Manzanar to volunteer for the MIS at Camp Savage.
Forty more would follow.
They served a country that had just imprisoned them.
Read: quietamericans.com/camp-savage
#JapaneseAmericanHistory #MIS #WWII
Ted Tanouye died fighting for freedom while his family lived behind barbed wire at Rohwer.
Born Nov 14, 1919 in Torrance, he became one of the 442nd’s most heroic soldiers — even as his own country incarcerated the people he loved.
Learn more: quietamericans.com/ted-tanouye
#JapaneseAmericanHistory
Fortunately for 935 plaintiffs, that ship hadn’t sailed when they found him.
Nov 13, 1945: San Francisco lawyer Wayne Collins filed habeas corpus petitions for 935 Japanese Americans, stopping mass deportations just two days before they began.
#JapaneseAmericanHistory #WorldKindnessDay
Topaz closed on Oct 31, 1945.
One of its incarcerees, Mitsuye Endo, helped make that happen.
Her case went to the Supreme Court.
She won.
The camps closed.
👉 quietamericans.com/topaz
👉 quietamericans.com/california-fires-400
#OnThisDay #QuietAmericans #MitsuyeEndo #JapaneseAmericanHistory #Topaz
also came across this amazing digital exhibit, with just one example here: a great essay and photos about comics collected by Bette Okajima during her internment: 50objects.org/object/bette... #comicbooks #publichistory #japaneseamericanhistory #americanliterature by @jamuseum.bsky.social
October 17, 1943: The “Shitara Sisters” helped two German POWs attempt an escape from their prison camp in Colorado.
They weren’t loyal to their husbands, their people, or their country.
But they were loyal to their heart.
quietamericans.com/shitara-sisters
#OnThisDay #JapaneseAmericanHistory
Grateful to scholars like Daniel James Brown for highlighting stories like Rudy Tokiwa’s—my dad’s friend from Poston. His work with the 442nd RCT and Civil Liberties Act continues to inspire. #JapaneseAmericanHistory #NeverAgainIsNow #JapaneseAmericanIncarceration
Did you know these three shocking facts about the Japanese American incarceration?
#japaneseamericanhistory
From the fields of Poston to the halls of Caltech to the front lines of redress, Hiroshi Kamei’s legacy is one of action, clarity, and justice.
Learn more about Hiroshi at: quietamericans.com/hiroshi-kamei
#QuietAmericans #HiroshiKamei #JapaneseAmericanHistory #WWIIHistory #AAPIHeritage #JACL
The Songbird of Manzanar is 100 years young today.
Mary Kageyama Nomura was just 16 when she was incarcerated during WWII. But even behind barbed wire, her captivating contralto voice couldn’t be silenced.
#QuietAmericans #MaryNomura #Manzanar #WWIIHistory #JapaneseAmericanHistory #Happy100th
While these publications provided community and connection for these incarcerees, they were also used to show that they had American values. Incarcerees wrote about work opportunities, policy changes, births, deaths, and much more.
#JapaneseAmericanHistory #PressFreedom
But decades later, his book was rediscovered — and helped expose one of the most complex and painful chapters of Japanese American history.
#QuietAmericans #JohnOkada #NoNoBoy #JapaneseAmericanHistory #WWII #Resistance #DraftResistance #AAPIHeritage #CivilRights #NeverForget
4/4
Remembering Governor Ralph Carr, who stood up for Japanese Americans during WWII, and passed away on September 22, 1950.
quietamericans.com/ralph-carr
#JapaneseAmericanHistory #WWIIHistory #RalphCarr #NeverForget #CivilRights #AAPIHeritage #ColoradoHistory #IntegrityMatters #StandUpSpeakOut
The FBI was looking for anything with Japanese writing. What would it be like if this happened today?
#NeverAgainIsNow #JapaneseAmericanHistory
An International Love Story from the Mid-1800s
Born in Edo Castle, Tadaatsu Matsudaira studied at Harvard and fell for an American girl.
His family warned he’d be disowned if he didn’t return.
He stayed.
Read more: quietamericans.com/tadaatsu-matsudaira/
#QuietAmericans #JapaneseAmericanHistory
