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Yon H. Hecker fed lunch to her sister's children in the tent outside the plant of Path Enterprises during the continued labor problems Tuesday. Both Mrs. Hecker and her sister work at the plant. The boys are 8-year-old Joseph Campbell (in center) and 5-year-old Jim Campbell, (on right).
Kellman Photo

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Peter Kim drinks his Sake while talking with James Jee (L) and his sister Joanne Jee (R). The three are from Vancouver B.C. and think the Torch Light is one of the best Korean nightclubs in the northwest.
Story by Dorian Smith
Photo by Bill Hunter

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Trang Nguyen (16), Thuy Le (14) who both attend Stadium H.S. and have been in the US for only 3 months and Betty Thach (16) who attends Clover Park H.S. and has been here for 2 and a half years, are all Amerasian children, they watch the city skyline pass by as the Sea Explorer boat Charles Curtis, a 80 foot wooden hull boat built in 1931 slips out of city waterway. Tacoma has been designated as one of about 50 cluster sites across the US. A program has been scheduled to welcome the Amerasian youth and their families, after lunch a boat cruise of Commencement Bay, courtesy of the Sea Explorers, a branch of the Boy Scouts of America.

Members of the Puyallup Valley Japanese-American Citizens League dance group. They will be performing a ceremonial dance in traditional Japanese dress during "Japan Night", a Japanese bazaar, to be held at Fife High School on November 12, 1938. The second annual bazaar, carnival and dance was held to acquaint Tacoma and Valley people with the young group's activities and culture. Over 1,000 people attended, the majority of which were not of Japanese heritage. (T. Times, 11/10/1938, p. 20; 11/14/1938, pg. 3)

Kimonos; Japanese-American Citizen's League (Tacoma); Japanese Americans--Fife--1930-1940; Ceremonial dancers; Japanese Americans--Dance;

Three Japanese American women and a child watch a team of four women perform a traditional Japanese dance during a dress rehearsal for the Japanese-American Citizen's League's second annual carnival and bazaar, to be held on November 12, 1938 at the Fife High School. The group is attired in kimonos and posed in front of a background of cherry blossoms. The watching group on the left is composed of Haruko Yaguchi (standing), Fugiye Sasaki (seated), Lillian Mizukami (kneeling) and three year old Arlene Sakahara. The dancers are, left to right, Betty Sasaki, Dorothy Norisada, Miyo Yoshida and Amy Marumoto. (T. Times 11/10/1938, pg. 20; 11/14/1938, pg. 3)

Kimonos; Japanese-American Citizen's League (Tacoma); Japanese Americans--Fife--1930-1940; Ceremonial dancers; Japanese Americans--Dance;

By the end of May of 1942, more than 7,000 people of Japanese ancestry from Seattle and the surrounding area, including 1200 from Tacoma, were being detained at "Camp Harmony," a temporary assembly center built hastily by the army in Puyallup. They stayed there for four months, until they were shipped to the Minidoka Relocation Center in Southern Idaho to wait for the end of the war. In this photograph taken May 16, 1942, Seattleites Beverly Higashida (2 years old), Lillian Fujihara, seven month old Wayne Kaniko and his mother Mrs. M. Kaniko all smiled for the camera. Whole families were sent to the camp, each assigned a one room "apartment." The Japanese proceeded to make a home out of the almost unbearable conditions, forming a government, school and devising entertainments. Their values remained intact and their spirits high. (T. Times 4/30/1942, pg. 9)

Camp Harmony (Puyallup); Relocation camps--Puyallup; World War, 1939-1945--Relocation camps; Japanese Americans--Evacuation & relocation, 1942-1945; Children riding bicycles & tricycles; Fujihara, Lillian; Higashida, Beverly; Kaniko, Wayne;

Panorama of a large, formally dressed standing party.

Yasuda-Miyamotoa wedding with the groom and bride in front of the alter engaging with children.

Bride at the Yasuda-Miyamotoa wedding in front of altar decorated with candles, floral arrangements and Buddhist images.

Group of men with their fists down on a table at the Yasuda-Miyamoto wedding with a lit cigar resting on a glass of liquor below.

Bride at the Yoshihara-Ikeviri (sp?) wedding with floral arrangements and candles in the background.

A young Japanese-American couple dance in the Fife High School gymnasium during a Japanese bazaar. He wears a letterman's sweater. (T. Times).

Japanese Americans--Fife--1930-1940; Bazaars--Fife--1930-1940; Dance parties--Fife--1930-1940; Ethnic groups--Fife--1930-1940;

Three young Japanese-American girls and their mothers enjoy the food served at a Japanese bazaar held in the Fife High School gymnasium. One girl clutches her bottle of soda, while another girl holds a small purse. (T. Times).

Japanese Americans--Fife--1930-1940; Bazaars--Fife--1930-1940; Ethnic groups--Fife--1930-1940; Mothers & children--1930-1940;

Four Japanese women arrange several pumpkin pies on a table for a Japanese bazaar in Fife. (T. Times).

Japanese Americans--Fife--1930-1940; Bazaars--Fife--1930-1940; Ethnic groups--Fife--1930-1940; Pies; Baked products;

Wedding of University of Washington graduates Luana Chizuru Uyeda and Dr. Keith Hiroshi Yoshino.

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Them Prom Kim holds three-year-old Sokha Buntun during a Tacoma Police Dept. seminar on crime prevention in the Salishan Housing District. These seminars are for people with limited knowledge of English.
Photo by Joe Giron

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Miss Nan Yung Chung sings Top 40 hits in English and Korean at the Torch Light, a Korean nightclub on South Tacoma Way.
Story by Dorian Smith
Photo by Bill Hunter

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The Chang family watches some of the Olympics in their Puyallup home. They are from Korea, now American residents (citizens).
L to R: Chase, Carol, Oak (mother) and Soo Nam.
Story by Voelpel
Photo by Peter Haley

Chef Leonard Travka dishes out food to Vietnamese refugees at Camp Murray.

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Kiem Van Dao
Photograph by Bob Rudsit

A Vietnamese refugee holds her belongings following an 11-hour flight from Hong Kong

Hashimoto-Fujita wedding. A formal portrait of the bride and groom, their wedding party and four generations of their families. The large group stood in front of a Buddhist altar on November 12, 1950.

Japanese American families--Tacoma; Weddings--Tacoma--1950-1960; Wedding costume--1950-1960; Brides--1950-1960; Grooms (Weddings)--1950-1960; Altars--Tacoma;

Family gathering before or after the wedding of University of Washington graduates Luana Chizuru Uyeda and Dr. Keith Hiroshi Yoshino.

A large group of young, predominately Japanese, couples dance on the Fife High School gymnasium floor during a Japanese bazaar. (T. Times).

Japanese Americans--Fife--1930-1940; Bazaars--Fife--1930-1940; Dance parties--Fife--1930-1940; Ethnic groups--Fife--1930-1940; Ballroom dancing--Fife--1930-1940;

A group of the 16 original founding members of the Japanese American Citizen's League pose for their portrait on the stage of the Fife High School gymnasium during a Japanese bazaar held in November of 1937. The Japanese American Citizen's League was founded in 1929. (T. Times).

Japanese Americans--Fife--1930-1940; Bazaars--Fife--1930-1940; Ethnic groups--Fife--1930-1940;

The biggest enemy at "Camp Harmony" was boredom. Here a game of sandlot baseball has been organized to give this group some exercise and fresh air. More than 7,000 people of Japanese descent were interned at the camp. Men, women and children were crowded into a small living space. The orderly Japanese soon devised ways to keep their people occupied. Classes were mandatory for children and available for adults. Arts, crafts and recreational activities were devised. Entertainment was brought in; movies were shown. Every effort was made to make life appear ordinary.

Camp Harmony (Puyallup); Relocation camps--Puyallup; World War, 1939-1945--Relocation camps; Japanese Americans--Evacuation & relocation, 1942-1945;

While interred at "Camp Harmony", in May of 1942, three unidentified Japanese Americans built their own furniture for their barracks "apartments." The Puyallup Assembly Center "Camp Harmony" had been constructed by the Army in less than 3 weeks. The living quarters were makeshift barracks divided into "apartments," consisting of a single room no larger than 18 x 20 feet in which a whole family of up to 7 would live. Furnishings consisted of one army cot per person. Each "apartment" had a stove for warmth, one bare bulb hanging from the ceiling by a wire for light and one window. There was no running water. Toilets and showers were communal with no privacy dividers, until the Japanese built them themselves. As Spring passed, the detainees scrounged wood and tools and began constructing rough tables and chairs. Homes were created in the rough surroundings.

Camp Harmony (Puyallup); Relocation camps--Puyallup; World War, 1939-1945--Relocation camps; Japanese Americans--Evacuation & relocation, 1942-1945; Carpentry;

In the spring of 1942, four months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, more than 100,000 residents of Japanese ancestry were forcibly evicted from their homes in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona and Alaska and sent to temporary assembly centers, from there to be sent to internment camps in remote inland areas to sit out the war. The Puyallup Assembly Center, hastily erected by the Army in less than 3 weeks and known as "Camp Harmony," was utilized from April 28- September 12, 1942. On May 16, 1942, two year old Beverly Higashida and Lillian Fujihara were getting acquainted with Mrs. M. Kaniko and her seven month old son Wayne. The pictured group was all from Seattle. By the end of May, more than 7,000 people were crowded into the camp. The stoic Japanese made the best of a bad situation, forming their own government, schools and entertainments. The worst aspect of the camp was boredom in the confined quarters. A call went out for recreational materials, such as young Wayne's tricycle. (T. Times 4/30/1942, pg. 9)

Camp Harmony (Puyallup); Relocation camps--Puyallup; World War, 1939-1945--Relocation camps; Japanese Americans--Evacuation & relocation, 1942-1945; Children riding bicycles & tricycles; Fujihara, Lillian; Higashida, Beverly; Kaniko, Wayne;