Ruth Asawa

Ruth Aiko Asawa (1926–2013) was a renowned sculptor, painter, and printmaker acclaimed for her biomorphic wire forms and public art installations as well as her activism in public art education.

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Takayo Fischer

Nisei actress Takayo (Tsubouchi) Fischer appeared in dozens of major Hollywood films including Moneyball (2011), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007), The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) and War of the Worlds (2005).

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Violet Kazue de Christoforo

Poet and activist Violet Kazue Yamane Matsuda de Cristoforo (1917-2007) wrote, translated, and compiled Japanese language haiku poetry composed by Japanese immigrants and Kibei.

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Hatsuye Egami

Hatsuye Egami was an Issei intellectual who wrote for Japanese American publications in California before the war. Her published assembly center diary and columns for the Gila News Courier provide a rare Issei woman’s perspective on the wartime incarceration.

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Mitsuye Endo

Plaintiff in the landmark lawsuit that ultimately led to the closing of the concentration camps and the return of Japanese Americans to the West Coast in 1945.

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Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga

Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga played a crucial role in the Japanese-American redress movement by discovering critical evidence of premeditated governmental misconduct during WWII, and making it available to multiple groups of activists.

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