Mary Adams Urashima
@MaryUrashimaMary Adams Urashima is an author, government affairs consultant and freelance writer living in Huntington Beach. She created HistoricWintersburg.blogspot.com to generate more awareness about the history of the Japanese in Orange County, including stories of an area in north Huntington Beach once known as the Wintersburg Village. Urashima is chairing a community effort to preserve the century-old Furuta farm and Wintersburg Japanese Presbyterian Mission complex, named to the “America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places” list in 2014 and designated a “National Treasure” in 2015 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Her book, Historic Wintersburg in Huntington Beach, was released by History Press in March 2014.
Updated April 2016
Stories from This Author
Orange County West Justice Center to be renamed after Justice Stephen K. Tamura
Aug. 30, 2020 • Mary Adams Urashima
On April 16, 2020, in the middle of statewide stay-at-home orders due to COVID-19, the California Judicial Council approved the re-naming of the West Justice Center of the Orange County Superior Court in Westminster, California, for Stephen K. Tamura. An effort led by Presiding Judge Kirk H. Nakamura, Central Justice Center, County of Orange, Superior Court of California, a supporting document in the package requesting the name change is a 2012 feature about Stephen K. Tamura from the Historic Wintersburg …
George Freeth, the Village of Maikura, and the 1918-1920 Pandemic
June 26, 2020 • Mary Adams Urashima
In December 1908, at the age of 25, the “father of surfing” George Freeth saved the lives of nine Japanese American and two Russian American fishermen off Venice beach when a violent Pacific storm lashed the coast. For his heroic actions, Freeth was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for bravery. In April 1919, at the age of 35, the Hawaiian-born Freeth—noted for his physical fitness and still in his prime—died after a long battle with the flu virus spreading across the …
The Wintersburg Village Japanese Association and fireworks in the Huntington Beach Township
Aug. 20, 2018 • Mary Adams Urashima
The first fireworks in Huntington Beach were brought by the Smeltzer Japanese Association in 19051, as their contribution to the patriotic celebration. By 1910, the daylight and evening fireworks were an advertised highlight of the Huntington Beach July 4th events, beginning in the morning and continuing through nightfall. In 1910, the saltwater plunge near the Huntington Beach pier was open and the Pacific Electric Railway line along the beach dropped visitors off next to the pier by the hundreds. Thousands …
Mas Masuda: A Hero’s Century in Orange County
Jan. 15, 2018 • Mary Adams Urashima
“Acts of courage can be remembered for ages”, wrote columnist Stephen Greenhut fifteen years ago, in November 1992, as he recalled R.C. Hoiles, publisher of the Santa Ana Register (later, Orange County Register and Freedom Communications). Hoiles bought the newspaper in 1935 with a guiding philosophy to “believe in moral principle and have enough courage to express these principles and point out practices and beliefs that violate moral principles.” Greenhut provided an example of moral courage in his 1992 column …
Two Decembers: 1934 and 1948
Dec. 26, 2017 • Mary Adams Urashima
In December 1934, the communities of Wintersburg Village and Huntington Beach gathered to dedicate the newest house of worship for the Wintersburg Japanese Mission. Formally recognized as a Church with the Presbyterian Church USA in 1930, the Wintersburg Japanese Mission was marking its 30th anniversary in 1934. The first Mission building also had opened in December, in 1909, followed shortly by the Manse (parsonage). Reverend Joseph K. Inazawa and his wife, Kate Alice Goodman, were there for the 1910 dedication …
Moving Day: May 17, 1942
June 21, 2017 • Mary Adams Urashima
“I remember the regulations being posted on Edison Company poles.”“And this was the only notification you had--the public posters?"“Yes.”“When you got to Poston, what did you think of it?”“I had a real deep sinking feeling when we saw the place.” ~ Hitoshi Nitta, February 7, 1966. Born in Santa Ana, California, in 1917. In Orange County, “moving day” was seventy-five years ago: Sunday, May 17, 1942. All persons with Japanese ancestry--including U.S.-born citizens--were instructed to report to various Civil Control …
May 10, 1942: Civilian Exclusion Orders 60 and 61
June 6, 2017 • Mary Adams Urashima
The day everyone had been both waiting for and dreading was finally here. Civilian Exclusion Order No. 60 and No. 61 were published on May 10, 1942. Within 24 to 48 hours, every individual or family with full or partial Japanese ancestry—both those classified as “alien” and those who were U.S.-born citizens—was required to register at a Civil Control Station. The words “exclusion” and “control” made one’s status in the situation clear: there was no choice, no free will, no …
May 5, 1942: Within days, Civilian Exclusion Orders and saying goodbye in Orange County
May 23, 2017 • Mary Adams Urashima
Seventy-five years ago, Japanese Americans in Orange County were preparing for Civilian Exclusion Order No. 60 and No. 61. These were the specific military orders from Lt. General J.L. DeWitt (following Executive Order 9066 authorized by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt) which directed they present themselves to the “Civil Control Station” in their region to register, prior to incarceration. Failure to register at a Civil Control Station meant criminal penalties, “immediate apprehension and internment.” Either way, one would be incarcerated. At …
Cherry blossoms and poppies: A 1935 banquet with the Japanese Consul in Huntington Beach
Sept. 13, 2016 • Mary Adams Urashima
The spring of 1935 was a time of slow financial recovery and international unrest. Adolph Hitler had seized power in Germany in 1933. Japan and Germany left the League of Nations. Dachau, the first of a thousand concentration camps was established. What eventually would be 1,400 German laws aimed at non-Aryans and Jews were in motion. In April 1934, thousands of Americans attended a pro Nazi rally in Queens, New York. By July 1934, 30,000 were imprisoned in Germany. The unease that spreads in …
The Marriage that Made Headlines
June 6, 2016 • Mary Adams Urashima
Imagine having your marriage examined on the front page of metropolitan newspapers across the country and around the world. This was the case for the Wintersburg Japanese Presbyterian Mission’s first minister and his bride in the winter of 1910, the Reverend Joseph Kenichi Inazawa and Miss Kate Alice Goodman. What caused all the commotion? Neither of them was a wealthy land baron, railroad tycoon, or royalty. Nor were they notorious for questionable politics or crimes. Both were in their forties …
