BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//PYVOBJECT//NONSGML Version 1//EN
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:events.uid.953@www.discovernikkei.org
DTSTART:20060226T000000Z
DTEND:20060226T000000Z
DESCRIPTION:‘DEAR MISS BREED’ AUTHOR JOANNE OPPENHEIM TO SPEAK\nABOUT S
 AN DIEGO LIBRARIAN WHO HELPED JA’S DURING WAR\nAT JAPANESE AMERICAN NATI
 ONAL MUSEUM FEB. 26\n\nLOS ANGELES.—Author Joanne Oppenheim will discuss
  her latest book\, "Dear Miss Breed: True Stories of The Japanese American
  Incarceration During World War II and A Librarian Who Made A Difference"\
 , at a special book party and reception set for Sunday\, Feb. 26\, beginni
 ng at 2 p.m.\, at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo.\n
 \nOppenheim based her book on the correspondence between Clara Estelle Bre
 ed\, the Children’s Librarian at the San Diego Public Library from 1929 
 to 1945\, and a group of young Japanese American students who\, along with
  their families\, were unconstitutionally forced to leave their homes and 
 live in domestic concentration camps by the U.S. government during World W
 ar II. Miss Breed understood that these young students had committed no cr
 ime and she was determined to support them in their time of need. She went
  to the train station to see many of them off (most were sent to stark cam
 ps in Arizona) and gave out self-addressed stamped postcards so they could
  let her know where they wound up. This began a correspondence with many y
 oung Japanese Americans.\n\nOppenheim came upon the story of Miss Breed on
  the web site of the Japanese American National Museum. Originally organiz
 ed as a display in the 1997\, the content of the exhibit was digitized so 
 it could be accessed easily. Oppenheim began reading some of 250 letters a
 vailable online from the Japanese American inmates to Miss Breed and becam
 e engrossed in their stories.\n\n“Their letters not only chronicle the i
 ncarceration\, they reflect the sense of loyalty and hope these young Amer
 icans held onto despite the treatment they were given by their own country
 \,” Oppenheim explained. “I kept returning to those letters\, night af
 ter night until I practically knew them by heart! As a writer\, I recogniz
 ed from the start that this was a story that had to be told and in the wor
 ds of those who lived it.”\n\nThanks to National Museum staff members\, 
 Oppenheim began to contact some of Miss Breed’s correspondents\, includi
 ng Museum volunteer Richard “Babe” Karasawa. Karasawa directed her to 
 Don Estes (who has since passed away)\, a San Diego historian who had cons
 iderable information on this subject. Eventually\, Oppenheim was able to s
 peak to some of Miss Breed’s relatives and many of the letter writers or
  their relatives. The project took four years to complete\, compounded by 
 Oppenhein’s bout with cancer.\n\nAs the digital exhibition and Oppenheim
 ’s book makes clear\, many families were separated by the government. Fo
 r her young correspondents\, Miss Breed was someone to turn to for help. I
 n this postcard sent by Tetsuzo “Ted” Hirasaki from Poston\, Arizona\,
  on September 27\, 1943\, her aid bringing a family back together is ackno
 wledged:\n\n“Dear Miss Breed\, Good News! I just received notice from De
 pt. of Justice that my father has been paroled. He will be released as soo
 n as negotiations with W.R.A. are completed. Your affidavit did much to br
 ing about his parole. Thanks a million and more. Sincerely\, Ted.”\n\nLo
 uise Ogawa related the stories of inmates allowed to leave camp to work. H
 er letter dated November 30\, 1942\, from Poston\, said in part: “A frie
 nd who returned from Colorado related the following incident to me. He sai
 d\, while in town a few boys entered a restaurant to have a bite to eat. T
 he first thing the waitress asked was ‘Are you Japs?’ When they replie
 d ‘yes’ she turned her back on them and said they don't serve Japs. So
  they had to go to another restaurant to eat. Here is another incident whi
 ch disgusted the boys. When the boys asked a policeman where a certain sto
 re was he replied – ‘I don't serve Japs.’ One of the boys became ang
 ry and remarked – ‘Alright be that way -- what do you think we came ou
 t here for? We didn't come to be made fun of -- we came to help out in thi
 s labor shortage.’ Then the policeman apologized and showed them to the 
 store. This boy said he certainly was glad to return to camp where there i
 s no unfriendliness. Of course\, he knows and we all know that there are p
 eople all over the world who hate certain races and they just can't help i
 t. But I am sure when this war is over there will be no radical discrimina
 tion and we won't have to doubt for a minute the great principles of democ
 racy.”\n\nOppenheim\, who was seven when the war began\, has authored a 
 number of children’s book\, including Read It! Play It! With Babies and 
 Toddlers. She also operates the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio with her daughter 
 Stephanie\, reviewing toys and recommending the best products. Information
  about her books and the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio is available through her 
 web site at <a href="http://www.joanneoppenheim.com/">www.joanneoppenheim.
 com</a>.\n\nThe public program is free to National Museum members or with 
 admission. Reservations are suggested. <a href="http://www.janmstore.com/1
 50922.html">Books will be available for sale</a> and Oppenheim will sign h
 er books after the program. For reservations or for more information\, cal
 l the Japanese American National Museum at (213) 625-0414\, or go to the w
 eb site at <a href="http://www.janm.org/">www.janm.org</a>.\n\n--30--\n
DTSTAMP:20240419T065907Z
SUMMARY:Debut of "Dear Miss Breed" Book Set for Feb. 26
URL:/en/events/2006/02/26/debut-of-dear-miss-breed-book-set-for-feb-26/
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR