Ester Takei and PJC Superintendent John Harbeson in front of the C Building, September 1944. [The Rafu Shimpo, 2019]
During World War II, some Pasadenans wrestled with the question, was it right to lock up Americans of Japanese descent in camps?
Susie Ling, Pasadena City College Professor of Asian American Studies and History, will deliver a presentation about the compassionate people who did their best to help their Japanese American neighbors here in Pasadena.
Among those who championed the rights of Japanese Americans were Pasadena’s Friends of the American Way, William Carr, Hugh Anderson, and PCC’s John Harbeson. Together, they supported the return in 1944 of Esther Takei (Nishio), a 19-year-old “test case” who became the first Japanese-American student to enroll in a California university after her release from the Granada War Relocation Center in Colorado.
Ultimately Takei left college without graduating to help her parents re-establish themselves in Los Angeles. In 2010, Pasadena City College presented her with an honorary degree.
The cost to attend the event is $15 General; $10 Museum Members (include early entry at 6:00 pm to view the quilt exhibition now on view in the adjacent galleries) are available online at Two Pasadenas: Debate Over Internment Camps Tickets, Tue, May 23, 2023 at 7:00 PM | Eventbrite
