Mary Tsukamoto
Encyclopedia
Mary Tsuruko Tsukamoto (1915–1998) was a Japanese-American teacher, community activist and civil rights activist. Tsukamoto, a teacher of Elk Grove Unified School District
in California
for 26 years, was an educator with passion to teach children how to learn from experience. A women of Japanese descent, she worked for Japanese American
civil liberties, playing a pivotal role in the grassroots effort that led to the Civil Liberties Act of 1988
. She also worked with the Smithsonian Institution
in Washington DC, adamant on developing an exhibit on internment. She died in 1998 after almost a lifetime of dedication to civil rights and education. In March 2006, she was one of the ten women recognized as a National Women's History Month honoree.
. As a first generation Japanese American, Mary grew up with family values deeply rooted in Japanese culture. When she was 10 years old, she moved to Florin, California
with her family. Here, her family grew various types of fruit on a field, despite restrictions that prevented Japanese-born people from owning the land in which they worked. She attended the segregated Florin Grammar School in her youth, and later attended College of the Pacific in Stockton, California
.
, Mary was sent with her husband and young daughter from Florin to an internment camp
near Jerome, Arkansas
. Mary, like the other internees, had lost her liberty, property, and livelihood as a result of living in the restrictive camps. Although this period was difficult, she came out of it with life experiences worth sharing. After 3 years of restricted freedom, she was finally able to return home to California in 1945. In 1983, she began to use her experiences from the Japanese internment camp to teach schoolchildren about this pivotal period in American history through her work in the Time of Remembrance Program. Her daughter, Marielle Tsukamoto, describes this work of her mother’s as a way to “tie this story to the Constitution. It’s every citizen’s responsibility to make sure our own civil rights and someone else’s rights are not denied.”
Elk Grove Unified School District
The Elk Grove Unified School District is a school district in southern Sacramento County, California, U.S.A.The Elk Grove Unified School District is the fifth largest school district in California and the largest in Northern California....
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
for 26 years, was an educator with passion to teach children how to learn from experience. A women of Japanese descent, she worked for Japanese American
Japanese American
are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...
civil liberties, playing a pivotal role in the grassroots effort that led to the Civil Liberties Act of 1988
Civil Liberties Act of 1988
The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 is a United States federal law that granted reparations to Japanese-Americans who had been interned by the United States government during World War II. The act was sponsored by California's Democratic Congressman Norman Mineta, an internee as a child, and Wyoming's...
. She also worked with the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
in Washington DC, adamant on developing an exhibit on internment. She died in 1998 after almost a lifetime of dedication to civil rights and education. In March 2006, she was one of the ten women recognized as a National Women's History Month honoree.
Early life
Mary Tsukamoto was born on January 17, 1915 in San Francisco, California. She was the second of five children born to immigrant parents from Okinawa, JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. As a first generation Japanese American, Mary grew up with family values deeply rooted in Japanese culture. When she was 10 years old, she moved to Florin, California
Florin, California
Florin is a census-designated place in Sacramento County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area...
with her family. Here, her family grew various types of fruit on a field, despite restrictions that prevented Japanese-born people from owning the land in which they worked. She attended the segregated Florin Grammar School in her youth, and later attended College of the Pacific in Stockton, California
Stockton, California
Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...
.
Life in Japanese internment camps
In 1942, at the start of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Mary was sent with her husband and young daughter from Florin to an internment camp
Japanese American internment
Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...
near Jerome, Arkansas
Jerome War Relocation Center
The Jerome War Relocation Center was a Japanese American internment camp located in southeastern Arkansas near the town of Jerome. Open from October 1942 until June 1944, it was the last relocation camp to open and the first to close; at one point it contained as many as 8,497 inhabitants. After...
. Mary, like the other internees, had lost her liberty, property, and livelihood as a result of living in the restrictive camps. Although this period was difficult, she came out of it with life experiences worth sharing. After 3 years of restricted freedom, she was finally able to return home to California in 1945. In 1983, she began to use her experiences from the Japanese internment camp to teach schoolchildren about this pivotal period in American history through her work in the Time of Remembrance Program. Her daughter, Marielle Tsukamoto, describes this work of her mother’s as a way to “tie this story to the Constitution. It’s every citizen’s responsibility to make sure our own civil rights and someone else’s rights are not denied.”