Oral history interview with Mamaro Wakasugi

Collection

Identifier: SR 965

Staff Only

Oral history interview with Mamaro Wakasugi

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Scope and Contents

This oral history interview with Mamaro Wakasugi was conducted by George I. Azumano on October 29, 1994. The interview is part of the Japanese American Oral History Project, which was conducted by the Oregon Historical Society to preserve the stories of Japanese Americans in Oregon. In addition to the audio recording, this collection includes one color photograph taken at the time of the interview.

In this interview, Wakasugi discusses his family background and early life as a second-generation Japanese American on farms on Bainbridge Island, Washington, and in Banks, Oregon. He talks about the lives of his siblings, his recreational activities, and his involvement with the Republican Party. He shares his experiences farming in Ontario, Oregon, during World War II. He talks about his activities and life in Ontario after the end of the war, including his involvement in his local church and school district. He discusses the lives and careers of his children, talks about studying Japanese, and speaks about his marriage to Mary Yamada. He closes the interview by sharing his memories of the aftermath of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Dates

Creation: 1994 October 29

Creator

Wakasugi, Mamaro, 1912-2001 (Interviewee, Person)
Azumano, George I. (George Ichiro), 1918-2013 (Interviewer, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright for this interview and photograph is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Biographical note

Mamaro Wakasugi was born in Rolling Bay, Washington, in 1912. He moved with his family to Banks, Oregon, in 1922, after Washington state passed the 1921 Alien Land Bill, which prohibited non-white immigrants from buying, owning, or leasing property, and was targeted particularly at Japanese immigrants. Wakasugi later attended the Northwest School of Commerce in Portland. During World War II, he moved to a farm in Ontario, Oregon. In 1943, he and Mary Yamada were married; they later had three children. He was a director of the Oregon Farm Bureau Federation, president of the Portland chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League, and a founding board member of the Four Rivers Cultural Center. In 1999, he retired to Bakersfield, California. He died in 2001.

Sources: Vital records on Ancestry.com; information provided by Wakasugi in his interview; Wakasugi’s obituary in The Oregonian, May 4, 2001; "Washington Governor Louis Hart signs stringent Alien Land Bill on March 8, 1921," by John Caldbick, HistoryLink.org, accessed July 10, 2014, https://www.historylink.org/File/2124

Extent

0.1 Cubic Feet (1 audiocassette (1 hr., 51 sec.) + 1 photographic print (color))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Oral history interview with Mamaro Wakasugi conducted by George I. Azumano on October 29, 1994, as part of the Japanese American Oral History Project. Wakasugi discusses his family background and early life as a second-generation Japanese American on farms on Bainbridge Island, Washington, and in Banks, Oregon, as well as his experiences farming in Ontario, Oregon, during World War II.