SF State Students Participate in NJAHS' Oral History Project

          During the last school semester, thirteen San Francisco State students participated in NJAHS' Oral History Project.  Student interviewers from Prof. Ben Kobashigawa's "Japanese Americans in the U.S." course focused on Nisei and the post-World war II period.  Working in pairs, students conducted two-hour oral histories and transcribed them.  The experience was beneficial for both the students and NJAHS.  "It was a chance to bring Japanese American history alive for the students," Kobashigawa said.  "It is growing rarer these days to interview someone who experienced camp as an adult.  These stories must be put to paper so the future generations will really know what happened and how people made difficult decisions under trying circumstances," added NJAHS Executive Director Rosalyn Tonai.  The interviews are now available to researchers at the NJAHS oral history archives.  Nisei who participated in the project include sox Kitashima, Walter Funabiki, Mas Kawaguchi, and Kenji Murase.  Plans are underway to continue the project in the near future.
                                                                - By Michelle Lau
                                                              Graduate Student Cordinator

Click here for results of student survey Spring 2000