Samuel Mihara was born February 1, 1933. He grew up in Japantown, San Francisco where he became accustomed to living in a diverse community. While he was in elementary school, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the US government began to incarcerate Japanese Americans. In this interview, Mihara recalls the months leading up to his and his family’s incarceration, going on to outline the hardships they encountered while at Heart Mountain as well as touching on the infrastructure Japanese Americans were able to help build for themselves. After being released from incarceration, Mihara went on to earn a Bachelor’s in Engineering from UC Berkeley and a Master’s in Engineering and Commerce, Industry, and Labor at UCLA. To this day, he gives talks about his experiences at Heart Mountain.
Note
Mihara, Sam. "Sam Mihara." Interview by Sam Redman in 2012. Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2015. Interview date(s) 2012
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