Chiye Tomihiro

Tomihiro was born on December 20, 1924, in Portland, Oregon. Her father was involved in real estate. He held a law degree from the University of Oregon Law School, but could not practice because he did not have citizenship. == Incarceration and recovery ==

After the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, compelling the forced evacuation and incarceration of Japanese-Americans from the West Coast in concentration camps. The night, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Tomihiro's father while she, her siblings, and her mother were at a church event. During their incarceration, her father's friend took care of the hotel, but eventually sold the building for "practically nothing". When her family resettled in Chicago, this left him with very few opportunities for work upon his release. He was never able to find stable employment. Her mother found work as a seamstress, but they were living in a "dank and dark and roach and rodent infested" apartment. In the ten years following her college graduation, Tomihiro gave most of her paychecks to her mother to provide some financial stability. == Education ==

Tomihiro attended Denver University before transferring to the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She graduated with a Bachelor's degree in math with a minor in business. == Activism ==

Tomihiro was a lifelong member of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and served as the Chicago chapter president from 1977 to 1978. Her organizing efforts and testimony played a major role in the passing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which granted reparations to the incarcerated Japanese Americans. She was also a supporter of the American Friends Service Committee. == Death ==

She died on October 21, 2012. == References ==