History of the Ventura County Japanese American Citizens LeagueVentura County JACL is a chapter to the national JACL organization, which was founded in 1929. We are also a member of the JACL Pacific Southwest District (PSW). Established in 1937, Ventura County is one of the oldest chapters in JACL.
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Established in 1937The history of the Ventura County Chapter of the JACL dates back to its organization in
1937 (known) as the Oxnard Nisei Civic League. It joined the JACL in 1941. Its first president was Brownie Furutani in 1941 and second president was Allen Kurihara in 1942. Like most chapters, it was inactive during WWII. In the post WWII years, the chapter held community picnics, fishing derbies, and even sponsored dances. |
Reactivated in 1981In May 1981, a meeting was held at the Oxnard Community Center to determine if the chapter should be re-activated again. Forty three persons were in attendance with a majority in favor of re-activating the chapter. Seven attendees agreed to serve on the executive board. In the early years after re-activation, according to Harry Kajihara, the chapter held many activities such as picnics, scholarship programs, Pioneer Senior Citizens nights, fundraising and cultural activities such as Japanese movie nights. Civil rights activities amounted to about 10% of the chapter’s time.
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Past PresidentsAkira Kurihara 1947
Nao Takasugi 1948 Tomio Yeto 1949 Toby Otani and Dr. Tom Taketa 1950 Akira Kurihara 1951 Taro Inouye 1952 Izzy Otani 1953 Dr. Sam Tokuyama 1954 Nagao Fujita 1955 Tadashi Kanamori 1956 Mike Mayekawa 1957 John Takasugi 1958 James Muraoka 1959 Willis Hirata 1960 Tsugi Kanamori 1961 Ray Kawasaki 1962 Sak Sakazaki 1963 Yas Yasutake 1964 --Chapter was dormant-- Teri Komatsu 1984-1985 Yas Umeda 1986 Yosh Katsura 1987 Chuck Kuniyoshi 1988-1989 Stan Mukai 1990- 1991 Dr. Tsujio Kato 1992-1994 Harry H. Kajihara and Yas Umeda 1995 Executive Volunteers 1996- 1997 Cathleen Kuniyoshi 1998- 2001 George Wakiji 2002- 2003 Jefferson Kunisaki 2004- 2011 Anne Chilcott 2012- 2017 Elizabeth Hiroyasu 2018 |