Each year at the Day of Remembrance program, the National Coalition for Redress/Reparations honors individuals who have dedicated themselves to the struggle for justice and who exemplify the fighting spirit that enabled the Nikkei community to win redress and reparations.  In 1998, NCRR presented the long-overdue Fighting Spirit Award to Michi Nishiura Weglyn.

Well-known as the author of the seminal tome on the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, Weglyn’s book, “Years of Infamy,” reported little-known information about America’s concentration camps and the government’s on-going abuses of its inmates. This book illuminated Japanese American internment history. Published in 1976, the work provided the information that would compel activists to pursue redress of grievances.

In the 1990’s Weglyn was so angered by the government’s denial of redress to Japanese American railroad and mine workers who were fired after December 7, 1941 that she returned to the National Archives to search for documents that would prove the government’s complicity in the firings. She was also extremely concerned with the denial of redress to Japanese Latin Americans who were kidnapped from their homes in Peru and other Latin American countries and incarcerated in the United States to be used as “barter bait,” that is, prisoner of war hostages.

She wrote articles for the local vernaculars to report her findings in support of the railroad workers and sent much of her research to NCRR to aid in the redress efforts. For her contributions to the reparations movement, NCRR joined with a community coalition, the Friends of Michi to focus this year’s DOR on Weglyn.

In her remarks, Weglyn said, “ORA has been intransigent in the case of the removal of Japanese workers on the Union Pacific, despite evidence showing that an agreement had been reached by the line’s president with federal officials.  A near-derailment in which an Issei was implicated preceded the precautionary move; and a document reveals that FBI agents had been immediately on the scene to investigate."

The multi-part Day of Remembrance began with a program to honor Weglyn. NCRR members Frank Emi and Ayako Hagihara presided over the tribute. Speakers included Dr. Clifford Uyeda, Past President of the JACL; Dr. Arthur Hansen, Cal State Fullerton; Ruth Mizobe Shikada, Former Governor of the Pacific Southwest District/JACL; William Hohri, National Council for Japanese American Redress; and Toshiko Kawamoto, Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee.

In the afternoon, workshop panelists addressed the concerns, “Who Writes Japanese American History?” and “Redress for Japanese American Railroad Workers, Miners, and Japanese Latin Americans." At the Little Tokyo towers, friends, artists and writers read from "Years of Infamy" or their own works. Presenters included Mako, Wakako Yamauchi, and Lawson Inada.

The day’s events ended with a reception for Weglyn at the Little Tokyo Towers where she graciously greeted friends and supporters and posed for photos with dozens of her supporters.