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Community Celebrates AAPI History with Uyematsu Family

May 16, 2022 10:10PM ● By Jeanne Fratello

Mary Uyematsu Kao stands with student speakers and event leaders at Sunday's event at Mira Costa. Photo credit: Michele Graeler

A community-wide celebration in honor of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) history month on Sunday at Mira Costa High School brought together students, community members, and the historical owners of the land on which Mira Costa High School now sits. 

Led by Meadows Elementary and the Mira Costa AAPI Club, Sunday's event featured keynote speaker Mary Uyematsu Kao, the granddaughter of nursery pioneer Frances Uyematsu, who was forced to sell off his Manhattan Beach land when he was sent to the Manzanar internment camp. Kao discussed her family's history on the Mira Costa property, and expressed her gratitude to the people who had worked on keeping her family's history alive.

"I am really impressed by the work that is being done today to really take the extra mile to teach our children what has happened in history, because a lot of it never reaches the textbooks," said Uyematsu Kao.

The event also featured student speakers; performances by student musicians; and activities such as making tissue paper camellia flowers, an opportunity to work on the Manzanar Junior Ranger Badge from the National Park Service, and insights into Manhattan Beach history (see photo gallery at the bottom of this story).

A plaque honoring Frances Uyematsu stands in the center of the Mira Costa quad where the speeches took place. That plaque was dedicated in a ceremony last October in Mira Costa's center quad.

 

Speakers Emphasize Importance of Learning History


At Sunday's event, a series of student speakers expressed their views on the importance of learning history. 

Photo credit: Raymond Wan

"It is important to learn history so we can learn from our past, fix our mistakes, and make a better future," said Grand View Elementary 2nd grader Varen Batheja told the assembled group. "A great example is the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. and also the inspiration of Mahatma Gandhi."

"As early as elementary school, I realized the importance of learning history from multiple perspectives," said Manhattan Beach Middle School 8th grader Maya Shivpuri. "There are citizens that feel we should not dwell on past acts of hatred or discrimination. However, I believe that learning about the good and the bad of the past allows us to expand our thinking and to not be hidden. We should have the opportunity to have these discussions in our classrooms, at the dinner table, and here at this event."

Photo credit: Betty Yee Wan

Mira Costa High School senior Garrett Nose said that he had grandparents who were interned during the Second World War. "I want to make sure that other groups that face hate never have to go through what Japanese Americans faced during that time," he said.

Uyematsu Kao spoke of the injustices her family suffered, as well as the greater context of other marginalized populations experiencing discrimination and hatred. She ended with a call for unity. 

"It is working people who have built this country into the global power it is today," said Uyematsu Kao. "It is the movements by people of color that have forced the U.S. government to give us our due respect and recognize past injustices. And it will only be through united efforts by all of us to move this country in a more just direction. United we stand, divided we fall. All power to the people."

Uyematsu History in Manhattan Beach


Frances Uyematsu, a Japanese immigrant, forged success in the early 1900s importing and breeding Japanese camellias and cherry trees in the Los Angeles area. He pioneered temperature-controlled greenhouses and earned the nickname "Camellia King."

Over four decades, despite anti-Asian sentiment and racist restrictions on land ownership and citizenship, he was able to acquire farm land and eventually expanded his Star Nurseries to three locations, including 120 acres in Manhattan Beach bounded by Peck and Sepulveda to the east and west, and 2nd Street and Artesia to the north and south.

Amid the hysteria that followed the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the Uyematsu family was forced to relocate to the Manzanar detention center. Uyematsu, under duress, sold 300,000 of his prized camellias.

At Manzanar, Uyematsu donated 1,000 cherry trees to the camp to establish a park, which he cultivated during his time there. However, in Manzanar, the Uyematsus (labeled "Family 22772") and other families were essentially prisoners. Six of them lived in a 20-foot by 24-foot room.

Their indefinite detention necessitated the parcel by parcel sale of most of the Manhattan Beach nursery - 40 acres of which were ultimately sold to the Redondo Union High School District for $60,000 (far less than Uyematsu had expected) and developed into Mira Costa High School.

The staggering loss of the business continued to be a painful memory for the Uyematsu family. Mary Uyematsu Kao has said that when she was a child, "Every time we drove by Manhattan Beach, my mother would say 'I think I'm going to be sick.'" Uyematsu Kao herself had never even come to Manhattan Beach until recently.

Chuck Currier, a former Mira Costa history teacher, extensively researched the Uyematsu family and in doing so, brought what is now the Mira Costa History Project to life. Currier and former Mira Costa Principal Ben Dale led the effort to highlight the history and install the plaque last year. 

Chuck Currier explains Mira Costa history highlights. Photo credit: Madeline Kaplan

For more information on the Uyematsu family history, a talk that Currier gave to the Manhattan Beach Historical Society in June can be seen here. A video made by Manhattan Beach resident Lindsey Fox can be seen here.

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