Henry Miyatake was one of the earliest proponents behind the redress movement from the early 70s. • Image from a video at Densho Encyclopedia
Henry Miyatake was one of the earliest proponents behind the redress movement from the early 70s. • Image from a video at Densho Encyclopedia

There will be a community memorial event for redress activist Henry Miyatake on Saturday, December 6 at NVC Memorial Hall, 1212 S King Street, Seattle, WA 98144. A pre-event social, with light refreshments, will begin at 1:00 p.m. The memorial program will be from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

In 1973, Henry led a team of Seattle volunteers that developed the Seattle Plan which called for individual payments to anyone removed by the government during World War II. This plan was eventually introduced as legislation into Congress in 1979 by Congressman Mike Lowry. Although this bill died in committee, a future redress bill was finally passed in Congress and signed by President Reagan in 1988. Henry was also among the key organizers of the first Day of Remembrance held in 1978 at the Puyallup Fairgrounds, site of the wartime Puyallup Assembly Center that incarcerated over 7,000 Japanese Americans.

Henry passed away in September 2014 in Auburn, WA. The community memorial event is open to the public and is an opportunity for people who knew Henry or who were involved with redress to come together and celebrate Henry’s life.

For more community stories, click here

Previous articleAnnouncement: Anakbayan Seattle to share stories of Typhoon survivors
Next articleOpinion: Invitation to Inspire Diversity through the Outdoors