[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 27, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E8]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO MARY TSURUKO TSUKAMOTO

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ROBERT T. MATSUI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 27, 1998

  Mr. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an educator, 
activist, and leader of national prominence: Mary Tsuruko Tsukamoto. 
Mrs. Tsukamoto passed away on January 6, leaving a tremendous legacy as 
a teacher, activist, and hero to countless Americans. Today, in 
Sacramento, California, she will be fondly remembered at two separate 
memorial services.
  The child of immigrants from Okinawa, Mary Tsuruko Dakuzaku was born 
in San Francisco in 1915. Her family moved to the Florin area just 
south of Sacramento in 1925. There, she attended segregated schools. By 
the beginning of World War II, she has married the man with whom she 
would spend the next six decades, Alfred Tsukamoto. In 1942, along with 
their five year old daughter, Marielle, the Tsukamotos were among the 
more than 10,000 Japanese Americans interned in government camps around 
the U.S.
  After the end of World War II, the Tsukamotos returned to Northern 
California. Al took a job at the Sacramento Army Depot, while Mary 
began her vocation as a teacher in 1950. It was in her role as educator 
that Mary Tsukamoto first began to touch the lives of so many in the 
Sacramento area. Her unique ability to connect with young people became 
the trademark of her teaching career at four different elementary 
schools until her retirement in 1976.
  But Mary's retirement from teaching in the Elk Grove, California 
School District was just the beginning of the most influential period 
of her life. Her family's forced internment during World War II had 
left a profound mark on her personal and political beliefs. Fueled by 
the injustice of the imprisonment of Japanese Americans, Mary launched 
a courageous crusade to right this national wrong.
  In the 1980's Mary joined the fight in support of a national apology 
and reparations for the Japanese Americans interned during World War 
II. These efforts included testifying before a congressional committee 
about the lasting negative impact that the imprisonment had on Japanese 
Americans throughout our nation. Without her steadfast and vocal 
championship of this legislation, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, 
including an apology and reparations, would never have become law.
  On a very personal note, Mary's friendship and support during this 
often difficult legislative battle was invaluable to my colleagues and 
I as we fought for the reparations bill. I will always value the unique 
perspective, encouragement, and dedication she offered throughout this 
important effort.
  By the time President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 
into law, Mary had become a nationally-recognized leader in preserving 
and promoting the Japanese American heritage. She helped create and 
plan an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution about the internment and 
she authored a book on the subject. Mary also launched an important 
effort to catalogue and preserve Japanese American artifacts, personal 
histories, and photographs with the creation of the Japanese American 
Archival Collection at California State University, Sacramento.
  Her activism in these areas, and reputation as a national leader in 
the fight to provide restitution to the Japanese Americans who were 
forcibly relocated during the Second World War, brought her back into 
the classrooms of Sacramento area schools as a unique source of 
historical information for our community's students. In conjunction 
with the Florin Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League, Mary 
set out to retell the glorious and sometimes painful history of 
Japanese Americans in the twentieth century U.S.
  Yet Mary Tsukamoto's activist endeavors were not limited solely to 
the imprisonment issue. She also found time to lead Jan Ken Po Gakko, a 
group which preserves the Japanese heritage in the United States. Her 
involvement in this organization enhanced her already remarkable 
pursuits in putting together lectures, creating displays, and writing 
about the internment of Japanese Americans.
  By the early 1990's Mary Tsukamoto's achievements were gaining 
recognition throughout California. In 1992, a new elementary school was 
named after her in the Vintage Park area of South Sacramento. In May of 
1997, she was named a ``Notable Californian'' by the California State 
Senate and State Capitol Museum, making her the second person to ever 
receive this high honor. Last September, she was presented with the 
California Asian Pacific Sesquicentennial Award for all of her 
accomplishments in the Asian/American community.
  Mr. Speaker, as Mary Tsukamoto is eulogized today by her many friends 
and admirers, I ask all of my colleagues to join me in paying tribute 
to this extraordinary activist, teacher, and powerful leader. Her 
impact on our national heritage and the very fabric of who we are as a 
country will be felt for many generations to come. I salute her 
personal strength and determination in educating her fellow citizens, 
pursuing justice, and promoting the heritage of all Japanese Americans.

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