[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 98 (Monday, July 24, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1498-E1499]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING MARY TSUKAMOTO

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL M. HONDA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 24, 2006

  Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honor Mary Tsukamoto for her 
commitment to educating young people in the Elk Grove Unified School 
District and to advocating for the Japanese-American community. With 
the use of the curriculum that she developed in the Elk Grove School 
District and the naming of the Mary Tsukamoto Elementary School in 
Sacramento, CA, Ms. Tsukamoto has been honored since her passing 8 
years ago.
  Born in 1915 into an immigrant family in San Francisco, Mary 
Tsukamoto and her four siblings attended segregated schools throughout 
childhood. In 1942, when Mary was just 27, she, her husband, Al, and 
their daughter, Marielle, were sent to an internment camp in Arkansas. 
Following that dark period in her life, Mary Tsukamoto emerged 
determined to fight for Japanese-American causes.
  As an Elk Grove School District teacher for 25 years, Mary developed 
an educational curriculum addressing the treatment of Asian-Americans 
in the United States. This curriculum, ``Time of Remembrance,'' is a 
living history program featuring interviews, photographs, and artifacts 
from the internment camps compiled by Mary Tsukamoto. The motto for 
``Time of Remembrance'' is that ``never again'' should an American lose 
his or her fundamental rights.
  After her retirement from teaching in the mid-1970s, Mary Tsukamoto 
continued to teach and lead the community. Her leadership contributed 
to the successful effort to seek a federal apology and restitution for 
Japanese-American internment. Subsequently, Mary co-authored a book 
with Elizabeth Pinkerton titled We the People: A Story of Internment in 
America, and worked closely with the Smithsonian Institution in 
Washington, DC to create an exhibit about Japanese-American internment. 
This activism, along with her outstanding teaching record, was 
recognized during this year's National Women's History Month and at

[[Page E1499]]

receptions in both California and Washington, DC.
  Recently Mary was selected as one of ten National Women's History 
Month honorees by the National Women's History Project. With this 
honor, her life story was featured on XM radio and on the Lifetime TV 
Channel. This year's National Women's History Month theme was ``Women: 
Builders of Communities and Dreams,'' a fitting theme to describe the 
life of a community hero.
  As a civil rights activist, author, and teacher, Mary Tsukamoto 
affected the lives and perspectives of many Americans. Her legacy is 
seen in civil rights legislation and the state-wide use of her 
curriculum. It is in recognition and admiration of Mary Tsukamoto that 
I stand in honor today. Her life's work is remembered and respected.

                          ____________________