In my never-ending search to uncover lesser-known photos of the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans, I happened across an article about a man named Hugh MacBeth. How many of you are familiar with his name? I wasn’t.
Born in South Carolina in 1884, MacBeth moved to Los Angeles in 1913 (via Harvard University and The Baltimore Times), where he practiced law. The family lived in Jefferson Park, where his son befriended Nisei kids and attended Japanese language school with them. 1
After Pearl Harbor, MacBeth became an advocate for Japanese Americans. Not only did he represent individuals (he partnered with an ACLU lawyer to secure a writ of habeas corpus for the Wakayama family, incarcerated in Manzanar), arguing that “race-based confinement constituted unconstitutional discrimination,” he persuaded the California Race Relations Commission and the Santa Barbara Ministers’ Alliance to officially oppose the mass incarceration. He spoke out publicly against the forced removal and tirelessly lobbied President Roosevelt and General DeWitt on behalf of the Japanese American community.
Why do more of us not know about him? It’s many years too late, but we thank Mr. MacBeth for his commitment to helping our community in its time of need. Pay it forward, and remember his name.
Sources:
1 “Defending Nikkei Hugh MacBeth and the Japanese American Internment,” by Greg Robinson. BlackPast, August 3, 2007. Accessed 11/30/2023.
“Hugh MacBeth,” by Greg Robinson. Densho Encyclopedia. Accessed 11/30/2023.
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Media Coverage:
Read Internee’s story told with ‘Topaz Collages’ (Wheel of Dharma, Vol. 5, Issue 3, March 2023).
Watch Topaz survivors tell their stories (abc4 news, 4/22/2022)
Listen to the “In the Hive” podcast with interviews with Ann Dion, Jonathan Hirabayashi, and Topaz survivors Jeanie Kashima and Joseph Nishimura (KCPW, 4/28/2022)
Read How a Utah exhibit about Topaz Camp looks to find empathy in ‘an ugly stain on American history (ksl.com, 4/22/2022)
Read “Topaz Stories rise from the dust,” (Department of Culture & Community Engagement, 4/2022)
Listen to KQED Forum, Day of Remembrance interview with Ruth Sasaki, 2/15/2022
Listen to Max Chang and Ruth Sasaki interviewed (KRCL RadioActive, 2/9/2022
Read On Topaz Stories and ‘Authentic Voice’, the Discover Nikkei interview with Ruth Sasaki (10/14/2022)
Listen to Remembering the Japanese American Incarceration, the Topaz Stories podcast with Ruth Sasaki and Jonathan Hirabayashi (6/2/2021)