The day after the Topaz Stories reception in the State Capitol, Ken Yamashita, Ann Tamaki Dion, and Ruth Sasaki, members of the Topaz Stories team, visited the Quality Market in Delta, Utah.
The market was the setting of Gail Hoshiyama Nanbu’s story of the same name. During the War, her dad and uncle, Willie and John Hoshiyama, incarcerated in Topaz, found work at the market. They forged a bond with owners Donna and Orvil Jeffery, who took them into their home so the “boys” would not have to commute from camp.
The intrepid trio found Scott Jeffery in the produce section and said “hi,” explaining who they were and why they wanted to take a picture with him. Scott is the Jeffery’s grandson, and his dad, Art, remembered playing with the Hoshiyama brothers as a young child.
In 1942, the Hoshiyama brothers were undoubtedly grateful to have escaped Topaz. Eighty years later, the Jefferys’ kindness is still remembered.
Read Gail’s story, “The Quality Market.”
The Topaz Stories Team
Plan to visit the Topaz Stories Exhibit in Salt Lake City
Watch abc4’s news segment, Topaz survivors tell their stories
Listen to KCPW’s “In the Hive” podcast with interviews with Ann Dion, Jonathan Hirabayashi, and Topaz survivors Jeanie Kashima and Joseph Nishimura
Read ksl.com‘s coverage of the Capitol exhibit: How a Utah exhibit about Topaz Camp looks to find empathy in ‘an ugly stain on American history
Listen to KQED Forum, Day of Remembrance interview with Ruth Sasaki, February 15, 2022
Listen to Max Chang and Ruth Sasaki interviewed on KRCL RadioActive, February 9, 2022
Read the Discover Nikkei interview with Ruth Sasaki: On Topaz Stories and ‘Authentic Voice’, October 2021
Listen to the Topaz Stories podcast with Ruth Sasaki and Jonathan Hirabayashi: Remembering the Japanese American Incarceration, June 2021
Follow us on Instagram @topazstories
Contact us if you have a Topaz Story to share.
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