For our April 2021 virtual meeting, THS Communications Manager Kim Davenport interviews UW Tacoma faculty members Dr. Lisa Hoffman and Dr. Mary Hanneman about their new book, Becoming Nisei: Japanese American Urban Lives in Prewar Tacoma.  

Tacoma’s vibrant Nihonmachi of the 1920s and '30s was home to a significant number of first generation Japanese immigrants and their second generation American children, and these families formed tight-knit bonds despite their diverse religious, prefectural, and economic backgrounds. As the city’s Nisei grew up attending the secular Japanese Language School, they absorbed the Meiji-era cultural practices and ethics of the previous generation. At the same time, they positioned themselves in new and dynamic ways, including resisting their parents and pursuing lives that diverged from traditional expectations.  

Becoming Nisei, based on more than forty interviews, shares stories of growing up in Japanese American Tacoma before the incarceration. Recording these early twentieth-century lives counteracts the structural forgetting and erasure of prewar histories in both Tacoma and many other urban settings after World War II. Lisa Hoffman and Mary Hanneman underscore both the agency of Nisei in these processes as well as their negotiations of prevailing social and power relations.  

The book is available for purchase in the THS Museum Store, located at 406 Tacoma Avenue S, open from 11am-3pm, Wednesday-Saturday. 

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With thanks to Tacoma Creates for support of our public programming.

In conversation with his wife Dahlia, UW Tacoma student Jonathan Ohashi shares his research into Tacoma’s Nihonmachi (Japantown), with a specific mention of the music that would have been experienced by Tacoma’s pre-war Japanese-American population. 

Jonathan produced this podcast episode as an assignment in the UW Tacoma class “Musical History of Tacoma,” taught by Kim Davenport in Winter Quarter 2021. The podcast is dedicated to Jonathan’s Japanese immigrant grandmother, who was lost to COVID in March 2020.

Jonathan utilized the following resources in conducting his research:

Hoffman, M. Lisa, and Mary L. Hanneman. Becoming Nisei. University of Washington Press, 2021.

May, Elizabeth. “The Influence of the Meiji Period on Japanese Children's Music.” Journal of Research in Music Education, vol. 13, no. 2, 1965, pp. 110–120. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3344448. Accessed 08 Mar. 2021.

Nimura, Tamiko. “Tacoma Neighborhoods: Japantown (Nihonmachi) – Thumbnail History” HistoryLink.26, Oct. 2016, https://historylink.org/File/20177.

Temple History. Tacoma Buddhist Temple. 10, Mar. 2020, https://www.tacomabt.org/history/.

Wadland, Justin. “Tacoma Buddhist Temple” HistoryLink. 16, Nov. 2018, https://historylink.org/File/20668.

Wadland, Justin, and Tamiko Nimura. “Tacoma Buddhist Temple” HistoryLink. 16, Nov. 2018, https://historylink.org/File/20668.

Join us for our March 2021 virtual meeting as we host a conversation between writer Anthea Karanasos Hubanks and retiree and book artist An Gates. THS Communications Manager Kim Davenport will interview the two women about their recent experience with capturing and sharing An's oral history, as part of the "Telling the Stories of our Lives" project.

Learn more about Hubanks' oral history project, and An's life story, by visiting our Tales of Tacoma blog, where we have shared several oral histories resulting from the project.

Tune in right here, on our YouTube Channel, or on our Facebook page to watch the broadcast on Monday, March 8 at 7pm.

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With thanks to Tacoma Creates for support of our public programming.

In this presentation, THS Communications Manager and Tacoma music historian Kim Davenport shares stories of black musicians from Tacoma's past who left an important legacy in our city. Some made Tacoma home while others were merely guests for a time, but all added to the artistic vitality of our community while confronting the realities of discrimination. 

Presented in partnership between the Tacoma Public Library and Tacoma Historical Society, with support from Tacoma Creates.

Join us for our February 2021 virtual meeting, as we share a conversation with artist Dionne Bonner. Bonner's exhibit, "A Pioneering Spirit: A Fight for Liberty and Freedom," is currently on display in our Tacoma Historical Society museum.

The exhibit features oil paintings and biographical information which bring to life the journey of a handful of African American pioneers who fought tirelessly for liberty for their community in spite of their situations. For Bonner, these historical accounts encouraged her at a pivotal time in her life when she needed to see examples of strength and agency reflected in her community.

Bonner joins THS Communications Manager Kim Davenport for a conversation about her work. 

The City of Tacoma Historic Preservation Office presents Virtual Heritage Cafe: Broadening Horizons in Historic Preservation. Co-sponsored by Tacoma Historical Society and Historic Tacoma, with thanks to Tacoma Creates for its support of their public events.

In this episode of the Virtual Heritage Cafe series, Aaron Blanchard of Earthwise Architectural Salvage and Amanda Harryman of Second Use Building Materials share stories from their work in architectural salvage.

The City of Tacoma Historic Preservation Office presents Virtual Heritage Cafe: Broadening Horizons in Historic Preservation. Co-sponsored by Tacoma Historical Society and Historic Tacoma, with thanks to Tacoma Creates for its support of their public events.

In January of 2020, the National Register of Historic Places shared that, of the more than 95,000 entries on the list, only 2% of those places focus on the experiences of Black Americans. The follow-up question is usually "Well, how do we fix that?" but perhaps we need to start with a different set of questions. In this conversation, Jackie will share examples of work she has done to support and broaden the reach of preservation work. She will also share some ideas for where to begin, and a series of questions that may be helpful for discussing in participants' organizations and workplaces.

Jackie is an independent museum consultant with a focus on exhibit development, curation and writing for history museums, historic sites and other cultural institutions. With over twelve years of exhibits experience, she has worked nationally with museums, communities and stakeholders to uncover and illuminate meaningful stories to create authentic, truthful and enlightening exhibitions. Jackie leverages the power of language and narrative to create exhibitions that attest to the nuances of our human experience, spark conversation and bring people together. Much of Jackie’s independent work has focused on storytelling through exhibitions highlighting the experiences and lives of African Americans in Washington State. Prior to pursuing an independent consulting career, Jackie served as a content developer and coordinator at the exhibition design firm Ralph Appelbaum Associates Inc. in New York. Jackie is passionate about equity in the museum field and grounds her work in the framework of diversity, access, equity and inclusion (DEAI). She serves on the steering committee for Museums & Race, an initiative that seeks equity and justice for people of color in the museum field.

Dave Mylet's Digital History elective at Tacoma's School of Industrial Design, Engineering and Arts (IDEA) gives students the chance to explore local history through hands-on, project-based curriculum. Their first project as a class was to research, script and record a podcast episode for the Tacoma Historical Society.

In this episode, Dylan O'Catherine explores the true story behind the legend of Tacoma's "Shanghai Tunnels."

Dylan O'Catherine is a 17 year old senior at iDEA High School. They enjoy music art, and memes - which are an art form in Dylan's opinion.

Tamiko Nimura, a third-generation Japanese American and second-generation Filipina American, is a freelance writer, essayist, community journalist, and public historian. She has degrees from UC Berkeley (BA) and the University of Washington (MA, PhD). Her academic training in literature and American ethnic studies prepared her for her current projects in storytelling, biography, arts writing, public history, social justice, and community service. She is the author of ROSA FRANKLIN: A LIFE IN HEALTH CARE, PUBLIC SERVICE, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE (Washington State Legislature Oral History Program, 2020) and has written several articles for HistoryLink on Tacoma’s Japanese American history. Other past projects include a tour of Japanese American farms on Vashon Island (RevisitWA.org). She is co-writing a graphic novel called WE HEREBY REFUSE: JAPANESE AMERICAN ACTS OF WARTIME RESISTANCE (Chin Music Press, 2021). Tamiko lives with her composer husband Josh Parmenter and their two daughters in Tacoma.

This episode is part of the Virtual Heritage Cafe Series: Broadening Horizons in Historic Preservation, presented by the City of Tacoma Historic Preservation Office, and co-sponsored by Tacoma Historical Society and Historic Tacoma, with thanks to Tacoma Creates for its support of their public programs.

Dave Mylet's Digital History elective at Tacoma's School of Industrial Design, Engineering and Arts (IDEA) gives students the chance to explore local history through hands-on, project-based curriculum. Their first project as a class was to research, script and record a podcast episode for the Tacoma Historical Society.

In this episode Bria Gold explores Tacoma's role in the UFO craze of the mid-20th century.

Bria is a senior at IDEA High School who enjoys art, aliens and herbal teas. You might find her lurking at your local pond with some silkworms and a funny hat. An amateur podcaster, but a professional at being a cool gal.