Thursday, May 18, 2023 at 7pm at the Rice County Historical Society Museum

Kiyoshi Kitagawa enrolled at the Shattuck School in September 1927. He was probably the only nonwhite student and the first Asian graduate. Although he did not succeed academically as his father had hoped, he rose in rank to first lieutenant in Company A. After Pearl Harbor he was sent to an incarceration camp in Poston, Arizona, but he returned to Minnesota to train for the Military Intelligence Service at Fort Snelling and went on to join the highly decorated 442nd regimental combat team.

How did Shattuck and Minnesota shape Kiyoshi’s extraordinary life? Dr. Patti Kameya will present her findings on Kiyoshi and interwar Minnesota from archives, online newspapers, and other sources. Please join our conversation on Asian Americans in prewar Minnesota for Asian Pacific Islander heritage month.

Dr. Patti Kameya researches Japanese and Japanese American history in St. Paul. She taught Asian and world history at Midwestern universities for ten years. Recently she taught creative writing at the Loft Literary Center and received Minnesota State Arts Board Creative Support for Individuals grants to research the Kitagawa family for a book manuscript. Find her work at https://pattikameya.com/.

This program is free for RCHS Members and $5.00 for non-members. Reservations are strongly encouraged. To reserve a spot, please call the museum at 507-332-2121 or email us at rchs@rchistory.org. This program is sponsored in part by the Minnesota Valley Electric Co-Opperative.