Michi Challenges History: From Farm Girl to Costume Designer to Relentless Seeker of the Truth: The Life of Michi Nishiura Weglyn

by Ken Mochizuki

Overview

A powerful biography of Michi Weglyn, the Japanese American fashion designer whose activism fueled a movement for recognition of and reparations for America’s World War II concentration camps.

The daughter of Japanese immigrants, Michi Nishiura Weglyn was confined in Arizona’s Gila River concentration camp during World War II. She later became a costume designer for Broadway and worked as the wardrobe designer for some of the most popular television personalities of the ’50s and early ’60s.

In 1968, after a televised statement by the US Attorney General that concentration camps in America never existed, Michi embarked on an eight-year solo quest through libraries and the National Archives to expose and account for the existence of the World War II camps where she and other Japanese Americans were imprisoned. Her research became a major catalyst for passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, in which the US government admitted that its treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II was wrong.       

Thoroughly researched and intricately told, Michi Changes History is a masterful portrayal of one woman’s fight for the truth—and for justice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781324015895
Publisher:	Norton Young Readers
Publication date:	03/14/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	915,376
File size:	26 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Ken Mochizuki is the author of several award-winning books for young readers, most notably Baseball Saved Us. He is a well-known historian of Asian Pacific history and regularly presents to schools and universities. He lives in Seattle.

Editorial Reviews

01/01/2023

Gr 7 Up—Mochizuki presents a biography of Michi Nishiura Weglyn, whose fight for justice and acknowledgment of wartime wrongs against Japanese American citizens demonstrates what one motivated individual can achieve in the name of right. The daughter of Japanese immigrants who worked as farmers in California, Weglyn and her family were confined in the Gila River, AZ, internment camp after Pearl Harbor. Mochizuki describes how she continued her education in the internment camp, earning accolades and recognition for her scholastic achievements. Weglyn received a full scholarship to Mount Holyoke, where she discovered her passion for art, fashion, and design. After a difficult round with tuberculosis, she focused on costume design and switched her studies to the Fashion Academy of New York. In New York, she met her husband, Walter Weglyn, a Holocaust survivor. Mochizuki skillfully describes how Weglyn's passion for justice and honesty led to her writing Years of Infamy: The Untold Story of America's Concentration Camps in response to Attorney General Ramsey Clark's 1968 assertion that America had never had concentration camps. The thoroughness and eloquence of her work garnered acclaim and she became a recognized international resource for those seeking redress compensation until her death in 1999. Mochizuki utilizes numerous primary sources to make Weglyn's remarkable life come alive for readers. Back matter includes end notes, selected bibliography, index, and photo acknowledgments. VERDICT Recommended for all readers. Fans of Traci Chee's We Are Not Free will be particularly drawn to this work.—Susan Catlett

School Library Journal

2023-04-12
A biography of a woman who exposed the government secrets behind Japanese American concentration camps.

Michiko Nishiura Weglyn grew up on a farm in California where her Japanese immigrant parents worked. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, her family was taken to the Gila River War Relocation Center in Arizona. In a place where everyone was the same race, Michiko began to find her voice and became a leader in the camp high school. Facing discrimination in college and the professional world, Michiko worked hard to become a costume designer for Broadway and popular television shows. When, in 1968, the U.S. attorney general stated there had never been concentration camps in America, an outraged Michiko dedicated her time to uncovering and publicizing the truth about the Japanese American experience during WWII. Through years of research and writing, Michiko revealed hidden facts about the unjust treatment of Japanese Americans that also aided the redress movement. This well-crafted biography highlights a lesser-known catalyst for Japanese American reparations. Although only briefly mentioned, the treatment of Japanese Americans working in rail and coal and copper mines, as well as Japanese Latin Americans who were taken from their countries to U.S. internment camps, is brought to light through Michiko’s advocacy. Using well-chosen quotes from Michiko’s book, Years of Infamy (1996), Mochizuki’s work will resonate with teens.

An eye-opening history of Japanese American treatment during WWII. (photographs, notes, sources, picture credits, index) (Biography. 13-18)

Kirkus Reviews