WCCLS Calendar

Please join us for this free showing of the documentary film, THE OREGON NIKKEI STORY:  Japanese Americans In Oregon 1880-1941.  The Director, Thomas Coulter, will introduce the movie to set the context for the subject matter, then show the film and then there will be a half-hour for discussion after the movie with Q&A.

 About the film:

 The Oregon Nikkei Story features the poignant story of the Picture Brides, single Japanese women who traveled to Oregon who arrived to the state holding a picture of a man they were suppose to marry and had never met before.

The story of the first and second generation Japanese Americans endured blatant racism and sometimes violence directed at them. The Oregon legislature passed the Anti Alien Land Law that prevented the first generation from owning land.  And there are stories of exclusion from Caucasian organizations due to their nationality.

The Oregon Nikkei Story features many stories of how many of these Issei overcame the social and economic hardships of the day to raise their families in the Pacific Northwest to become an integral part of their communities.