JAPANESE ORGANIZATIONS IN ST. LOUIS

JACL

The St. Louis JACL, Japanese American Citizen’s League, organized in 1946. The principal organizers included: Joe Tanaka, Fred Oshina, Kim Obata, and Guy Obato. The St. Louis JACL held its first meeting on July 26, 1946 and its first executive committee meeting on August 17th of that year. Its first meetings were held at the Grace Methodist Church on Skinker, and then at the homes of its members. Their first annual dinner occurred on February 1, 1947 at the Hotel Kings Way.

The JACL was organized to promote and protect equal rights for Americans of Japanese descent. Its constitution asserts that such citizens “must develop the capacity to defend ourselves against and to thwart individual and collective deprivations should it not be able to forestall such threats through achievements of its other goals.” Those other goals include promoting equal rights for all American citizens; providing social services, scholarships, legal services, and other programs for its membership; and preserving the ethnic identity and history of Americans with Japanese ancestry.

Click on the link below to visit the St. Louis JACL web site:

VISIT ST. LOUIS JACL WEBSITE

ST. LOUIS INSTITUTE

Another St. Louis organization that helped with the Japanese American relocation process after World War II was the St. Louis Institute. The first citizenship class for Japanese Americans after World War II was held at the St. Louis Institute.