Art Hansen, emeritus professor of history at CSU Fullerton and one of the leading scholars in Japanese American history, will be the guest of honor at a special public program, “The Enduring Power of Oral History: An Afternoon with Art Hansen and Friends,” on Saturday, Nov. 4, at from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the Japanese American National Museum, 100 N. Central Ave. in Little Tokyo.
As founding director of the Japanese American Project of the Oral History Program and the Center for Oral and Public History and founding faculty member of the Asian American Studies Program at CSU Fullerton, Hansen has been a pioneering specialist in the field of oral history. He has interviewed such Japanese American luminaries as journalist Jimmie Omura, activist Sue Kunitomi Embrey, lawyer Frank Chuman, Manzanar resistance leader Harry Y. Ueno, war hero Ben Kuroki, as well as several members of the Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Study (JERS), including Charles Kikuchi, Rosalie Hankey, and James Sakoda, among others.
He is the author of “Barbed Voices: Oral History, Resistance, and the World War II Japanese American Social Disaster” and “Manzanar Mosaic: Essays and Oral Histories on America’s First World War II Japanese American Concentration Camp” and editor of “Nisei Naysayer: The Memoir of Militant Japanese American Journalist Jimmie Omura” and “Beyond the Betrayal: The Memoir of a World War II Japanese American Draft Resister of Conscience.”
His most recent book, “Nikkei Harvest,” which is a collection of book reviews he has written for the Nichi Bei Weekly, will be previewed at this program by editor Kenji Taguma. Artwork by noted woodcut artist Patricia Wakida is featured in this book, scheduled to be released later this year. Personally autographed book plates will be available to those attending the program.
The program, featuring a host of colleagues and friends who have known Hansen over the years, is a salute to the noted scholar’s numerous contributions to the annals of Japanese American history. Manzanar Committee Co-chair Bruce Embrey will serve as emcee.
Those who wish to attend are encouraged to register at janm.org/events. Tickets are free and include a reception following the program. For more information, contact Sharon Yamato at sharony360@gmail.com.