Description
Norman Yoshio Mineta (1931-) was the first Japanese American to serve as Mayor of a major American city and the first from
the continental United States to be elected to Congress. Spanning from 1975 to 1996, this collection consists of correspondence,
memoranda, government publications, speeches, newspaper clippings, books, briefings, photographs, video and audio recordings,
and meeting notes. These materials document Congressman Mineta's involvement in the redress movement. Also included are some
non-redress materials related to civil rights issues, especially as they pertain to Asian Americans and Americans from the
Pacific Islands, as well as materials that document his campaign activities.
Background
Norman Yoshio Mineta was the first Japanese American to serve as Mayor of a major American city and the first from the continental
United States to be elected to Congress. Mineta was born in San Jose, California on November 12, 1931. During World War II,
he and other Japanese Americans living on the West Coast were incarcerated in concentration camps because of their ancestry.
Mineta and his family were interned at the Heart Mountain concentration camp in Wyoming from 1942 to 1945. Upon returning
from camp, he graduated from San Jose High School in 1949 and the University of California, Berkeley in 1953. After college,
Mineta served in the United States Army from 1953-56. After he left the Army, he went into the family insurance business.
Restrictions
All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in this collection must be submitted to the Collections
Management and Access Unit at the Japanese American National Museum (collections@janm.org).
Availability
Collection is open for research by appointment only.
Please contact the Japanese American National Museum Collections Management and Access Unit by email (collections@janm.org)
or telephone (213-830-5615).