A Step Back in History – Jimmy Sakamoto

Born in Seattle in 1903, James Sakamoto was an influential leader in the local and national Japanese American community and a valued St. Vincent de Paul employee.

Jimmy graduated from Seattle’s Franklin High School as a football and baseball player.  After high school, he moved to New York, where he became one of first professional Nisei boxers in the country.  When boxing injuries left him blind, Sakamoto returned home to Seattle in 1927.

A year later, he founded the Japanese American Courier, the first English-language Japanese American newspaper in the United States.  Sakamoto then went on to help establish the Japanese American Citizens’ League (JACL), which was the first national Japanese American organization, and served as the national president of the JACL for two years.

When America joined the war, Sakamoto headed the JACL Emergency Defense Council.  As internment of Japanese America began, Sakamoto served as Chief Supervisor at Camp Harmony in Puyallup, before he and his family were sent to an internment camp in Idaho, where they were held for three years.

Upon his release from the internment camp in July 1945, Sakamoto returned to Seattle with his wife and family.  The family survived on government assistance, which left Sakamoto unable to afford to start the newspaper again.

In 1946, Jimmy began working for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul as head of the Pick-up and Telephone Solicitation Department.  At St. Vincent de Paul, he worked in public relations, often appearing in news articles, and was a member of the Japanese Relief Committee at the Society.  Jimmy worked at St. Vincent de Paul until he was struck by a car on his way to work in 1955.

 

To read more about Jimmy and his many accomplishments, visit:

http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=2050

http://ejmas.com/jcs/2004jcs/jcsart_svinth_0104.htm

http://depts.washington.edu/labhist/encyclopedia/whos_who.shtml#sakamoto