Add re: the Shinsako family, who were removed from the house at 1425 N. Hoover in Sept. 1942....
The indignity did not end with their release from the Colorado camp in 1945....they were compelled into what was basically forced labor at Seabrook Farms in N.J.
They were still there as of the 1950 census....5 individuals in a tiny dormitory room, with restrooms shared with other families....
Seabrook Farms in 1944
There is much online about Seabrook Farms, including YouTube videos....here's a brief history....
In 1944, a farm in a quiet corner of South Jersey was looking for more workers to help with its crops. Seabrook Farms, a 57-acre farm located in Cumberland County, was a major supplier of vegetables to the military, but it faced a labor shortage due to World War II. To fill that void, Charles Franklin Seabrook began hiring Japanese Americans who were being held in internment camps during the war. By 1947, nearly 2,700 Japanese Americans were living and working on the site—the largest concentration of Japanese Americans in the country at the time.
Masaru Nakawatase, 79, was born in an internment camp in Arizona and came to Seabrook at three years old. He and his family lived in dormitories on the farm property.
“The hours were crazy. In the growing season, when the crops were coming in, from June until the end of summer, you had to work 12-hour shifts,” he says. The workers picked fruits and vegetables, including beans, corn, peas, strawberries, onions and spinach, then helped to wash and process them. Afterwards, the produce was flash frozen and packaged. “My memory is the work was hard. It was tough because of the seasons. Mostly women packed the fruit and had to be on their feet most of the time,” he remembers. The employees were given one day off every other week and were paid 30 cents an hour.
The Shinsako family eventually returned to the L.A. area, although I can't find the year...as noted Mr. Shinsako died here in '72, Mrs. Shinsako died in Long Beach in 2012....
Private family funeral service for Misao Shinsako, 96-year-old Los Angeles born resident of Long Beach who passed away on April 9, 2012, was held on Friday, April 13, at Fukui Mortuary “Chapel” with Rimban, Hiroshi Abiko from Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple officiating.
She is survived by her sons, Jeo Hiroshi and Koji Shinsako; daughter, Nancy Eiko Nakamura; grandchildren, Lisa Nakamura (Christian) Sandvig, David (Laura) Nakamura and Judy (Scott) Nakamura; great-grandchild, Laura Burns; niece, nephews and other relatives.
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