Word: momitas
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Among the oldtime Japanese residents of the valley were Takeo Harry Momita and his wife Shizuko Helen, who operated a series of little drugstores from 1927 until 1942 when they-along with 110,000 West Coast Japanese and their American-born youngsters-were herded into Army relocation camps for the duration. In 1945 they came back to the valley amid uneasiness and tension, scraped up money for another store, entered their children in public schools. When they moved to Calipatria, things began to get better; the youngsters began to run off with honors in school, and son Milton was named...
...Harry Momita received his American citizenship under the McCarran-Walter Act. His drugstore became the social center of the area, and Helen used to open it at 8 o'clock every morning so that everyone could gather for coffee. Last year Harry served as president of the Calipatria Chamber of Commerce...
Other citizens began contributing five-and ten-dollar bills for a memorial to Helen Momita at the Los Angeles Buddhist temple. When he was consulted about it, Harry asked that the money be used instead to help fulfill a long-standing dream of Calipatrians : to build a 184-ft. flagpole so that the American flag could fly at sea level above "the lowest-down city in the Western Hemisphere...
| 1 |