Fumiko Hayashida

Fumiko Hayashida (January 21, 1911 – November 2, 2014) was an American activist, originally from Bainbridge Island, Washington, who became one of the first Japanese American to be interned in March 1942. Hayashida, who was 31 years old at the time, was the subject of a Seattle Post-Intelligencer photograph which shows her holding her sleeping 10-month-old daughter, Natalie, while waiting to board a ferry from Bainbridge Island to the mainland with other Japanese American internees.^[1] The photo became an iconic image of the plight of approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans who were interned during World War II.^[2] However, the identity of the woman in the photograph remained unknown for decades. She was known only as "Mystery Girl" or "Mystery Lady" until the 1990s, when researchers at the Smithsonian Institution uncovered her identity and tracked her down.

Hayashida was interned for a year at Manzanar before being moved to the Minidoka internment camp in Idaho to be closer to relatives and friends.^[1]

In 2006, Hayashida testified in favor of a proposed memorial for Japanese American internees on Bainbridge Island before a U.S. congressional committee.^[2] The Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial was opened in 2011.

References

1. Woo, Elaine (2014-11-17). "Fumiko Hayashida dies at 103; among first Japanese American internees". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2014-12-01.
2. Barbash, Fred (2014-11-17). "‘Mystery lady’ Fumiko Hayashida in famous photo of Japanese American internment is dead at 103". Washington Post. Retrieved 2014-12-01.