From Thorns to Blossoms
SPEAKER: Mitzi Loftus
From Thorns to Blossoms
SPEAKER: Mitzi Loftus
Mitsuko “Mitzi” Asai was not yet ten years old in the spring of 1942 when President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 sent 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry—about two-thirds of them US citizens—from their homes on the West Coast to inland prison camps. Mitzi and most of her family, who operated a fruit orchard in Hood River, Oregon, were incarcerated in California and Wyoming for most of World War II. Her talk about her family’s experience will illuminate the personal side of a dark chapter in US history. It’s the remarkable story of a transformation from thorns into blossoms, pain into healing.
This lecture will include American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation.
For accommodations related to a disability, please email education@bentoncountymuseums.org
About the presenter
Born on a fruit orchard in Hood River, Oregon, in 1932, Mitzi Asai Loftus spent three years of her childhood in government incarceration camps in California and Wyoming. For more than seventy years, she has given public talks about her family’s experience to audiences of all ages. Having lived much of her adult life in Eugene and Coos Bay, she now resides in Ashland.
Winter 2025 Lectures at the Corvallis Museum
$5 or free for members - Register here
Due to limited room capacity, please register to attend. Members receive discounts on all BCHS programming! Members, please monitor your email for promo codes and check your spam folder.
Did you miss your chance to grab a ticket? We often get last-minute no-shows. Feel free to call our front desk at 541-929-6230 to see if we have room at this event.
Assistive listening devices are available at the front desk. For additional accommodations related to a disability, please email education@bentoncountymuseums.org
