Day of Remembrance at San Mateo High School

SAN MATEO — San Mateo High School and the College of San Mateo Ethnic Studies and History Department will present a Day of Remembrance program on Saturday, March 2, at 1 p.m. at San Mateo High School’s Multipurpose Room.

The Day of Remembrance is an annual ceremony held around Feb. 19 to commemorate the signing of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 in 1942. E.O. 9066 authorized the U.S. military to incarcerate all persons of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast.

Six SMHS seniors were not able to graduate with their classmates. However, members of the SMHS staff, band members (names unknown nor their numbers) and community members traveled to Tanforan Assembly Center in San Bruno and conducted a commencement service for their classmates.

Event organizers Lewis Kawahara, Martha McKenna, Linda Barnes Hutton (Class of ’65), and others want to thank the 1942 school administrator and the band members for their acts of courage, kindness, civil rights, friendship, compassion, and bravery. Most likely these individuals have passed away, but the organizers would like to thank their survivors.

A temporary account has been set up with SMHS to accept donations for the event. Send your donation to: San Mateo High School; 506 N. Delaware, San Mateo, CA 94401. Make out your check to “SMHS” and in the memo section write “Day of Remembrance.”

RSVP at: https://bit.ly/2SE7Q5C