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Chizu Kitano Iiyama ’42 was a lifelong activist in civil rights, women’s rights, anti-war movements, and the Japanese American community. For much of her life, she worked to inform Americans about the unconstitutional mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II so that it will never happen again.
Chizu fondly remembered her college years: “I found Cal so exciting. . . . it introduced me to so many aspects of American life.” She lived and worked as a domestic in homes in Berkeley and as an intern in the Art Department for $0.40 an hour. She also was a member of a thriving social circle of Japanese American students who organized their own dances, teas, and treasure hunts–as non-whites faced limited opportunities in the broader Cal community at that time.
For Chizu, informing Americans about the wrongful incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II was a priority. She spoke to reporters, to Congress, to city halls, and to classrooms -- including Cal’s Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies (AAADS) classes – about her wartime experiences. She also organized lectures, bus tours, and wrote essays for the National Japanese American Historical Society (NJAHS) to ensure that this unconstitutional act of mass detention was never repeated.
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