by Janet Brown, Office of Congressman J. Luis Correa
Patti Hirahara received a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from Congressman J. Luis Correa, Member of Congress Forty-Sixth District of California at his second annual “Woman of the Year” Award Ceremony at Chapman University on March 23, 2019. Hirahara was nominated by the Anaheim High School Alumni Association for her work in preserving the Japanese American legacy in the United States as well as at her alma mater of Anaheim High School. She is working on two projects this summer to hold a 2-hour special program at Anaheim High School for Poston descendants entitled “The Poston Experience – Paving the Way for the Next Generations” and the “I AM AN AMERICAN: Japanese Incarceration in Time of Fear’ – The Unknown History of Anaheim’s Japanese Pioneers” exhibition at the Anaheim MUZEO and Cultural Center. This will be the first time the City of Anaheim will be holding these events. Congressman Correa has been very supportive in wanting to promote the history of the Japanese pioneers in the City of Anaheim and he supported the city’s National Park Service Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant proposal to hold its upcoming exhibition. “I am very honored to have been nominated by my high school alma mater as the 46th District’s Woman of the Year. What we have been able to achieve in the City of Anaheim is a wonderful testament to the people of Anaheim who are working together to tell our story and I look forward to having people come to our Poston program and see our 5,000 square foot exhibition which will be held from August through November,” Hirahara said.
