GORDON KIYOSHI HIRABAYASHI
Name: Gordon Kiyoshi Hirabayashi
Born: 23 April 1918
Gordon Kiyoshi Hirabayashi (born April 23, 1918) is a Japanese American
sociologist, best known for his principled resistance to the
Japanese American internment during World War II, and the court case which bears
his name, Hirabayashi v. United States.
Hirabayashi was born in Seattle to a Christian family who were associated with
the Mukyōkai Christian Movement. He graduated from Auburn High School in Auburn,
Washington, and in 1937 went to the University of Washington, where he received
his degree. At the University he participated in the YMCA and became a religious
pacifist.
Although he at first considered accepting internment, he ultimately became one
of three to openly defy it. He joined the Quaker-run American Friends Service
Committee. In 1942 he turned himself into the FBI, and after being convicted for
curfew violation was sentenced to 90 days in prison. He did this in part to
appeal the verdict all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court with the backing of the
ACLU. However the court unanimously ruled against him in Hirabayashi v. United
States in 1943. Curiously they would not pay for him being sent to prison so he
hitchhiked to the Arizona prison where he was sentenced to reside. Once there
they stated they lacked the sufficient papers as he was two weeks late. They
considered letting him just go home, but he feared this would look suspicious.
After that they made the suggestion he could go out for dinner and a movie which
would give them time to find his papers. He agreed to this and, by the time he
finished doing so, they had found the relevant paperwork.
After the war he went on to earn B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in sociology from
the University of Washington. He taught in Beirut, Lebanon and Cairo, Egypt,
before settling at the University of Alberta in Canada in 1959, where he served
as chair of the sociology department from 1970 until his retirement in 1983.[2]
As a sociologist he did studies of Jordan and the Russian Doukhobors in British
Columbia, Egyptian village political awareness, Jordanian social change, and
Asian-Americans. He has been an active member of Canadian Yearly Meeting of the
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Since retirement he has been active in
behalf of human rights.
Name: Gordon Kiyoshi Hirabayashi
Born: 23 April 1918
Gordon Kiyoshi Hirabayashi (born April 23, 1918) is a Japanese American
sociologist, best known for his principled resistance to the
Japanese American internment during World War II, and the court case which bears
his name, Hirabayashi v. United States.
Hirabayashi was born in Seattle to a Christian family who were associated with
the Mukyōkai Christian Movement. He graduated from Auburn High School in Auburn,
Washington, and in 1937 went to the University of Washington, where he received
his degree. At the University he participated in the YMCA and became a religious
pacifist.
Although he at first considered accepting internment, he ultimately became one
of three to openly defy it. He joined the Quaker-run American Friends Service
Committee. In 1942 he turned himself into the FBI, and after being convicted for
curfew violation was sentenced to 90 days in prison. He did this in part to
appeal the verdict all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court with the backing of the
ACLU. However the court unanimously ruled against him in Hirabayashi v. United
States in 1943. Curiously they would not pay for him being sent to prison so he
hitchhiked to the Arizona prison where he was sentenced to reside. Once there
they stated they lacked the sufficient papers as he was two weeks late. They
considered letting him just go home, but he feared this would look suspicious.
After that they made the suggestion he could go out for dinner and a movie which
would give them time to find his papers. He agreed to this and, by the time he
finished doing so, they had found the relevant paperwork.
After the war he went on to earn B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in sociology from
the University of Washington. He taught in Beirut, Lebanon and Cairo, Egypt,
before settling at the University of Alberta in Canada in 1959, where he served
as chair of the sociology department from 1970 until his retirement in 1983.[2]
As a sociologist he did studies of Jordan and the Russian Doukhobors in British
Columbia, Egyptian village political awareness, Jordanian social change, and
Asian-Americans. He has been an active member of Canadian Yearly Meeting of the
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Since retirement he has been active in
behalf of human rights.