Join us in making an impact
In May 2015, Kimiko Kishi created an endowed fund to provide support for the promotion of Japanese American Studies through the Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies Program.
Fred Kishi was born and raised as a member of the Yamato Colony, a Japanese Christian farming community in the town of Livingston, California. Upon graduating from Livingston High School at the top of his class, he enrolled at UC Berkeley in Fall 1939 and became a member of the Cal Track Team. The eldest son of five, he had intended to pursue a degree in political science and study law until his father took ill. Soon after his return to Livingston to help care for his father and manage the family farm, Fred and his entire family were forcibly removed and unjustly imprisoned at the Merced Fair Grounds and then the Amache/Granada concentration camp as a result of Executive Order 9066.
Fred was able to leave Amache for the University of Maryland, along with 3,613 other college-aged students, thanks to the assistance of the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council. He was drafted, however, before he could graduate. Fred was serving in the Military Intelligence Service when he met and married Kimiko Umemoto. Upon his return from military services in Japan, he and Kimiko settled in Livingston, where they raised four daughters. Although Fred was not able to complete his education at Cal, he encouraged all of his daughters to attend UC Berkeley.
This endowment was created to honor Fred’s commitment to educating others about the early immigration and wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II as well as his leadership within the Japanese American and Livingston communities.
In order to preserve the spirit of the purpose of the fund, and the intent of the original donors who established it, new donors who make gifts to this endowment understand that changes may be made to the fund in the future if it ever becomes difficult to spend. Any future changes will be consistent with the original purpose as written here. As such, new donors agree upon making their gifts that any future potential change to the endowment purpose may be made without their consultation.
The generosity of donors like you helps us honor both Fred’s memory and his commitment to educating others about the early immigration and wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.
Funds
Join us in making an impact
In May 2015, Kimiko Kishi created an endowed fund to provide support for the promotion of Japanese American Studies through the Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies Program.
Fred Kishi was born and raised as a member of the Yamato Colony, a Japanese Christian farming community in the town of Livingston, California. Upon graduating from Livingston High School at the top of his class, he enrolled at UC Berkeley in Fall 1939 and became a member of the Cal Track Team. The eldest son of five, he had intended to pursue a degree in political science and study law until his father took ill. Soon after his return to Livingston to help care for his father and manage the family farm, Fred and his entire family were forcibly removed and unjustly imprisoned at the Merced Fair Grounds and then the Amache/Granada concentration camp as a result of Executive Order 9066.
Fred was able to leave Amache for the University of Maryland, along with 3,613 other college-aged students, thanks to the assistance of the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council. He was drafted, however, before he could graduate. Fred was serving in the Military Intelligence Service when he met and married Kimiko Umemoto. Upon his return from military services in Japan, he and Kimiko settled in Livingston, where they raised four daughters. Although Fred was not able to complete his education at Cal, he encouraged all of his daughters to attend UC Berkeley.
This endowment was created to honor Fred’s commitment to educating others about the early immigration and wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II as well as his leadership within the Japanese American and Livingston communities.
In order to preserve the spirit of the purpose of the fund, and the intent of the original donors who established it, new donors who make gifts to this endowment understand that changes may be made to the fund in the future if it ever becomes difficult to spend. Any future changes will be consistent with the original purpose as written here. As such, new donors agree upon making their gifts that any future potential change to the endowment purpose may be made without their consultation.
The generosity of donors like you helps us honor both Fred’s memory and his commitment to educating others about the early immigration and wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.