Help WWII Tule Lake teacher Ms. Liebert find her 4th grade students

SEARCHING FOR TULE LAKE KIDS — Katherine Kirkland smiles for a photo with Michelle Huey and Joshua Kaizuka of the Florin JACL Civil Rights Committee.

When young Katherine Liebert finished university in San Francisco in 1942, she was preparing to enter the work force of a society stuck by war fervor with the constant bombardment of anti-Japanese rhetoric following the attack on Pearl Harbor. With the face and skin tone of the “good guys,” Katherine probably had several options as to where she would start her career as a grade school teacher, however; Ms. Liebert chose to teach children with faces of the “enemy” when she made the gallant decision to leave her life in San Francisco and teach at the newly opened incarceration camp at Tule Lake. Ms. Liebert taught a class of 40 fourth graders at Tule Lake for just one year before marrying her husband, a guard at Tule Lake, and taking on the name of Mrs. Katherine Kirkland.

At 94 years of age, Mrs. Kirkland now resides in a Sacramento area senior care home and is seeking to reconnect with her former students. Earlier this month, a person close to Mrs. Kirkland reached out to the Florin Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) for assistance in the search for Mrs. Kirkland’s former students. The Florin JACL Civil Rights Committee had the opportunity to meet Mrs. Kirkland and hear her, albeit fragmented, recollection of her year teaching at Tule Lake.

Time is definitely of the essence in this search for her former students! The Florin JACL has a list of all 4th grade students at Tule Lake during the year that Ms. Liebert taught there, but cannot identify which students were in Ms. Liebert’s class without your help!

Here are a couple of ways you can help us reconnect Ms. Liebert with her former students:

1.) Look over the list of 4th grade students (below) and see if you recognize any names.  A digital version of the list (with more details) can be accessed at: http://ow.ly/TbVVu.

2.) If you recognize a name and have a way of contacting the person, ask the person if the name “Ms. Liebert” sounds familiar or if they remember having Ms. Liebert as a teacher.

3.) Share the list of fourth grade students with anyone who may recognize a name.

If you find someone who may have had Ms. Liebert as a teacher, please e-mail Breana Inoshita at bminoshita@ucdavis.edu. Also, contact Breana with any other leads you encounter or questions you may have.

Former students sought

Kimi Abe
Helen F Adachi
Kiyoshi Akita
Akira R Akiyama
Takashi Aochi
Hisako Asai
Mitsuko Asai
Haruko B Asayama
Lucille M Chikuda
Helen K Dairiki
Kenneth O Danzuka
Yoshiko Doi
Arthur K Endo
John T Enkoji
Bobbie T Eto
Alice Fujimoto
Jean S Fujimoto
Arthur A Fujioka
Betty F Fujioka
George T Fukeda
Asako I Fukuhara
Chizu M Fukuhara
Janet T Fukushima
Masaki M Furukawa
Patrick Gundran
Mary M Hada
Joe Hamada
Tomio Hamatani
James S Hasegawa
Misao Hasegawa
Tayeko Hashiguchi
Kumiko Hashimoto
Walter W Hashimoto
Margie H Hayama
Jean N Hayashi
Mary A Hida
Reiko J Higashi
Amy E Hirabayash
Teruko Hirabayash
Masato R Hirashima
Reiko Hitomi
Helen K Honda
Yasue Horikawa
June Horio
Taisuke R Horiuchi
Roy H Ichiho
Fumiko Idehara
Nancy S Iida
Kenji G Ikeda
Nobuo Ikeda
Kazumi Ikuma
Teddy T Imada
Toshiko D Imagawa
Marion T Imamoto
Ted T Imamura
Nancy K Inada
James K Inoue
Samuel M Inoue
Chiyoko Inouye
John K Inouye
Sumiye Inouye
Takashi J Inouye
Eichi Ioka
William S Iseri
Mineko Ishimoto
Violet S Ito
Martha Y Iwasaki
Kenneth W Kagimoto
Shigeru Katsumata
Atsuko J Kawachi
Isao Kawahara
Yoshiomi H Kawakami
Shuso Kawamoto
Takeshi Kawamoto
Tom T Kawamoto
Mitsuru P Kawasaki
Victor K Kawasaki
Jean R Kawauchi
Noboru Keiunji
Mitsuko Kikuchi
William M Kikuchi
Sakiye Kikumoto
Ben T Kitajo
Roy M Kohaya
Masamune Kojima
Helen E Kondo
Yaeko Kosobayash
Seigi Kuge
Floyd T Kumagai
Kiyoko Kumagai
Ross M Kumagai
Seiko Kumano
Lillian S Kurosu
Yoshio F Kusachi
Sumi Maeda
Nina M Maekawa
Satoko Makishima
Hayato B Makiyama
Kei Makiyama
Harry M Manji
Toshiye Maruyama
Midori Masui
Teruye Masui
Kazuo Masunaga
Katsuto B Matsumoto
Daniel Y Mio
Clifford K Miura
Florence S Miyagawa
Eiko Miyagi
Takiko J Miyagishim
Freddy Y Miyahara
Masashi Miyaoka
Daniel T Miyasaki
Shigenor G Mizuno
Kumisu Mizutani
Ben Morinaga
June Morita
Kenneth Y Murakami
Mae M Murakami
Richard M Murakami
Carl N Muto
Tadao Nagaishi
Fumiko Naito
Grace S Naito
George Nakagawa
Joyce Nakagawa
Yasuo C Nakagawa
Chiyoko R Nakahara
Ayako Nakamoto
Taft T Nakamoto
Yaeko B Nakamoto
Frank M Nakamura
Frank T Nakamura
Keiko Nakamura
Michiko Nakamura
Ryoko I Nakamura
Takashi Nakamura
Tsuneo Nakamura
George J Nakao
Kazuo Nakashige
Tomio B Nakata
Norine K Nishikawa
John T Nishimi
Raymond Nishimura
June H Nishiyama
Yukiye D Nishiyama
Mary M Noguchi
Eddie M Nomura
Harry K Nomura
John S Norimatsu
Dorothy C Oda
Yoshihir G Oda
Tokio Ohara
Isao B Ohashi
Juro J Okamoto
Morris M Okamura
Yuzji Okano
Kimiko Okawa
Saburo H Okubo
Nobuo Okumoto
Tomoko Omachi
Louise R Onodera
Fujiye D Oshima
Paul M Osuga
George S Oya
Sumiko Rata
Yaeko M Rikimaru
Yukiko Rishige
Jane E Sagami
Yoshiye J Saito
Freddie M Sakai
Kotomi S Sakamoto
Dorothy E Sakata
Eiko Sakita
Michiko J Sako
Yoshiye Sakumura
Kazuyuki C Sakurada
Masato W Sasaki
Taiko Sasaki
Teruko Sasaki
Tsutomu B Seo
Hugo Shibahara
Naoto Shibata
Akiko M Shimono
Kazuaki Shintaku
Mitsuyuk Shiraishi
Fumio F Shirasago
Takayuki Sugimoto
Akira R Sugimura
Arthur J Sugiyama
Tsutomu Tabata
George Takagi
Masaru Takagi
Ruby Y Takashima
Hatsue E Takata
Howard Takata
Keichi Takayama
George Y Takeda
George Takeuchi
Yuriko L Tamaki
John Tameno
Norma K Tamura
Kinji R Tanabe
Sumiko Tanabe
Hazel K Tanaka
Hiroki Tanaka
Robert N Tanaka
Satoru C Tanaka
Noboru Tateyama
Sakaye Tenma
David N Teraoku
Florence Y Terashima
Shoji H Teshima
Suzuye S Tokunaga
Naria Tomita
Hiroshi F Tomiyoshi
Thomas M Toyama
Ben C Tsuchida
Wallace Tsuda
Eve M Tsuetaki
George S Tsujikawa
Donald Tsukamoto
Masako Tsuruda
Marion K Uchida
Shirley S Uchiyama
Masao Ueda
Michiko Ueda
Kazumi Uwate
Emiko Uyeda
Fumiko Uyeda
Luana C Uyeda
Elsie K Uyemura
Barbara T Wada
Yayeko M Wakinaka
Kazuo Washino
Helen M Yabu
Shizu Yabuki
Mary T Yagi
Doris M Yamada
Helen M Yamada
Teruko Yamagiwa
Minoru T Yamaguchi
Mamoru Yamamoto
Yaeko Yamamoto
Yoshiko Yamamoto
Kazuye D Yamane
Emiko Yamasaki
Hideo R Yamasaki
Masaaki W Yamasaki
Shigeru Yamasaki
Margaret M Yanagawa
Seiichi Yasumura
Kazuko B Yokota
Dorothy I Yoshida
Nobuko Yoshida
Tsukiye Yoshimoto
Yoshio J Yoshimura
Paul K Yoshioka
Shigeyos Yoshioka
Julie T Yoshizaki
Fay M Yoshizuka
Violet T Yoshizuka
Lillian M Yukinari

Breana Inoshita is a member of the Florin Japanese American Citizens League Civil Rights Committee and a current University of California, Davis student.