8 November 2019
Alan Wolken
Planning and Building Services Division
City of Richmond
450 Civic Center Plaza
Richmond, CA 94804
Dear Mr. Wolken,
The Rotary Club of Richmond California enthusiastically supports the grant request of the City of Richmond for its interpretive educational project Roses & Thorns: Sustaining Stories of Japanese American Lives in Richmond’s Miraflores Development. We believe this project has great local, national, and even international significance in preserving our history and broadening the perspectives of all who visit the site.
Richmond Rotary will be celebrating 100 years of service to our community in 2020. After reviewing several strong projects for our Centennial year to honor with a grant award of $50,000, our Board and membership chose the Miraflores interpretive project for its excellence in design, high visibility, ease of access to public transportation, and strong roots in our community. We also look forward to a volunteer opportunity bringing Rotary members, neighbors, and youth together to assist with the planting of cuttings taken from the historic greenhouses. Other unique aspects of this project that influenced our support are:
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The project will bring an important local history to light. Japanese Americans have contributed a great deal to this city and their local history has not been adequately recognized. This includes the chapter during WWII when all people of Japanese ancestry were forced away from this community.
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Richmond Rotary has personal connections to the history being conveyed through this project. David Ninomiya (1938-2008), longtime Rotarian and President of Richmond Rotary in 1978-79, was four years old when his family was forcibly relocated and imprisoned in separate facilities (David’s father was sent to the Crystal City prison right after Pearl Harbor). David became a respected leader in the horticulture industry and in Richmond’s business community. r o t a r y c l u b o f r i c h m o n d c a l i f o r n i a | p . o . b o x 7 0 6 4 3 r i c h m o n d , c a 9 4 8 0 7 | r i c h m o n d c a r o t a r y . o r g Club of Richmond
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• Among our founding associations is Mechanics Bank, which has an important connection to this history that we look forward to seeing in the interpretation.
Mechanics Bank held the property loans for several nurseries during the war and saved several families, including the Ninomiyas, from foreclosure. •
This project will greatly enhance understanding of our history by local residents and by visitors drawn by Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park. •
This project offers future partnership opportunities for Richmond Rotary to maintain its investment because of its strategic placement within a mixed use area that is connected to public and youth-oriented community services.
Finally, as President of the Rotary Club of Richmond for 2019-2020, I look forward to celebrating our Centennial year in conjunction with our United Nations Association East Bay Chapter (UNA-East Bay) affiliates in honoring the United Nations 75th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter. Richmond Rotary’s connection to the United Nations through our Centennial celebration and our Centennial project reflects a shared interest in the untold stories of the Japanese American internment. Together we look to the future by understanding the lessons of our past with a fresh perspective.
We support this grant request and anticipate a timely and successful completion of the Roses & Thorns: Sustaining Stories of Japanese American Lives in Richmond’s Miraflores Development.
Sincerely,
Jan Brown
President, Rotary Club of Richmond California 2019-2020 tel 1.510.234.2141 | cell 1.510.541.2141 | [email protected]