Ring family

Fred and Mabel Ring were Seattle peace activists both before and after World War II. Their pacifist convictions, rooted in Christian beliefs, spurred them to reach out to Japanese American families who were incarcerated under Executive Order 9066. Most of these families they knew through their daughter Eleanor (Ellie), who had met many Japanese American friends as a student at the University of Washington, and as an active member of the University of Washington YMCA/YWCA. The Ring Family corresponded with several incarcerated families, providing support and small luxuries that were difficult to obtain in the camps.

Gordon Hirabayashi (1918-) was one of Ellie's YMCA/YWCA friends. Born in the Sand Point area of Seattle, he grew up on the farmland surrounding Kent. In Japan, both of Hirabayashi's parents had become members of Mukyokai, or the "non-church" movement. Teaching Christian principles free from denominational issues, Mukyokai stressed an uncompromising stand against social injustice. When he was a student at the University of Washington, Hirabayashi became a Quaker and a consciencious objector. Hirabayashi refused to comply with the curfew imposed on Japanese Americans in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and later refused to report for relocation to the internment camps on the grounds that the directives were based solely on race and therefore were unconstitutional.

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