Mike M. Masaoka

Mike Masaru Masaoka was born in Fresno, California, in 1915, the fourth of eight children of immigrant parents. A few years after his birth, his father moved the Masaoka family to Salt Lake City. It was there that he earned the nickname "Mike" while attending Salt Lake City schools. Later, he had his name legally changed. After graduating from West High School, he attended the University of Utah while working in his family's produce business and local restaurants. At both West and the University, he excelled in forensics. He was graduated from the University in 1937, after studying economics and political science.

Masaoka's first involvement with the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) occurred in 1938, when he attended an annual gathering of the organization. He became interested in the group's goal of organizing second-generation Japanese Americans, or Nisei, in efforts to counteract increasing discrimination. Masaoka quickly became a leader in the JACL after organizing the Intermountain District Council in Utah and Idaho. At the outbreak of the Second World War, the JACL's role as the leading representative organization for the Nisei took on new significance when coping with the government's decision to evacuate and intern all West Coast resident aliens and Americans of Japanese ancestry. As the JACL National Secretary, Masaoka was sent to Washington, D.C. in an effort to mitigate the effects of the relocation and work towards the elimination of the internment camps. Before leaving for Washington, though, Masaoka wed Etsu Mineta.

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