Ishigo, Estelle

Biography

Estelle (Peck) Ishigo was born in Oakland, California, 1899; attended Otis Art Institute; met and married San Franciscan Nisei, Arthur Ishigo (ca. 1929); following Pearl Harbor, both were fired from their jobs and Arthur ordered to a concentration camp; Estelle voluntarily accompanied him and they were eventually assigned to Heart Mountain concentration camp in Wyoming; Estelle documented life at the camp through her artwork; they lived in poverty for many years following the war; Arthur died, 1957; fellow Heart Mountain inmates helped Ishigo republish her 1972 book, Lone Heart Mountain, ca. 1984; filmmaker Steven Okazaki made a documentary of Ishigo's life titled, Days of Waiting ; she died before seeing the film (1990).

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