Japanese Americans of Florin

Book excerpt: First-generation Japanese Issei immigrants arrived in Florin in the 1890s, after attempts at profitable strawberry cultivation by Florin landowners had failed. By 1905, however, Issei farmers had developed effective techniques for growing strawberries that delivered a resurgence of the crop. The Issei farmers discovered that Florin's shallow hardpan grew strawberries and grapes well; these fruits would blossom into Florin's major cash crops and lead to the crowning of Florin as the "strawberry capital of the world." But Japanese successes were hard-earned in the face of racist organizations such as the Asiatic Exclusion League and laws like Executive Order 9066, signed by Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942. Florin was a community with a majority of Japanese Americans, but their forced removal--mandated by Roosevelt's order--dealt a crushing blow to the bustling agricultural town, as many Florin families never returned. The Japanese American Archival Collection (JAAC) was established in 1994 as an educational partnership between California State University, Sacramento (CSUS), and the Florin Japanese American Citizens League (JACL). The content collection was led by Florinite Mary Tsukamoto, an educator, author, and activist who was sent with her family to Japanese American concentration camps between 1942 and 1945.