Frank Chuman facts for kids

Frank Fujio Chuman, born on April 29, 1917, is a Japanese-American lawyer and writer. He spent his life helping people fight for fairness and equal rights, especially for Japanese Americans. He was a key person in many important legal cases and in the movement to correct past wrongs.

Early Life and Education

Frank Fujio Chuman was born in Montecito, California. His parents had moved to the U.S. from Japan. He was the middle child of three.

Frank went to Los Angeles High School and graduated in 1934 as the top student. He then studied at UCLA, finishing in 1938. In 1940, he started law school at the University of Southern California.

Life During World War II

In 1942, a special order from the government, called Executive Order 9066, forced Frank to leave law school. He and his family were sent to an internment camp called Manzanar. This was a difficult time when many Japanese Americans were unfairly held in camps during World War II.

While at Manzanar, Frank worked as the main manager at the camp's hospital. In 1943, he was allowed to leave Manzanar. He continued his law studies, first at the University of Toledo and then at the University of Maryland. He was the first Asian American law student at the University of Maryland. Frank earned his law degree in 1945. During his studies, he learned about a special legal order called a writ of error coram nobis. This legal tool would become very important later in his life.

A Career in Law and Civil Rights

After finishing law school in 1945, Frank Chuman returned to Los Angeles. He worked for a law firm that helped the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL). This group worked to protect the rights of Japanese Americans. Frank helped prepare important legal papers for cases like Oyama v. California and Takahashi v. Fish & Game Commission. In 1947, he started his own law partnership with John Aiso, where he worked until 1954.

Leading the JACL

In 1946, Frank became the president of the JACL chapter in Los Angeles. He also gave legal advice to the national JACL organization from 1953 to 1960. From 1960 to 1962, he served as the national president of the JACL.

As president, Frank helped start the Japanese American Research Project (JARP). He also helped raise money for it. His work with JARP led him to research the history of Japanese American laws in the United States. This included laws about citizenship, immigration limits, and rules about owning land. It also covered the unfair wartime confinement. Frank shared his findings in his 1976 book, "The Bamboo People." In this book, he explained why these laws were created and who supported them.

Fighting for Human Rights

In the 1960s, Frank Chuman became involved in the wider civil rights movement. He was named a commissioner for the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission. This group worked to improve relationships between different groups of people.

Frank also played a big part in efforts to get justice for Japanese Americans starting in the 1970s. He worked to overturn the unfair court decisions against people like Fred Korematsu, Gordon Hirabayashi, and Minoru Yasui. These men had been convicted during World War II for resisting the internment orders. Years before, Frank had thought about using the writ of coram nobis (the special legal order he learned about in law school) to help overturn these rulings.

In 1981, Frank suggested using this writ again when he spoke to a special government group. Soon after, a scholar named Peter Irons and a lawyer named Dale Minami began working on a coram nobis petition. Frank joined their legal team as an adviser. Their efforts led to federal court judges overturning the unfair convictions.

Later Years

After the year 2000, Frank Chuman moved to Thailand with his wife, Donna. In 2005, he received a special award from the University of Maryland School of Law. In 2011, he published his own life story, called "Manzanar and Beyond." In 2021, when he was 104 years old, Frank received an honorary degree from the University of Southern California.