Discussions began in January 2013 with the remarkable new public television series, Our American Family, about the history of the Furuta family of Historic Wintersburg. The program producers were looking for a family whose story is iconic for Japanese Americans, from their earliest arrival in America through their path to the present day.
The mission of Our American Family is "to document our American family heritage, one family at a time, and inspire viewers to capture their own family stories - before those voices are gone." The producers talked about their own families and the lessons we can learn from those who came before: "Every day that passes is another day closer to a day when we will no longer be able to hear first-hand what it meant to be a family during this simpler time, before the world changed. To hear first-hand what lessons were learned that we can apply today..."
In September 2013, filming began to capture the story of Charles Mitsuji and Yukiko Yajima Furuta, and their descendants. With the recorded oral history of the Issei-generation Yukiko Furuta---conducted thirty-one years ago in 1982---the stories and memories of five generations of the Furuta family will be heard.
The Nisei generation interviews include 91-year-old Etsuko Furuta, the daughter of Charles and Yukiko, born on the Furuta farm in Wintersburg Village, and Martha Furuta, wife of Charles and Yukiko's son, Raymond.
The Sansei generation interviews include Norman, Dave and Ken Furuta, sons of Raymond and Martha, and the grandsons of Charles and Yukiko Furuta. The Yonsei generation is represented by Michael Furuta, the great grandson of Charles and Yukiko. The oral history interviews will include historic photographs and present-day images filmed on the Furuta farm.
Historic Wintersburg is honored to be part of this effort, which shares more of the history of the Furuta family and their life in early Orange County. Their story is iconic of Japanese American settlement in the American West.
Our American Family featuring the Furuta family will be aired in 2014 (date to be announced) on public television around the country. For readers of Historic Wintersburg, a special preview from the program's producers.
HISTORIC WINTERSBURG SPECIAL PREVIEW: OUR AMERICAN FAMILY, THE FURUTA FAMILY
Note: This excerpt starts in 1912, the year Charles Furuta married Yukiko Yajima. Charles had lived in the United States for 12 years---arriving in 1900---and, had saved enough money to buy land and build a home in Wintersburg Village. He was the first Japanese baptized into Christianity in Orange County and donated land on his farm for the Wintersburg Mission.
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The Historic Wintersburg blog focuses on an overlooked history in Huntington Beach, Orange County, California, in the interest of saving a historic property from demolition. The author and publisher reserves the right not to publish comments. Please no promotional or political commentary. Zero tolerance for hate rhetoric. Comments with embedded commercial / advertising links or promoting other projects, books, or publications may not be published. If you have an interesting anecdote, question or comment about one of our features, it will be published.