Day 244: Munemitsu Farm, Orange County, California
📌APIA Every Day (244) - The Munemitsu farm was a 40-acre agricultural property in Westminster established in 1932. Due to California's 1913 Alien Land Law, which prevented Japanese immigrants from owning property, the farm was legally held in the name of American-born Seiko "Tad" Munemitsu, though it was operated by his parents Seima and Masako Munemitsu. Throughout the 1930s, the farm produced various crops including asparagus, strawberries, and seasonal vegetables, establishing itself as one of Orange County's prominent strawberry-growing operations.
Following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and the subsequent Executive Order 9066, the Munemitsu family was forcibly relocated in 1942. Seima Munemitsu was arrested and sent to incarceration camps in New Mexico and Colorado, having been designated a security risk due to his community leadership role and involvement with Japanese cultural organizations. His wife Masako and their children were sent to the Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona, where they were assigned to live with thousands of other Japanese American incarcerees.
During their incarceration, the Munemitsu’ managed to retain ownership of their farm through a lease arrangement, unlike many Japanese Americans who lost their properties entirely. In 1944, banker Frank Monroe facilitated a lease agreement with Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez, who operated the farm for the next two years. The Mendez family used the farm's profits to fund their legal challenge against school segregation in Orange County, which culminated in the Mendez v. Westminster case of 1947.
When the Munemitsu family returned from incarceration in late 1945, they established a unique arrangement with the Mendez family, documented in the August 1945 lease agreement. While the Mendezes continued to operate the farm through 1946, the Munemitsus lived in the farm's auxiliary buildings and worked as paid laborers on their own property at prevailing wages. This temporary arrangement allowed both families to transition through the immediate post-war period, with the Munemitsus eventually resuming full control of their farm operations by 1946.
LEARN MORE:
National Park Service: Movement and Migration of the Munemitsu Family
LA Times: New book details how two O.C. families and a farm helped integrate public schools
Pacific Citizen: The Munemitsu Legacy
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