The Furuta family of Wintersburg Village in 1922 (standing: Toshiko, Nobuko, Raymond, Kazuko; seated: Yukiko with Etsuko, Charles). (Photo courtesy of the Furuta family) © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
From our sister blog, Historic Wintersburg in Huntington Beach, the history of the Furuta family of Wintersburg Village comes to PBS in 2015.
The effort to bring the history of the Furuta family of Historic Wintersburg to public television began in January 2013. We're pleased to announce Our American Family: The Furutas will be shown in a national advance screening 5 p.m., Saturday, February 21, at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, California.
The screening will be held in the Tateuchi Democracy Forum theater at the Museum, which is located in the historic district of Little Tokyo. Parking is available at the Little Tokyo Mall on 1st Street and at the John Aiso Street parking facility, between 1st and Temple streets.
In the early 1900s, the Pacific Electric Railway, also known as the "Red Car," had a line between Huntington Beach and Little Tokyo. Visitors are encouraged to stop for mochi and other sweets at the Fugetsu-do confectionery in Little Tokyo on 1st Street, where Yukiko Furuta shopped a century ago, http://www.fugetsu-do.com/
Historic Wintersburg
is proud to have provided background, research and assistance with the
film production, featuring five-generations of oral histories, archival
photographs and interviews with the Furuta family. The history begins with Charles Furuta's arrival in America in 1900 and his effort to establish a new life in what is now Huntington Beach.
As featured in this post on the Historic Wintersburg blog, http://historicwintersburg.blogspot.com/2013/10/our-american-family-features-furuta.html, the filming in Southern California was in September 2013 (see preview video at that link). At the same time, the book, Historic Wintersburg in Huntington Beach, was in final review by the publisher, History Press.
Left: The book, Historic Wintersburg in Huntington Beach (History Press) was published in March 2014. The book shares the history of the Furuta family, Orange County's Japanese pioneers, and the origins of Wintersburg Village, which was annexed into Huntington Beach in 1957.
In addition to the 1982 oral history of Yukiko Furuta, film makers utilized research, oral histories, and images provided by the author of Historic Wintersburg in Huntington Beach, historian Mary Adams Urashima, the California State University Fullerton Center for Oral and Public History, one-on-one interviews with Furuta family descendants, and personal photographs from the Furuta family.
The screening of Our American Family: The Furutas starts at 5 p.m. in the Takeuchi Democracy Forum theater, across the plaza from the Museum's main entrance. This is a free advanced screening, open to the public. Seating is limited.
RIGHT: Etsuko Furuta (second row, third from right) in her third grade class at Ocean View Grammar School, 1929. The Ocean View Grammar School was at the southwest corner of Beach Boulevard and Warner Avenue (then Wintersburg Avenue). These students later attended Huntington Beach High School. This photograph is in the exhibit currently on display at the Main Street Library in Huntington Beach, 525 Main Street. (Photo courtesy of the Furuta family) © All rights reserved.
We thank PBS SoCal for assisting with the advance screening in Southern California. PBS SoCal is the first PBS station in the country to air Our American Family: The Furutas,
with air dates starting in late February 2015 and early March 2015 following the advanced screening. Later
this year, PBS stations around the country will begin airing the
program in May (contact your local PBS station for dates and times).
ABOVE: A photograph by Charles Furuta of beach goers at Huntington Beach, circa 1913. (Photo courtesy of the Furuta family) © All rights reserved.
More information about Historic Wintersburg in Huntington Beach and Our American Family: The Furutas at http://historicwintersburg.blogspot.com/2015/01/advance-screening-our-american-family.html
Information and directions for the Japanese American National Museum at http://www.janm.org/ Signed copies of Historic Wintersburg in Huntington Beach are available in the Museum gift shop.
© All rights reserved.
No part of the Historic Huntington Beach blog may be reproduced or duplicated
without prior written permission from the author and publisher, M. Adams
Urashima.
ABOVE: The Furuta family of Huntington Beach in 1922, (standing) Toshiko, Nobuko, Raymond, and Kazuko, (seated) Yukiko, baby Etsuko, and Charles. (Photo courtesy of the Furuta family) © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
We borrow from our sister blog, Historic Wintersburg, http://www.historicwintersburg.blogspot.com
to share an upcoming public television series that will feature another aspect of Huntington Beach history.
Discussions began in January 2013 with the new public television series, Our American Family, about the history of the Furuta family of Historic Wintersburg, now part of north Huntington Beach.
The program producers were looking for a family whose story is iconic
for Japanese Americans, from their earliest arrival in America in 1900 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..."
ABOVE: Charles Furuta (front row, second from left) stands on the steps of the Huntington Inn with Ed Manning, Huntington Beach's first mayor upon its incorporation in 1909 (second row, far right in light-color suit). This photograph, circa May 1912, may memorialize a meeting to organize fundraising to rebuild the Huntington Beach pier. (Photo courtesy of Wintersburg Presbyterian Church). © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
In September 2013, filming began to capture the story of Charles Mitsuji and Yukiko Yajima Furuta, and their descendants. With the recorded 1982 oral history of Yukiko Furuta, the stories and memories of five generations of the Furuta family will be heard. The oral history interviews
will include historic photographs and present-day images filmed on the Furuta farm and other places in Historic Huntington Beach.
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 Huntington Beach and Historic Wintersburg, a special preview from the program's producers.
SPECIAL PREVIEW: OUR AMERICAN FAMILY, THE FURUTA FAMILY of HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIFORNIA
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, now part of Huntington Beach. He donated land on his farm for the
Wintersburg Mission.
Editor's note: For more information about sponsorship of the Our American Family program, please contact surfcitywriter@yahoo.com
All rights reserved.
No part of the Historic Huntington Beach blog may be reproduced or duplicated
without prior written permission from the author and publisher, M. Adams
Urashima.
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