Hikawa, Barbara and Chelsea Dolinar-Hikawa (6/23/2021)

Hikawa, Barbara and Chelsea Dolinar-Hikawa (6/23/2021)

Barbara (Sunnie) Hikawa is a sansei born in Chicago in 1949, whose family has a rich history and strong roots in the local Japanese American community. In this interview, she is joined by her daughter Chelsea Dolinar-Hikawa, a yonsei hapa who was also raised in the Chicago Japanese American community, particularly the Japanese American church community. During World War II, Sunnie and Chelsea’s family members were interned at Tule Lake. After the war, Sunnie’s parents moved to different areas of the Midwest but eventually settled in Chicago, where Sunnie’s father went to law school, and where they raised their family. Sunnie’s paternal grandmother ran a boarding house on LaSalle Street, providing temporary housing for many nisei resettlers. Both Sunnie and Chelsea are involved in their church as the current and past choir directors, and talk about how their experiences with church informed their experience with the JA community. They share their experiences with racism, thoughts about their upbringing, and the differences between generations and how Japanese culture is shared and maintained across them.

2021-06-23

video

Lincoln, Emma Saito

Hikawa, Barbara (Sunnie)

Dolinar-Hikawa, Chelsea

Sansei

Yonsei

Intergenerational

Mixed-race

Tule Lake

Drum and Bugle Corps

Christ Congregational Church

1800