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The Mary Hirose Collection (1930-1975) contains selected photographs that commemorate the life and family of Mary Hirose (nee Uyeyama). Mary Hirose (nee Uyeyama) was born in August 1943 to parents Hideo Uyeyama and Hisae Uyeyama (nee Naka). She was raised in Kelowna, BC on her family’s orchard along with her older sister, Shirley Mather (nee Uyeyama), younger brother, Joe Uyeyama, and younger sister, Ruby Eikenaar (nee Uyeyama). Mary attended Victoria College and worked as a lab technician at MDS (LifeLabs). She married Tadahiko (Ted) Hirose in 1965 and together they had three sons, Brian, David, and Craig Hirose. The family settled in Richmond, BC where Mary still currently resides. She spends her free time volunteering at the Steveston Buddhist Temple, baking, knitting, puzzling, and being the best grandmother to her four grandchildren Alyssa, Kayley, Ava, and Chelsea Hirose. The materials in this collection were generously provided by Mary Hirose, the grandmother of a UBC iSchool student. Mary Hirose’s life as a young Japanese Canadian in British Columbia during the Second World War and post-war era is unique as Hirose’s family was one of only 10% of Japanese Canadians at that time who lived outside the “protected area,” and therefore was not unjustly incarcerated and had all pre-war family records taken. We wholeheartedly thank Mary for her willingness to share her time, photographs, and stories, and for her continued care and support. We hope this collection will aid Japanese Canadians, local historians, archivists, and students seeking primary source material about Japanese Canadians from the mid-to-late twentieth century.
