Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Community Comment

For some, it was too late…

Good morning, Netizens...

A previous discussion of the plight of persons of Japanese ancestry earlier today brought back some old memories, some of which were only partially recalled, were it not for the power of the Internet.

During my travels as a truck driver, I used to regularly make stops at San Leandro Nursery which is how I came about this marvelous picture of the original nursery in 1942 when it was owned and operated by the Kitsamura family.

I remembered talking to the manager of San Leandro Nursery in 1968, and from her learning about an elderly Nisei (Japanese woman born in America) whom I had seen hand-checking some racks of potted plants I had just delivered. According to what I was told, Mrs. Kitsumura lived in the only private house on the huge nursery grounds. As I later found out, that was because in 1942, the present owner of the nursery bought the Kitsumura family's nursery for pennies on the dollar, and thinking that he had seen the last of her and her family continued business in their name.



Spokesman-Review readers blog about news and issues in Spokane written by Dave Laird.