Minoru Yasui (1916-1986). “Min” graduated at 16, valedictorian of his high school. He enrolled in the University of Oregon, and was the first Japanese American graduate from the University of Oregon Law School. He received his degree with honors in 1939. Unable to find a job with an Oregon firm, he accepted a position with the Japanese Consulate in Chicago. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Min resigned this post immediately, and tried to join the Army. Although he was an officer in the Reserve Corps, the Army rejected him on the grounds that no American soldier could be expected to follow the command of a Japanese American. For the next three months Min worked relentlessly to help other Japanese Americans file legal papers to protect their properties and prove their citizenships.

On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 "to exclude and remove any and all persons deemed necessary for securing the safety of the West Coast." A curfew order was issued on March 28, 1942, which confined all ethnic Japanese to a prescribed area within five miles of their homes and forbade them to be outside after 8 p.m. or before 8 a.m. Min filed a legal challenge against the order, as a violation of the Constitution. He notified the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office of his intentions then went out after the curfew time to provoke arrest. Convicted for violation of the curfew order, Min was sentenced to a year in prison, in solitary confinement, and stripped of his citizenship, which disbarred him from practicing law. In June 1943, the Supreme Court reviewed Min’s case, the first internment test, but held that Executive Order 9066 and the curfew, evacuation, and internment orders were justified by "military necessity." After serving nine months in prison, Min was moved to an internment camp with his family.

After the war, Min took up residence in Denver, Colorado, and passed the bar examinations with the highest score ever recorded for the Colorado Bar Association. He spent his career helping other Japanese Americans, continued as a political activist, and became involved with many community activities. As director of the Denver commission on community relations in 1976, Min was credited with averting the race riots that inflamed other American cities. In 1976, the city of Denver established a monthly "Min Yasui Community Volunteer Award" in his recognition.

Min Yasui devoted his life to public service and civil rights, and to redress for the injustices against Japanese Americans during the war. Two years after Min’s death, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 established an education fund to ensure that the internment remained part of the American curriculum, provided symbolic redress of $20,000 for the Japanese Americans affected by the internment order, and inspired a formal presidential apology. The University of Oregon Law School presented Min’s widow with a Meritorious Service Award, and established an endowed chair in support of human rights in 2002. The Minoru Yasui chair is the first in the nation to be named for a Japanese American. He is an icon for human rights and for Japanese Americans. Listen to an oral history interview with Yasui: https://encyclopedia.densho.org/sources/en-denshovh-yminoru-01-0004-1/