About Sam Mihara, Public Speaker
Biography, Profile, Experience
Sam Mihara is a second-generation Japanese American (Nisei) born and raised in San Francisco. When World War II broke out, the United States government using armed military guards forced Sam, age 9, and his family to move to the Heart Mountain, Wyoming prison camp. It was one of 10 such camps in the country that together housed over 120,000 West Coast residents of Japanese ancestry, most of them U.S.-born American citizens. Sam and his family lived in one room, 20 by 20 feet square in a barrack for three years. Our entire family living in one small room with no utilities, poor food at the start, embarrassing toilets, severe medical problems and cold winters as low as minus 28 deg. F. in blizzards.
After the war ended, the family returned home to San Francisco. Sam attended Lick Wilmerding High School, U.C. Berkeley undergraduate and UCLA graduate schools, where he earned engineering degrees. He became a rocket scientist and joined the Boeing Company where he became an executive on space programs. Following retirement, Sam changed careers – he became a national speaker on the topic of mass injustice in the U.S. He has visited many federal prisons including today’s detention facilities for undocumented immigrants. Sam helped in the education and preservation of the Heart Mountain historic prison site in Northwest Wyoming. Since 2014, he is a board member of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation, the non-profit organization that oversees the National Historic Landmark site. And Sam is a member of the Japanese American Citizens League, SELANOCO Chapter.
Sam speaks to educators, schools, libraries, government attorneys, law schools, law firms and other interested organizations about his wartime experience and today’s prisons. Sam is a frequent guest lecturer at national history conferences, U.C. Berkeley, UCLA, Harvard and Columbia Law Schools, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Congress. In February 2018, In April of 2018, Sam was selected as keynote speaker for the National Council for History Education (NCHE) Conference which was held in San Antonio, Texas. During the conference, Sam was awarded the prestigious Paul Gagnon Prize as the history educator of the year – the first time to a Japanese American and the first west of the Mississippi. With approximately 100,000 history teachers in the U.S., this top award is a special honor. And Sam usually ends his presentations with a discussion of the lessons learned from this injustice and how the lessons apply to today’s problems such as immigration and racial issues. In March 2019, Sam gave speeches and written to Congressional members and staff on the lessons learned from the prison experience that apply to today’s issues including immigration and the need to support funding for education. In August, 2022, Sam was awarded the Japanese American Citizens League’s prestigious honor, The Biennium Award for Education.
To date, Sam has delivered over 450 speeches to over 90,000 students of all ages in the U.S. , Asia and Europe.
Andover MA – Schools and Museum
Arizona – Jewish Historical Society
Atlanta GA – Nat’l Teachers Conference
Atlanta GA – Emory Law School
Atlanta GA – Georgia State University
Atlanta GA – Alston and Bird LLP
Austin TX – Asian American Center
Austin TX – University of Texas
Berkeley CA – U. C. Berkeley
Boston – Harvard Law School
Boston – U. Mass. Boston
Boston – Boston Latin School
California – Saddleback College
Cheyenne WY – Community College
Chicago – Neal Gerber LLP
Chicago – American Bar Association HQ
Chicago – New Trier High School
Chicago – Glenbrook High School
Chicago – Chapman and Cutler LLP
Chicago – Winston Strawn LLP
Claremont CA – Harvey Mudd College
Cody WY – Library
Dallas – ATT Headquarters
Dallas – Holocaust Museum
Dallas – Ursuline Academy
Dallas – Baker Botts LLP
Ft. Worth TX – Texas Christian Univ.
Ft. Worth TX – Southern Methodist Univ.
Fullerton CA – Cal State Univ. Fullerton
Heart Mountain WY – Pilgrimage
Huntington Beach CA – Kiwanis & Rotary
Irvine CA – Univ. of California Irvine
Jordan UT – Teachers Conference
Laramie WY – Univ. of Wyoming
Long Island NY – Hewitt Elementary School
LA – Japanese American Nat’l Museum
Las Vegas – Libraries
Las Vegas – ABC News Ch. 13
Los Angeles – UCLA
Los Angeles – USC
Los Angeles – Milbank LLP
Los Angeles– Museum Of The Holocaust
Los Angeles – Calif. Courts Conference
Los Angeles – Windward School
Los Angeles – United Teachers of LA
Long Beach CA – Appellate Justices Conf.
Long Island NY – Hofstra University
Louisiana – New Iberia Catholic High School
Manitowoc WI – Maritime Museum
Milwaukee WI – World History Assoc. Conf.
Milwaukee WI – Marquette Univ. Law
Nashville– TN Teachers Conference
New Haven CT – Yale Law & Yale University
New York – McGraw NY School
New York City – Columbia U. Law School
New York City – Davis & Gilbert LLP
New York City – Proskauer LLP
New York City – Akin Gump LLP
New York City – Robert F. Kennedy Group
Omaha – Metropolitan Comm.College
Omaha – Japanese Amer. Citizens League
Orange CA – Chapman University
Palo Alto CA – Cooley LLP
Princeton NJ – Princeton Univ.
Richmond VA – Holocaust Museum
Riverton WY – Community College
Salt Lake City – West Jordan School
Salt Lake City – Utah Teachers Conf.
Salt Lake City – Holland and Hart LLP
San Antonio TX – Nat’l Teachers Conf.
San Antonio TX – NW Vista College
San Diego – U.C. San Diego
San Francisco – Holocaust Museum
San Francisco – Lick Wilmerding H.S.
San Francisco – Lowell H. S.
Tennessee – Middle Tennessee Schools
Terre Haute IN – Candles Holocaust Museum
Tokyo, Japan – College Conference
Tokyo, Japan – Josai International University
Tustin CA – Kiwanis
Utah – Weber Library and University
Washington DC – Congress
Washington DC – Dept of Justice HQ
Washington DC – Holland and Hart LLP
Washington DC – Smithsonian Museum
Western States – Native American Teachers Wheatland WY – WY Historical Society
Woodland Hills CA – Pierce College