Due to last minute changes Willie Ito was unable to join the webinar live, to watch Willie Ito's oral history clips visit Discovernikkei.org.

Join The National WWII Museum and Japanese American artist Willie Ito for this student webinar to commemorate the Day of Remembrance, a day of observance for the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Ito grew up during World War II and was incarcerated at the Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah with his family—simply for being of Japanese descent. After the war, Ito went on to have an incredible career as an illustrator, working on major productions including Lady and the Tramp, The Flintstones, The Jetsons, and many other animated series and films. More recently, he illustrated Hello Maggie, a book by Shigeru Yabu that recounts his experiences as a young boy while incarcerated at Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming.

During this webinar, students will hear more about Ito’s history and his career as an illustrator and animator, as well as learn more about Hello Maggie, which will soon become an animated film.

The Day of Remembrance is observed on February 19, the anniversary of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 1942 signing of Executive Order 9066, which forcibly relocated more than 100,000 West Coast residents of Japanese descent, the majority of them American citizens, into incarceration camps.