Grace Aiko Nakamura

Grace Aiko Nakamura (February 18, 1927 – May 30, 2017) was a Japanese American educator and the first Japanese American teacher to be hired in the Pasadena Unified School District.

Personal life On February 18, 1927, Nakamura was born Grace Aiko Shinoda in Los Angeles, California to Hide Watanabe and Kiyoshi Shinoda. Nakamura and her brother were known to be avid drawers throughout their lives. Her aunt was Megumi Yamaguchi Shinoda.

In May 1942, Nakamura and her family were forcibly sent to the Manzanar concentration camp in California as a result of Executive Order 9066. Nakamura and her family were released from Manzanar to go live with her uncle in Grand Junction, Colorado.

She married Yoshio “Yosh” Nakamura in 1950 after meeting him at the Union Church in Los Angeles. After moving to South Pasadena, California with her husband, Nakamura became the first Japanese American teacher to be hired by the Pasadena Unified School District.

In 2008, her art work was featured by the Whittier Public Library in an exhibit called “Ah! New Mexico! Inspired Images from the Land of Enchantment.” Nakamura was interviewed by the National Park Service (NPS) twice - in 1999 and 2016 - for NPS Manzanar's Oral History Program.

She was also active in her local community. She was a member of the Hillcrest Congregational Church in La Habra Heights.