Asian-American Women and the Portland YWCA Veleda Club
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Asian-American Women: The Veleda ClubResearch by Mary K. Gayne and Patricia A. Schechter
After World War II, a number of Japanese women connected powerfully with the Portland YWCA. Mrs. Naito, Ruby Shiomi, and Grace Akiyama were especially active board members in the 1950s and 1960s. These women offered service to the organization in many ways. The record documents their work to expand the cultural understanding of the membership of the YWCA through symposia on world religions, "Japan Day" events, the sharing of personal photographs and recipes, and through a sister city relationship with a YWCA in Sapporo. Japanese-American women formed the active and vibrant Veleda Club in 1949. Members chose to name the club Veleda because of its meaning in Latin: "wise women." The club's mission was "education, recreation and culture for the benefit of married women." Sensitive to "relations between Japan and America tradewise," the Veledas vowed to provide service to both " the Caucasian community and the Japanese community."[1]
The Veleda Club offered a variety of services to the Japanese-American community in Portland. One such program provided scholarships to local Japanese-American students. The club also offered a variety of classes and programs
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