JACL Chicago

JACL Chicago The JACL is the oldest and largest Asian American civil rights organization in the United States. The Chicago Chapter was established in 1945.

Founded in 1929, the JACL is the oldest and largest Asian American civil rights organization in the United States. The JACL monitors and responds to issues that enhance or threaten the civil and human rights of all Americans and implements strategies to effect positive social change, particularly to the Asian Pacific American community. The Chicago Chapter's Inception

On January 1, 1943, National JACL established the JACL Midwest Regional Office by leasing a space on the 9th floor of 189 West Madison in the Loop. The office served to provide information and assistance to Japanese Americans either considering or already coping with relocation to Chicago. Dr. Thomas Yatabe, the first elected JACL National President, was asked to run the office upon his release from Jerome, Arkansas internment camp. Dr. Yatabe was committed to the idea that the growing Chicago Japanese American community needed a JACL chapter to represent its long-term interests. Meetings to discuss chapter formation began in the summer of 1943 at such locations as the International House at the University of Chicago, and were attended by the nucleus of what later became the 25 charter members required to form a chapter. Along with Bill Minami (who had been asked by Dr. Yatabe to eventually be the Chapter’s first president), George Hiura, William Hiura, Noboru Honda, Dixie Ishida, Togo Tanaka, and Kumeo Yoshinari were prominent among those 25 individuals. Chicago became the first JACL chapter of the Midwest after receiving its charter on April 15, 1945. The JACL Midwest Office has continued to work closely with the Chicago Chapter by providing guidance and assistance in implementing national JACL programs in the Chicago area. JACL’s Midwest Directors have been Richard Akagi, Tats Kushida, Tom Hibino and William Yoshino.

10/07/2026
August 28: March on Washington with JACLhttps://marchonwashington2026.com/From JACL National: On August 28, 1963, Dr. Ma...
08/20/2026

August 28: March on Washington with JACL

https://marchonwashington2026.com/

From JACL National: On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood at the Lincoln Memorial before a quarter of a million people and delivered the address the nation would come to know as I Have a Dream. He called America to make good on its founding promise, and he set a generation marching toward justice.

Organizations will gather on August 28, 2026, in that same tradition. The same ground. The same conviction that ordinary people, moving together in peace, can bend this country toward its better self. The generation of 1963 won the Voting Rights Act. The current generation has come to defend it.

This march is convened by two organizations built to carry that work forward. The National Action Network, founded by Rev. Al Sharpton in 1991, is one of the nation's leading civil rights organizations. From its House of Justice in Harlem and through chapters across the country, NAN has spent decades on the front lines of the fight for voting rights, police accountability, criminal justice reform, and economic empowerment, organizing communities, standing with families, and pressing for change at every level of government.

The Drum Major Institute, led by Martin Luther King III and Andrea Waters King, continues Dr. King's mission of peace, justice, and equity, mobilizing a new generation to confront what Dr. King called the triple evils of poverty, racism, and violence. Together, these two organizations champions the movement from 1963 into 2026.

Join us to take part in democracy in action. In 1963, our leaders marched in the March on Washington. Today, you have the same opportunity, as countless organizations and individuals are uniting for the 2026 March on Washington to defend voting rights, civil rights, and economic justice.

Action Alert: Oppose the NARA Closures in Chicago and San BrunoFrom JACL National: The National Archives and Records Adm...
08/20/2026

Action Alert: Oppose the NARA Closures in Chicago and San Bruno

From JACL National: The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has announced plans to close its San Bruno, California, and Chicago, Illinois, facilities within three years, with transfers potentially beginning as early as August 2026. Public access to historical records is under threat as demonstrated by the attempt to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences—the only federal agency dedicated to providing funding for the nation’s libraries—by executive order.

An emergency resolution by JACL National Council endorses a national advocacy campaign involving all JACL chapters to oppose the NARA closures by contacting Acting Archivist of the United States Edward Forster and JACL members’ elected representatives, with written correspondence copied to the Save Our National Archives (SONA) advocacy group.

To read more from JACL National Council and find resources to voice your opposition to the NARA closures

‍ ‍ BACKGROUND: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has announced plans to close its San Bruno, California, and Chicago, Illinois, facilities within three years, with transfers potentially beginning as early as August 2026. San Bruno holdings comprise 100,000 cubic feet of re

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