Born: Unknown (1800s), Japan (assumed)
Died: Unknown (1900s)
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Unknown
The following is republished from HistoryLink.org, in line with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
In December 1917, Madame Naokichi Matsunaga, wife of the imperial Japanese consul in Seattle, formed a Japanese Ladies Auxiliary of the Red Cross. Members met several times each week to knit in the Japanese Commercial Club at Maynard Avenue and Jackson Street. It was Seattle’s first civic organization for Japanese women. “Since the entry of the United States into the war the fair maidens of the Orient have aligned themselves with patriotic movements in Seattle in which they considered their services would carry the most weight. They have demonstrated their loyalty to the land of their residence in subscriptions to the two issues of the Liberty Loan, to the various patriotic funds and in Red Cross work” (The Seattle Times, December 23, 1917).
IW note: Naokichi Matsunaga was her husband’s name (similiar to referring to a woman as “Mrs. John Smith”); IW was not able to find any record of her name.