Alice Kasai photograph collection, 1930s-1990s

Alice Fumiyo Kasai (1916-2007) was born in Seattle, Washington, to immigrant parents. She was taken to Japan as a child and reared by her grandparents until she was ready to start school. The family settled in Carbon County, Utah, where Alice attended school, graduating in 1935. She married Henry Yoshihiko Kasai in 1937, and the couple had six children.

Henry Kasai was detained by the FBI shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and remained in custody for two and a half years. During this time, Alice Kasai became an activist, participating in the Japanese-American Citizen's League (JACL) and providing support for families interned in relocation camps. After the war, Alice and Henry Kasai were active in community affairs and she continued her activism after his death in 1966. In addition to her work with the JACL and the Asian Association of Utah, Alice Kasai served on many boards and committees dealing with civil rights, women's rights, ethnic issues, and the welfare of the aging. She remained active in community affairs until her death in Salt Lake City in 2007.