Franklin Odo | |
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.jpg) Odo in 2015 | |
| Born | (1939-05-06)May 6, 1939 Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Died | September 28, 2022(2022-09-28) (aged 83) Amherst, Massachusetts |
| Occupations | Author, scholar, activist, and historian |
Franklin S. Odo (May 6, 1939 – September 28, 2022) was aJapanese American author, scholar, activist, and historian. Odo served as the director of theAsian Pacific American Program at theSmithsonian Institution from the program's inception in 1997 until his retirement in 2010. As the director of the APA Program, Odo brought numerous exhibits to the Smithsonian highlighting the experiences ofChinese Americans,Native Hawaiians,Japanese Americans,Filipino Americans,Vietnamese Americans,Korean Americans, andIndian Americans.[1] He was the first Asian Pacific American curator at theNational Museum of American History.[2] He taughtAmerican Studies atAmherst College until his death.[3]
Franklin Odo was born in and grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii and was the first fromKaimuki High School to attendPrinceton University, where he received his B.A. in History in 1961 and took meals at theIvy Club. He then received his M.A. in East Asia regional studies atHarvard University in 1963. He returned to Princeton University, where he completed a doctorate dissertation on Japanese feudalism in 1975.
While his academic background and training had been in traditional Asian Studies, Odo became involved in the movement that createdAsian American Studies and otherethnic studies in California in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a result of the anti-war and anti-racism activism in the United States.[4]
Odo has taught for over 50 years at numerous academic institutions, most recently atAmherst College and theUniversity of Maryland, College Park. In the 1960s and 1970s, Odo taught atOccidental College; theUniversity of California, Los Angeles; andCalifornia State University, Long Beach. In the 1990s, he served as a visiting professor at theUniversity of Pennsylvania,Hunter College, Princeton University, andColumbia University. He has also served as the director of ethnic studies at theUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. From 1989 to 1991, he also served as the President of theAssociation for Asian American Studies (AAAS).[5]
Since its formation in 1997, the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (APAC) has provided vision, leadership, and support for Asian Pacific American activities at the Smithsonian, while also serving as the Smithsonian's liaison to APA communities.[6] Odo was selected in 1997 to serve as the director of the program, and throughout his tenure, he has brought attention to Asian Pacific American culture and arts to various Smithsonian exhibits. Some of his efforts include a photo exhibit entitled "Through My Father’s Eyes," which featured Filipino American photographer Ricardo Alvarado at the National Museum of American History. In 2003, Odo co-organized a traveling exhibit of Korean American contemporary artists entitled "Dreams & Reality."[7] He has also led projects to commemorate the centennial of Filipino immigration to the United States, and is the co-curator of “Exit Saigon, Enter Little Saigon,” a project that highlights the growth of the Vietnamese American community after the 30th anniversary of thefall of Saigon.[8] Odo retired from his director position in January 2010.
Along with Amy Tachiki, Eddie Wong, and Buck Wong, Odo co-edited the first breakthrough Asian American anthologyRoots: An Asian American Reader (1971).
In 1985, Odo and immigration researcher,Kazuko Sinoto, co-authored and publishedA Pictorial History of the Japanese in Hawai‘i 1885-1924,[9] which opens with the experiences of the first Japanese immigrants to Hawai'i and ends with the 1924 exclusionary laws that effectively denied further Japanese entry into the United States.
In 2003, Odo authoredNo Sword to Bury: Japanese Americans in Hawai’i During World War II, which explores the experiences of a shrinking group of Japanese American men who survived World War II as part of theVarsity Victory Volunteers (VVV).
He is also the editor of theColumbia Documentary History of the Asian American Experience (2003), the first book that brought together the canon of various documents pertinent to Asian Pacific American history.[10]
Odo wroteVoices from the Canefields: folksongs from Japanese immigrant workers in Hawaii, which is about theHolehole bushi, a kind of folk song sung by Japanese plantation workers. He usedHarry Urata's collection ofHolehole bushi recordings to write the book.
Odo was awarded the President's Award by theJapanese American Citizens League in July 2008,[11] an award from theOrganization of Chinese Americans in August 2008,[12] and the Association for Asian American Studies Lifetime Achievement Award on April 14, 2012.
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