Fonds consists of minutes, correspondence, reports and newsletters relating to the activities of the Southern Alberta Youth Council and its affiliation with various local Nisei groups and national organizations such as, the Citizens Defence Committee, the Co-operative Committee on Japanese Canadians, the Japanese Canadian Committee for Democracy, the Japanese Canadian Citizens' Association, civil liberties associations, The New Canadian, and the Japanese American Citizens League.
Takada, Minuro, 1921-2019 : Minuro Takada, community leader, born in 1921 at Vancouver, B.C., received his education at Granview High School, and worked one year in accounting, before he was evacuated to Lethbridge, Alta. He worked in lumber camps during the winter and on sugar beet farms or in canneries during the summer. He became interested in civil liberties and was involved in Nisei Activities in Southern Alberta. When the Southern Alberta Youth Council (S.A.Y.C.) was formed, his commercial training made him an obvious choice as secretary. The S.A.Y.C. worked in conjunction with the Co-operative Committee on Japanese Canadians and the Japanese Canadian Citizens Association to assist Japanese Canadians with their property claims and other grievances. He returned to school, first high school then the University of Alberta, in order to study for the ministry. He graduated from St. Steven's College as a gold medalist, 1956. Since then, he has been the minister to a number of congregations, including at Bashaw, Alta., at Toronto, Ont. with the Japanese United Church, Nisei Congregation, and at Scarborough, Ont. with the Glen Ayre Congregation.
