Sharon Maeda (b. 1945) is a longtime Seattle activist for the rights of women and racial minorities. Maeda’s parents were incarcerated at the Minidoka concentration camp during World War II and she was born in Milwaukee after her parents were allowed to leave the camp, but before they were permitted to return to the Pacific Northwest. Maeda taught middle school for two years after graduating from University of Washington in 1968, and later headed the University’s Ethnic Cultural Center. She also co-founded Seattle Third World Women, and served on the board of the Seattle chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL). Maeda began a career in journalism in the mid-1970s, producing television documentaries and subsequently working in radio. She was the first station manager of Rainier Valley Radio/KVRU 105.7 FM, and served as executive director of Pacifica Radio in the 1980s. Maeda also worked in public affairs for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.

This image shows Sharon Maeda in 1962, when she was one of two young women from Washington elected to attend Girl’s Nation in Washington, D.C. Girl’s Nation delegates toured the White House, the Capitol, and the Pentagon.

Caption information source: “Sharon Maeda,” Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project, retrieved from https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/maeda.htm
Caption information source: “Highline Girl wins D.C. trip,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 27, 1962, page 13.