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The Walt and Milly Woodward Fund

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Special Recognition Award to Walt and Milly Woodward

San Francisco August 3rd: The Asian American Journalists Association posthumously awarded its Special Recognition Award to Walt and Milly Woodward, whose Bainbridge Review courageously opposed the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. The Special Recognition Award honors a person or persons - regardless of ethnicity, race or profession - who has helped to advance AAJA's goals.

As owners of the The Bainbridge Review during the 1940s, the Woodwards never forgot the Constitution when others did. They opposed the internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II, a stand that cost them popular support and advertising dollars.

They appointed four "Camp Correspondents" - Paul Ohtaki, Sa Nakata, Tony Koura and Sada Omoto - to write articles about life at internment camps in Minidoka, Idaho, and Manzanar, Calif. The Woodwards printed the articles faithfully, so that their neighbors of Japanese ancestry would not be forgotten.

After the war, the Woodwards continued to be a strong voice in the community, leading campaigns for a new library, schools, and a commuter bridge. In the late 1940s, the Woodwards took leave from the paper and moved to Washington, D.C., to work for the National Republican Party.

Walt Woodward stepped down as editor in 1963 and sold the Review in 1988. He later worked on the editorial board of The Seattle Times and wrote columns as well as two books on boating. He was also appointed by Washington State Gov. Dan Evans as chairman of the State Shorelines Hearing Board in the 1970s. Milly returned to teaching high school and died in 1989. Walt died March 13 at the age of 91. A Bainbridge Island middle school in their community bears their name.

(Paul Ohtaki, former Bainbridge Review employee, WW II camp correspondent and resident of San Francisco received the award on behalf of the Woodwards who were nominated for the award by Lori Matsukawa, KING TV News, Seattle. Here is his acceptance speech:)

"I wish that Walt and Mildred Woodward could be here in person to receive this award. Nothing would mean more to them than to receive this award from fellow journalists. But I am sure they are up there looking down on us tonight and would want me to thank everyone for this prestigious honor and award."

"When the Bainbridge Island Japanese were being herded off to the Camp, they hired four correspondents. They wanted us to send back any bit of news of the Bainbridge evacuees; activities which they ran in a special column each week, such things as who got married, sick, injured, died, and other things that were happening."

"I was never a journalist, and could not find news each week. I started to miss news deadlines, and I sent the Manzanar Free Press, the camp newspaper instead. That is when I received this "Dear Lazybone" letter from Walt. He wrote, in part:"

"Dear Lazybones:

Come, come my good man, I find the 'Manzanar Free Press' to be fine reading but where in the hell has my Manzanar correspondent gone? Seriously, Butch, you'll be doing you own people a great harm if you quit sending us all the local gossip down there. Here's what I mean. When this mess is all over, you people are going to want to come home. You'll be welcomed with open arms by the vast majority of us. But those who don't or won't understand will not feel that way. They may actually may try to stir up trouble. But they'll have a hell of a hard time of it, in the meantime, you've been creating the impression every week that the Japanese are just down there for a short while and that by being in The Review every week they still consider the Island as their home. Any and every scrap of stuff you can gather about how they miss the Island is fuel for the fire. See what I mean?

So ... enough of this lazy man's reporting. Let's have Ohtaki back on the firing line.

Sincerely, Walt"

"Many years later, I asked the Woodwards 'Why did you do this, when you could have dropped it and not suffered the anger of some of your readers?' They would always answer 'It was the right thing to do.'"

"Thank you again for this award".