Japanese American Social Services, Inc. (JASSI) Records

Midori Shimanouchi Lederer (1923-2005) founded Japanese American Social Services, Inc. (JASSI) in 1981 to fulfill the need for social services for aging Japanese Americans with limited English language skills. JASSI quickly expanded to assist Japanese restaurant workers, students, recent immigrants, and those in need of counseling and other referral services in the New York area. Today, JASSI continues to provide bilingual support services related to immigration, healthcare, housing, and other social services.

The JASSI Records contain administrative files, publicity materials, photographs, and documentation of JASSI’s numerous workshops and events. These records offer a rich demographic and social-historical portrait of New York’s post-war Japanese American community.

To learn more about the contents of the Japanese American Social Services, Inc. Records, located at the NYU Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, view the collection’s finding aid.

Image: Photograph of a Trip to Connecticut, 1987; Japanese American Social Services, Inc. (JASSI) Records; TAM.307; Box 19; Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University Libraries.