Norman Mineta

Object Details

Artist

Everett Raymond Kinstler, 5 Aug 1926 - 26 May 2019

Sitter

Norman Yoshio Mineta, 1931 - 2022

Exhibition Label

Born San Jose, California

Norman Mineta broke barriers as the first Japanese American cabinet member and the longest-serving secretary of transportation (2001–6). He responded to the 9/11 attacks by grounding flights and creating the Transportation Security Agency.

Born in San Jose, California, Mineta was ten years old when the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor led the federal government to force him and 120,000 other people of Japanese ancestry into incarceration camps. “My family was told by the military authorities that internment was for our own protection,” he wrote in 1983, “but the machine guns and searchlights in the guard towers ... faced inward.”

Mineta graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, served in the U.S. Army, and worked for his father’s business before entering into politics. He rose from San Jose City Council member to mayor before he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1975. During his twenty-year tenure in Congress, Mineta cosponsored the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which authorized reparations to incarceration survivors, and cofounded the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. In 2006, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Nacido en San José, California

Norman Mineta rompió barreras como primer miembro japonés-americano del gabinete presidencial y secretario de transportación con más tiempo en su puesto (2001–6). Ante los ataques del 9/11, suspendió los vuelos aéreos y más tarde creó la Agencia de Seguridad en el Transporte.

Mineta tenía diez años cuando, a raíz del bombardeo a Pearl Harbor en 1941, el gobierno federal lo recluyó, junto con 120,000 personas de ascendencia japonesa, en campos de encarcelamiento. “Las autoridades militares dijeron a mi familia que era para protegernos”, escribió en 1983, “pero las ametralladoras y los reflectores en las torres de los guardias [...] apuntaban hacia adentro”.

Mineta se graduó de la Universidad de California, Berkeley, sirvió en el Ejército de EE.UU. y trabajó con su padre antes de entrar a la política. Ascendió de concejal a alcalde de San José y en 1975 fue elegido para la Cámara de Representantes de EE.UU. En sus 20 años en el Congreso, coauspició la Ley de Libertades Civiles de 1988, que autorizó compensaciones a los sobrevivientes de los campos de reclusión, y cofundó el Caucus Congresional de Estadounidenses de Asia y el Pacífico. En 2006 recibió la Medalla Presidencial de la Libertad.

Provenance

The artist; the donor

Credit Line

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of George and Sakaye Aratani; Hill & Knowlton; Verizon Communications; AT&T; Freddie Mac; Saturn Electronics & Engineering/Wally Tsuha; Ms. Irene Hirano and the Japanese American National Museum; National Japanese American Memorial Foundation; Office of Hawaiian Affairs; The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars; Asian American Government Executives Network; Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies; Allen Okamoto, Chairman of Asian Real Estate Association of America; Association of Asian/Pacific Community Health Organizations; Col. S. Phil Ishio (ret.) and Connie Ishio; Japanese American Citizens League (National); Japanese American Citizens League (D.C. Chapter); Japanese American Veterans Association; Justice & Security Strategies, Inc.; Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc.; Robert Nakamoto; National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development; National Association of Realtors®; National Council of Asian Pacific Americans; OCA; State Farm®; and other friends of Norman Mineta

2009

Object number

NPG.2010.19

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Type

Painting

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

Stretcher: 106.7 x 91.4cm (42 x 36")

Frame: 117 x 101.8 x 5.1cm (46 1/16 x 40 1/16 x 2")

See more items in

National Portrait Gallery Collection

Exhibition

20th Century Americans: 2000 to Present

On View

NPG, South Gallery 341

National Portrait Gallery

Topic

Artwork\Sculpture\Statuette

Norman Yoshio Mineta: Male

Norman Yoshio Mineta: Politics and Government\Cabinet Member\Secretary of Commerce

Norman Yoshio Mineta: Politics and Government\Cabinet Member\Secretary of Transportation

Norman Yoshio Mineta: Politics and Government\US Congressman\California

Norman Yoshio Mineta: Politics and Government\Public Official\Mayor\San Jose, CA

Portrait

Record ID

npg_NPG.2010.19

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm483fe685c-b4d8-4129-ba52-ce4868c9efbb