Haruko Kinase-Leggett

Haruko Kinase was born November 20, 1950 to Saioshi and Aiko Kinase in Kamakura, Japan. She came to the USA in late September, 1983 and has since lived in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. She had never lived so long in any one place until then. "It has given me great pleasure to become involved in community affairs, and joining the Champaign County Section of the National Council of Negro Women in 1994 has been a very enriching experience.

Following is a brief sketch of her previous peripatetic life as well as some of the important landmarks in her life. By the time she went to college, she had been to seven schools and through four different educational systems.

In August, 1957, to October, 1960, she had lived in the Philippines, first in Manila, then in Quezon City. She gained fluency in English, thanks largely to Maryknoll, a school run mainly by American and Canadian Nuns. And from November, 1960 to November, 1965, she lived in Tokyo, Japan, then from November, 1965 to July, 1968, she lived in Bern, Switzerland. From July, 1968 to August, 1973, she lived in England, the first two years in London, then three years in Falmer, Sussex.

During those years, she completed her BA (1973) in International Relations at the University of Sussex, and passed her 'practicals' - as her friends tell her - by marrying Tony Leggett, an Englishman and a Physicist, soon after graduation.

From August, 1973 to April 1974, lived in Tokyo, Japan. Then from May, 1974 to September, 1983 the family lived in Brighton, England. A daughter, Elizabeth Asako, was born on September 28, 1978.

She gained her MA (1975) and her Master of Philosophy in Politics from the University of Sussex. In September, 1983, the family immigrated to the United States, so that her husband, Tony, could take a job offered by the Department of Physics, at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana Campus.

After coming to Champaign-Urbana, I obtained my Ph.D in Anthropology from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana Campus, in the Spring of 2000. Part of her research involved studying three churches in Champaign-Urbana. Becoming involved in the community in so many different ways i.e., as a parent, wife, as a researcher, and as a member of some of the community-based organizations has been very rewarding.