There have been lots of interesting things that we have learned about Mikiso Hane’s life in these boxes. However, we of course cannot include every single bit of information about him in a biography for the finding guide. Thus, we will need to cut it down to a few things.
I think it is important firstly to include his early life. From newspaper clippings, I saw that he talked extensively about his time in an internment camp. It was obviously an important part of his upbringing and therefore would be crucial to the biography.
We should also be sure to include his education and his accomplishments. Hane went to Yale for all of his degrees and became a well-known and respected historian and professor. He was asked to speak at many different conferences and panels. He wrote a vast quantity of books, reviews, and articles. Additionally, he was appointed as a member of the National Council of the Humanities. Clearly, Hane was an incredibly accomplished individual, and those achievements deserve to be emphasized and remembered.
Finally, if at all possible, I think it would be nice to include more personal aspects of Hane’s life. From what we have learned about him, Hane was an almost eccentric individual; but he was also kind and humble. I think details like that are important for biographies. However, I know that information like that is not exactly relevant or beneficial to the purposes of our finding guide biography.
I agree that his early life and professional accomplishments seem important to include. I also would love to include some more subjective aspects about Hane, but my understanding of common practice is that that sort of information is often left out–or left to biographers to expand on. It’s definitely worth talking about, though!