The El Cerrito city council's agenda Monday includes a proposed declaration of Jan. 30 as "Fred Korematsu Day," in honor of the East Bay resident who resisted World War II internment of people of Japanese ancestry and was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Korematsu, who died in 2005, was 23 in 1942 when he defied Executive Order 9066, which required removal of all persons of Japanese ancestry residing on the West Coast. He was convicted in federal court the same year, and the conviction was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The U.S. District Court in San Francisco vacated the conviction in 1983, and in 1988, President Bill Clinton awarded him the nation's highest civilian honor,  the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

In September, California Governor signed legislation establishing Korematsu's birthday, Jan. 30, as a statewide Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution.

Unlike the state day, which is to be observed every year, the El Cerrito proclamation calling for a Fred Korematsu Day in the City of El Cerrito applies only to this coming Jan. 30.

Korematsu did not reside in El Cerrito. He was an Oakland native, and his family operated a nursery in Oakland. Many nurseries were operated by people of Japanese ancestry before the war, including a thriving community in the north part of El Cerrito and adjoining parts of Richmond.

The proposed council proclamation states that those incarcerated during the war included "many residents of El Cerrito, individuals who were vital to the growth and economy of El Cenito, who were leaders in the nursery community, and who were among the earliest residents of El Cenito."

(The proposed council proclamation for a Fred Korematsu Day in El Cerrito is attached.)