Herbert Victor Nicholson (1892–1983) was an advocate for Japanese Americans who were interned by the US government during the Second World War.
Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, thousands of Japanese people – most of whom were American citizens – were arrested and held in ten detention camps on the orders of President Franklin Roosevelt, starting in February 1942.
Nicholson worked on their behalf as an interpreter, stored their goods in his church (which he converted into a warehouse for this purpose), helped them pack, and provided them with food and assistance.
He advocated for the inmates' release, meeting officials with the War Department and organising a public letter-writing campaign; 150,000 letters were sent to the US government.
After the war, he called for reparations to be paid to the former inmates (legislation to do this was passed in 1988, five years after his death).