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Acquisition Information
Preferred Citation
Biographical Note
Scope and Content of Collection
Title: Forrest Ralph Pitts papers
Date (inclusive): 1953-1960
Collection Number: 2014C15
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
3 manuscript boxes
(1.0 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, reports, notes, and slides relating to the population of Okinawa and to social and economic conditions on
Okinawa in the post-World War II period.
Creator:
Pitts, Forrest R. (Forrest Ralph), 1924-2014
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Access
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquisition Information
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2013.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Forrest Ralph Pitts papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Biographical Note
Pitts served in the US Navy during World War II. He received a BA in oriental languages and literature, an MA in Far Eastern
studies, and a PhD in geography, all from the University of Michigan. For many years, he was the executive director of the
International Geographical Union Commission on Quantitative Methods and editor of Korean Studies. He eventually became emeritus
professor of the geography department at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Pitts was best known for developing formal quantitative approaches in geography, spatial diffusion, simulation modeling, and
the use of computers in geographic research. His research was marked by extensive fieldwork in Okinawa, Japan, and Korea.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection includes
Postwar Okinawa, a 1955 anthropological study by the Pacific Science Board and the National Research Council to which Pitts contributed chapters
on geography, agricultural history, rural economy, and population issues. In addition to correspondence related to the report,
the collection also includes 1,400 Kodachrome slides that document the Ryukyu Islands before US military bases were constructed
there seventy years ago.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Okinawa Island (Japan) -- Population
Okinawa Island (Japan) -- Social conditions
Okinawa Island (Japan) -- Economic conditions
Okinawa Island (Japan) -- Pictorial works
Slides (Photography)