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Ami Inuzuka Correspondence: Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by Brooke M. Black, June 23, 2003.
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
© June 2003
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.

Overview of the Collection

Title: Ami Inuzuka Correspondence
Dates (inclusive): 1942-1988
Collection Number: mssHM 66300-66345
Creator: Inuzuka, Ami.
Extent: 50 items in 1 box
Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection contains letters written by Japanese-American Ami Inuzuka to her friends Hardin and Raemond Craig, with 13 letters written while the Inuzukas were interned at the Gila River Relocation Center in Rivers, Arizona, beginning in 1942 and discussing life in an internment camp. In the rest of her letters, Ami discusses her life in Los Angeles, her family, and the difficulties of growing older.
Language: English.

Access

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

Administrative Information

Publication Rights

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item]. Ami Inuzuka Correspondence, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Provenance

Gift of Raemond Craig, November 27, 1990.

Biographical Note

Ami Inuzuka, her husband, Henry, and their three children, Tsuneo, Kazuo, and Margaret were moved from their home in Pasadena, California, to the Gila River Relocation Center in Rivers, Arizona, in 1942. After the center closed in 1946, the family moved back to Southern California.

Scope and Content

The letters written by Ami Inuzuka were sent to her friends and former employers Hardin Craig, Jr., and his wife Raemond, of Pasadena, California. Ami wrote the first thirteen letters (1942- 1945) while she and her family were interned at the Gila River Relocation Center in Rivers, Arizona. These letters give a detailed description of camp. Ami comments upon the living conditions in the barracks, the extreme weather of the Arizona desert, the employment situation, her children’s education, sickness, social activities (including her daughter’s engagement), and her family’s plan for after the war. She also frequently thanks Raemond Craig for care packages she sent to the Inuzuka family, consisting of clothes, books and other items that Ami would request. In the letters after the war, Ami writes to the Craigs, who had moved to Houston, Texas, and discusses her life in Los Angeles and La Puente, including the difficulties of growing older. She gives details regarding her growing family (children finishing college, grandchildren being born, the death of her husband in 1969, etc.). Hardin Craig, Jr., dies in 1971, which makes Raemond Craig the only addressee of the letters after 1971. The collection contains a photograph of the Inuzuka family in the letter dated 1960, May 29, and a photograph of Mr. and Mrs. Inuzuka and Mr. and Mrs. Craig in the letter dated 1967, Aug. 18. There is one letter by Ami’s son Tsuneo, thanking the Craigs for help with finding employment in California. Also included with the collection are two newspaper clippings, from the 1980s, about the internment of the Japanese during World War II.

Arrangement

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog.  

Subjects

Inuzuka, Ami.
Gila River Relocation Center.
United States. War Relocation Authority.
Japanese American families.
Japanese American women.
Japanese Americans -- California.
Japanese Americans -- Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945 -- Personal narratives.
Arizona -- Description and travel.
California, Southern -- Description and travel.
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- Description and travel.

Forms/Genres

Letters (correspondence) -- West (U.S.) -- 20th century.

Box 1

Correspondence and ephemera

 

1942, July 10. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: Gila River Relocation Center, Rivers (Ariz.)  HM 66300 

 

1942, Nov. 7. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: Gila River Relocation Center, Rivers (Ariz.)  HM 66301 

 

1942, Nov. 9. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: Gila River Relocation Center, Rivers (Ariz.)  HM 66302 

 

1944, July 25. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: Gila River Relocation Center, Rivers (Ariz.)  HM 66303 

 

1944, Nov. 21. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: Gila River Relocation Center, Rivers (Ariz.)  HM 66304 

 

1944, Dec.. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: Gila River Relocation Center, Rivers (Ariz.)  HM 66305 

 

1945, Jan. 5. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: Gila River Relocation Center, Rivers (Ariz.)  HM 66306 

 

1945, Apr. 29. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: Gila River Relocation Center, Rivers (Ariz.)  HM 66307 

 

1945, June 14. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: Gila River Relocation Center, Rivers (Ariz.)  HM 66308 

 

1945, June 25. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: Gila River Relocation Center, Rivers (Ariz.)  HM 66309 

 

1945, June 28. Inuzuka, Tsuneo. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: Gila River Relocation Center, Rivers (Ariz.)  HM 66310 

 

[1945, July 1]. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Raemond Craig. Location: Gila River Relocation Center, Rivers (Ariz.)  HM 66311 

 

1945, July 26. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Raemond Craig. Location: Gila River Relocation Center, Rivers (Ariz.)  HM 66312 

 

1949, Jan. 22. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66313 

 

1960, May 29. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66314 

 

1963, Dec.. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66315 

 

1964, Dec.. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66316 

 

1966, Dec. 14. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66317 

 

1967, Mar. 8. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66318 

 

1967, May 9. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66319 

 

1967, Aug. 18. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66320 

 

1967, Sep. 23. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66321 

 

1968, Nov. 23. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: La Puente (Calif.)  HM 66322 

 

1969, Jan. 12. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: La Puente (Calif.)  HM 66323 

 

1969, Oct. 7. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: La Puente (Calif.)  HM 66324 

 

1969, Dec. 13. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: La Puente (Calif.)  HM 66325 

 

1969, Dec. 19. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: La Puente (Calif.)  HM 66326 

 

1970, Dec.. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66327 

 

1971, Apr.. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Hardin Craig and Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66328 

 

1971, Dec. 4. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66329 

 

1972, Apr. 19. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66330 

 

1972, Dec.. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66331 

 

1973, Dec.. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66332 

 

1974, Nov.. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66333 

 

1974, Dec. 4. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66334 

 

1975, Dec.. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66335 

 

1975, Dec. 7. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66336 

 

1976, Dec.. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66337 

 

1976, Dec. 28. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66338 

 

1977, Dec. 9. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66339 

 

1977, Dec. 13. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66340 

 

1977, Dec. 23. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66341 

 

1978, Dec.. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66342 

 

1979, Dec. 11. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66343 

 

1980, Feb.. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66344 

 

1980, Dec.. Inuzuka, Ami. Letter to Raemond Craig. Location: Los Angeles (Calif.)  HM 66345 

 

1988. Ephemera.

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