Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Yamashita Family Papers
MS.411
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
University of California, Santa Cruz
Title: Yamashita Family Papers
Creator:
Yamashita (Family: Yamashita, Karen Tei,
1951-)
Identifier/Call Number: MS.411
Physical Description:
68.1 Linear Feet
55 boxes, 1 map-case drawer
Date (inclusive): circa 1880-2015
Date (bulk): 1942-1995
Abstract: The Yamashita Family Papers include
correspondence, writings, photographs, photograph albums, genealogical research, and other
family documents and belongings spanning over a century and including three generations of
the Yamashita family. The collection covers the initial immigration of Kishiro and Tomi
Yamashita from Japan to California to raise a family, through the generation of their
grandchildren in the mid to late 20th century. Part of the Issei generation, Kishiro and
Tomi had seven children, all of whom were born in Oakland between 1901 and 1921. Materials
from these seven children—Kimi, Susumu, Chizu, John, Iyo, Kay, and Tom—make up the bulk of
the collection showcasing the experiences of the Nisei generation growing up in California,
including the exclusion and incarceration legislation that impacted the family during World
War II. Materials from the children of the Nisei generation (the Sansei generation) are also
included.
Language of Material:
English , Japanese .
Collection open for research. Audiovisual media is unavailable until reformatted. Digital
files are available in the UCSC Special Collections and Archives reading room. Contact
Special Collections and Archives in advance to request access to audiovisual media and
digital files.
Copyright for the items in this collection is owned by the creators and their heirs.
Reproduction or distribution of any work protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair
use requires permission from the copyright owner. It is the responsibility of the user to
determine whether a use is fair use, and to obtain any necessary permissions. For more
information see UCSC Special Collections and Archives policy on Reproduction and Use.
Yamashita Family Papers. MS 411. Special Collections and Archives, University Library,
University of California, Santa Cruz.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gifts of Karen Tei Yamashita, 2015-2021.
The Yamashitas are a Japanese American family who were mainly based in California during
the 20th century. The first generation of the Yamashitas who immigrated to the United States
(called the Issei generation) were Kishiro (1873-1931) and Tomi (née Murakami, 1882-1972),
who arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area from Japan around the turn of the 20th century.
Kishiro and Tomi had seven children after settling in the United States, who comprise the
Nisei generation: Kimi (born 1902), Susumu "Sus" (1905), Chizuru Dorothy "Chizu" (1908),
Hiroshi John (1912), Iyo (1915), Kiye "Kay" (1918), and Isao Thomas "Tom" (1921). The
children of the Nisei members, called the Sansei generation, were born throughout the 1920s
to the 1950s. During World War II, members of the Yamashita family were forced to leave
their homes after President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066. They were
incarcerated first at the Tanforan Assembly Center in San Bruno, California, before being
moved to the Central Utah Relocation Center, more commonly known as Topaz. After the war,
some Yamashita family members returned to the California Bay Area, and others moved to New
Jersey, Chicago, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Ohio, Philadelphia, and New York.
The Yamashita Family Papers include correspondence, writings, photographs, photograph
albums, genealogical research, and other family documents and belongings spanning over a
century and including three generations of the Yamashita family. The collection covers the
initial immigration of Kishiro and Tomi Yamashita from Japan to California to raise a
family, through the generation of their grandchildren in the mid to late 20th century. Part
of the Issei generation, Kishiro and Tomi had seven children, all of whom were born in
Oakland between 1901 and 1921. Materials from these seven children—Kimi, Susumu, Chizu,
John, Iyo, Kay, and Tom—make up the bulk of the collection showcasing the experiences of the
Nisei generation growing up in California, including the exclusion and incarceration
legislation that impacted the family during World War II. There are a number of materials
related to the children from the Nisei generation as well, especially Karen Tei Yamashita, a
professor at the University of California Santa Cruz and one of the main contributors and
researchers responsible for collecting these materials from her family.
This collection is arranged in six series:
- Series 1: Issei generation
- Series 2: Nisei generation
- Series 3: Sansei generation
- Series 4: Incarceration experience
- Series 5: Correspondence
- Series 6: Photographs and audiovisual media
The Yamashita family stewarded this collection of family archives before its accrual by UC
Santa Cruz University Library Special Collections & Archives. This stewardship work
included but was not limited to collecting, organizing, labeling, transcribing, digitizing,
cataloging, and preserving documents from generations of the Yamashita family. Several
people worked on this collection, including Karen Tei Yamashita, Lucy Asako Boltz, Martha
"Marty" (Ono) Uyeki, Eugene Uyeki, Ann (Tamaki) Dion, Ken Yamashita, Susan (Kimiko
Yamashita) Bowers, Kix Kitow, Hisaji Sakai, Jane Tomi Yamashita Boltz, Mary Jane Tomi Boltz,
Jonah Stuart-Brundage, Sebastian Honnef, and Michael Jin, as well as the named Yamashita
family members in this collection. After the collection was donated to Special Collections
& Archives in the 2010s, the collection was processed by Anny Mogollón, Jacob Stone, and
Alix Norton in the Center for Archival Research and Training (CART), 2022-2023. Most titles
in this collection were derived from the original folder titles as received from the family.
Digitized copies of physical materials in the collection were not retained by Special
Collections & Archives.
Karen Tei Yamashita's personal and professional papers are available in UC Santa Cruz
Special Collections & Archives: MS 465 Karen Tei Yamashita Papers
Original versions of copied materials in the Incarceration series can be found at the
following institutions:
- The U.S. National Archives
- Hoover Institution, Stanford University
- Peace Collection, Swarthmore College
- Quaker & Special Collections, Haverford College
- American Friends Service Committee Archives, Philadelphia, PA
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Japanese Americans -- Forced removal and
internment, 1942-1945
World War, 1939-1945 -- Japanese
Americans
Oakland (Calif.) -- History
Concentration camps -- United
States
Japanese Americans
Slides (photographs)
Personal correspondence
Photograph albums
Yamashita (Family: Yamashita, Karen Tei, 1951-)