Lauren Zuchowski Longwell
Japanese American National Museum
100 North Central Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone: (213) 830-5615
Email: collections@janm.org
URL: http://www.janm.org/
© 2016
Japanese American National Museum. All rights reserved.

Finding aid for the Miné Okubo Collection

Collection number: 2007.62

Japanese American National Museum

Los Angeles, California
Processed by:
Lauren Zuchowski Longwell
Date Completed:
June 2016
Encoded by:
Lauren Zuchowski Longwell
© 2016 Japanese American National Museum. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Miné Okubo collection
Dates: 1938-1998
Bulk Dates: 1942-1946
Collection number: 2007.62
Creator: Okubo, Miné
Collection Size: 17 linear feet 2 oversize artifacts 197 digitized items
Repository: Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Los Angeles, California 90012
Abstract: The collection contains paper materials related to Miné Okubo's career and personal life. Many items are related to her book, Citizen 13660.
Physical location: Japanese American National Museum. 100 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

Access

By appointment only. Please contact the Collections Management and Access Unit by email (collections@janm.org) or telephone (213-830-5615). Advanced notice is required.

Publication Rights

All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in this collection must be submitted to the Collections Management and Access Unit at the Japanese American National Museum (collections@janm.org).

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Miné Okubo collection. 2007.62, Japanese American National Museum. Los Angeles, CA.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Miné Okubo Estate, 2007.

Alternative Forms of Material Available

Digitized Citizen 13660 drawings are available on the Japanese American National Museum's website, http://www.janm.org/collections/mine-okubo-collection/

Biography

Miné Okubo was born on June 27, 1912 in Riverside, California to Tametsugu and Miyo (Kato). She was one of seven children, each of whom were encouraged from a young age to explore artistic careers by their mother. Okubo’s mother was an artist and her father was a merchant and gardener. She graduated from Poly High School and then attended Riverside Junior College, eventually earning both her Bachelor of Art and Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley. In 1938 she received the Bertha Taussig Traveling Scholarship, which allowed her to travel to Europe. Okubo was travelling in Switzerland when England and France declared war on September 3, 1939, with all of her belongings in Paris. She had spent all of her money on train fare from Budapest to Berne and money she was expecting had not yet arrived at the American Express Office. Mail services were suspended and the French border closed. Temporarily stranded, Okubo stayed with friends in Berne but was encouraged to return to the United States as the situation grew worse with the bombing and invasion of Poland. When Okubo received word that her mother was seriously ill back home in California she decided to secure passage immediately. It ultimately took three months but she was able to board the last boat leaving Bordeaux. After docking in New York City, Okubo telegrammed her family for money and made her way to California. Her mother passed away soon after and she subsequently made her way up to Berkeley to settle with her younger brother. Okubo became active with the San Francisco Art Association (SFAA) and joined its annual painting and watercolor exhibitions at the San Francisco Museum of Art, known today as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She was selected to assist Diego Rivera in painting murals at the Golden Gate Exhibition. Okubo created mosaics for Fort Ord and the Servicemen’s Hospitality House in Oakland, California as part of the Federal Arts Program when the United States declared war on Japan. On Sunday, April 26, 1943 she reported to Pilgrim Hall of the First Congregational Church in Berkeley to register herself and her brother as a family unit of two. Her family name was reduced to No. 13660 and she was given several tags bearing the family number. Their family unit was scheduled to leave with the next to last group at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, May 1. Their destination was Tanforan Assembly Center, which was located at the Tanforan Race Track in San Bruno, California. After six months at Tanforan, Okubo and her brother were transferred to the Topaz Relocation Center in Utah. By this point, the Okubo family was spread throughout various concentration camps in the West Coast. Her father had been arrested and incarcerated at the Department of Justice camp in Missoula, Montana. Her older brother, Benji, was at Heart Mountain, where he opened an art school. Other siblings were incarcerated in Poston. Okubo taught art classes while incarcerated at Topaz and helped found a literary review, Trek, for which she drew cover designs and illustrations. Okubo documented the incarceration experience through drawings and produced over one thousand sketches depicting camp life. Some of these sketches would be transformed into formal drawings and paintings. In 1943 Okubo’s drawing of camp sentries was reproduced by the San Francisco Chronicle after it won a prize in an exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Art. The Chronicle’s editors then commissioned a series of camp sketches to use in the newspaper’s Sunday magazine, The World. This exposure led to a job offer from Fortune as an illustrator, a position that allowed her to leave camp after two years and relocate to New York City. During this time Okubo took jobs as a commercial illustrator and focused on her personal creative endeavors, one of which was to arrange her camp life sketches into a narrative to be published. Her book, Citizen 13660, was published by Columbia University Press in September 1946. In addition to the book, Okubo’s work appeared in the Time, Life, and the New York Times as well as books for major publishing companies. She left commercial art and New York briefly from 1950 to 1952 to return to Berkeley to teach art. When Okubo returned to New York she eschewed commercial concerns in pursuit of her own artistic vision. Like many other Nisei artists and writers, she was rediscovered by a new generation of Asian Americans in the 1970s and 1980s as her wartime works were connected with redress efforts. Okubo testified in New York before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians in 1981 and presented Citizen 13660 to the commission.
Okubo passed away in February 2001.

Scope and Content of Collection

The collection includes artwork, correspondence, Citizen 13660 mock-ups, press clippings, publications, publicity materials, documents, personal notebooks, and photographs. Materials primarily focus on Miné's creative and professional endeavors but also includes personal items such as diaries and notes.

Arrangement

Items have been broken down into the following series:
Series 1: Press Clippings; Series 2: Mock-ups; Series 3: Artwork; Series 4: Publications; Series 5: Notes and Lists; Series 6: Documents; Series 7: Correspondence; Series 8: Photographs; Series 9: Publicity Materials; Series 10: Topaz Reunions; Series 11: Personal Notebooks; Series 12: Artifacts.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Tanforan Assembly Center (San Bruno, Calif.)
Central Utah Relocation Center
Berkeley (Calif.)
Riverside (Calif.)
New York (N.Y.)
World war II
Japanese Americans--Civil rights.
Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945.
Japanese Americans in art.
Japanese Americans--Reparations.
Citizen 13660

Related Material

Miné Okubo Collection at the Riverside Community College, http://library.rcc.edu/riverside/okubo/.

Separated Material

Over-sized items are stored in separate file drawer or box.

Box 1

Series 1 Press Clippings

Physical Description: 16 folders

Series Scope and Content Summary

Approximately 278 press clippings covering Miné Okubo's career.
Folder 1-3, 15-16

Miscellaneous

Scope and Content Summary

Approximately 35 miscellaneous press clippings.
Folder 4-10

Citizen 13660 ca. 1946

Scope and Content Summary

Approximately 131 clippings related to the 1946 release of Citizen 13660.
Folder 11

Topaz Reunion 1993

Scope and Content Summary

3 press clippings about the 1993 Topaz Reunion.
Folder 12-14

Drawings

Scope and Content Summary

Approximately 108 clippings of Okubo's commercial illustration from various magazines and newspapers.
Box 1

Series 2 Mock-ups

Physical Description: 21 folders

Series Scope and Content Summary

Mock-ups for Amerasia and Citizen 13660.
Folders 16-17

Amerasia 1987

Scope and Content Summary

Mock-ups for the 1987/88 Issue of Amerasia. Contains a letter from the editor and financial information.

Access Note

Folder 17 is restricted.
Folders 19-37

Citizen 13660

Scope and Content Summary

Illustrations, draft text, and cover mock-ups for Citizen 13660.

Arrangement

Illustrations and text have been put into order based on the published book.
Box 4

Citizen 13660 Manuscript

Scope and Content Summary

Original manuscript for Citizen 13660

Access Note

Access is restricted due to fragile nature of manuscript.
Box 1

Series 3 Artwork

Physical Description: 43 folders

Series Scope and Content Summary

Includes sketches, drawings, paintings, and one print by Okubo.

Arrangement

Materials have been arranged by medium and date when applicable. Includes some over-sized materials.
Folders 38-39

Sketchbooks

Scope and Content Summary

2 sketchbooks covering evacuation.
Box 5 Folder 1

Over-sized Sketchbooks

Scope and Content Summary

2 large sketchbooks. One covers evacuation and the other life at Topaz.
Box 1 Folders 40-52

Evacuation Sketches

Scope and Content Summary

Approximately 126 ink and pencil sketches of evacuation.
Folders 53-54

Camp Sketches

Subseries Scope and Content Summary

4 sketches covering Okubo's experiences at Topaz.

Access Note

Folder 53 contains sketch and paper fragments saved by Okubo.
Folders 55-60

Congressional Hearing Sketches 1986

Subseries Scope and Content Summary

Approxmiately 62 sketches depicting the congressional hearing in Washington, D.C. and William Hohri.

Access Note

Folder 53 contains sketch and paper fragments saved by Okubo.
Folders 55-60

Congressional Hearing Sketches 1986

Subseries Scope and Content Summary

Approxmiately 62 sketches depicting the congressional hearing in Washington, D.C. and William Hohri.

Access Note

Folders 55 and 56 contain fragile works.
 

Citizen 13660 Drawings

Scope and Content Summary

197 drawings illustrated life in Tanforan Assembly Center in San Bruno, CA and Topaz concentration camp in Utah. These drawings were ultimately used as the basis for Citizen 13660. Includes drawings numbered 2007.62.7 through 2007.62.205.

Access Note

Access is restricted.These drawings have been digitized and are available online: http://www.janm.org/collections/mine-okubo-collection/
 

Oversized Charcoal Drawings

Scope and Content Summary

6 charcoal drawings by Okubo. Includes drawings numbered 2007.62.1 through 2007.62.6.

Access Note

Access is restricted.
Box 2

Series 4 Publications 1944-1998

Physical Description: 1 linear foot

Series Scope and Content Summary

Contains full news articles, magazines, journals, and books saved by Miné Okubo.

Arrangement

Full articles are at the front arranged chronologically. Books and serials follow, also arranged chronologically.
Folder 1

"Issei, Niseei, Kibei: The U.S. has put 110,000 people of Japanese blood in 'protective custody'" 1944

Scope and Content Summary

Copy of article.
Folder 2

The Sunday Review of Literature 1946

Scope and Content Summary

Article saved from the March 1946 edition.
Folder 3

"The Nisei discover a larger America" 1947

Scope and Content Summary

Article saved from April 1947 Mademoiselle magazine.
Folder 4

"Capitalizing jobs and futures in Washington, D.C." 1950

Scope and Content Summary

Article from the January 1950 issue of Mademoiselle magazine.
Folder 5

"Miné Okubo, artist" 1979

Scope and Content Summary

Thesis by Edna Ikeda.
Folder 6

Trek December 1942

Folder 7

Trek February 1943

Folder 8

Trek June 1943

Folder 9

Fortune magazine December 1943

Folder 10

Time magazine 21 May 1945

Folder 11

Broadman Book Review September 1946

Folder 12

Common Ground Autumn 1946

Folder 13

The Southern Patriot June 1949

Folder 14

Ten Against the Sun 1957

Creator: Nugen, Marianne

Scope and Content Summary

Published by Friendship Press, illustrated by Miné Okubo.
Folder 15

The Price of Prejudice 1962

Creator: Arrington, Leonard J.
Folder 16

The World at War: 1941-1945 1971

Scope and Content Summary

Part of Profile of America series.
Folder 17

The Lost Years 1942-46 1972

Creator: Embrey, Sue Kunitomi

Scope and Content Summary

Signed edition.
Folder 18

Amerasia journal 1977

Scope and Content Summary

Volume 4, Number 1.
Folder 19

Expressionism from Exile, 1942-1946: Japanese American Art from the COncentration Camps 1979

Scope and Content Summary

Catalog from a Japanese American art class at San Francisco State University.
Folder 20

JACP 1978-1979 Catalogue 1978

Folder 21

Images in Isolation: Japanese American Art from the Concentration Camps 1982

Scope and Content Summary

Published by San Francisco State University.
Folder 22

The Japanese American Experience 1985

Scope and Content Summary

Published by the Museum of the Balch Insittute for Ethnic Studies.
Folder 23

Amerasia 1986-1987

Scope and Content Summary

Volume 13, Number 2.
Folder 24

Rikka 1987

Scope and Content Summary

Volume 12.
Folder 25

WCA Honor Awards 1991

Scope and Content Summary

2 copies.
Folder 26

CA History 1991-1992

Scope and Content Summary

Winter edition.
Folder 27

The View from Within 1992

Scope and Content Summary

Published by the Japanese American National Museum.
Folder 28

Rikka 1992

Scope and Content Summary

Volume 13.
Folder 29

There is Always Tomorrow: An Anthology of Wartime Haiku 1993

Scope and Content Summary

Part of Amerasia Volume 19, Number 1. See folder 30.
Folder 30

Amerasia 1993

Scope and Content Summary

Volume 19, Number 1.
Folder 31

Asian American Literature Association Journal 1994

Scope and Content Summary

Number 1.
Folder 32

Day of Remembrance [booklet] 1994

Folder 33

Contemporary Asian Success Stories: Famour People of Asian Ancestry 1995

Creator: Marvis, Barbara J.

Scope and Content Summary

Part of the Mitchell Lane Multi-cultural Biography Series.
Folder 34

The National Voter 1995

Scope and Content Summary

Volume 44, Number 3. March/April.
Folder 35

The Excavation Diary of hatsuye Egami 1995

Creator: Gorfinkel, Claire
Folder 36

Friends 1995

Folder 37

Dialogue 1998

Scope and Content Summary

Fall 1998. 2 copies.
Folder 38

Citizen 13660-

Creator: Gorfinkel, Claire

Scope and Content Summary

Japanese edition.
Folder 39-41

Japanese Language Books

Scope and Content Summary

Requires translation.
Folder 42

What About Our Japanese Americans? [pamphlet] 1944

Box 3 Folder 1-2

Series 5 Notes and Lists

Physical Description: 2 folders

Series Scope and Content Summary

Loose notes and lists created by Okubo. Includes 2 remitter's receipts, 1 receipt for Okubo's San Francisco Art Associate dues, 5 packing slips and receipts related to Citizen 13660.
Box 3

Series 6 Documents 1938-1998

Physical Description: 11 folders

Series Scope and Content Summary

Documents related to UC Berkeley, War Relocation Authority, Redress, Citizen 13660, and Okubo's art career.

Arrangement

Materials are arranged by subject.
Folder 3

UC Berkeley

Subseries Scope and Content Summary

1 statement of earnings and 1 report card.
Folder 4-7

War Relocation Authority

Scope and Content Summary

Miscellaneous documents related to the War Relocation Authority, including Okubo's photo identification, baggage tag, messages, and forms.
Folder 8

Redress

Scope and Content Summary

Statement by William Hohri.
Folder 9

Citizen 13660

Scope and Content Summary

Quotes, forms, advanced information related to Citizen 13660.
Folder 10

Personal Statements and Resumes

Scope and Content Summary

Variations of Okubo's resume related to her art career.
Box 3

Series 7 Correspondence 1942-1988

Physical Description: 17 folders

Scope and Content Summary

Professional, government, and personal letters related to Okubo.
Folder 11

Letters to Mine Okubo 1942-1945

Scope and Content Summary

Professional letters sent to Okubo.
Folder 12

Letters to Catherine Scott 1946

Scope and Content Summary

Professional letters sent to Catherine Scott related to Okubo from various senders.
 

Letters to Mine Okubo 1945-1998

Scope and Content Summary

Professional letters sent to Okubo.
Folder 22-23

Letters to Mine Okubo 1938-1990

Scope and Content Summary

Letters sent to Mine Okubo from government agencies.
Folder 24-27

Letters to Mine Okubo 1942-1998

Scope and Content Summary

Letters sent to Mine Okubo by friends and family.
Box 3

Series 8 Photographs

Physical Description: 13 folders

Scope and Content Summary

Includes a wide variety of images spanning Okubo's life and career.
Folder 28

Pre-war Photographs 1939

Scope and Content Summary

4 photographs from Okubo's travels before World War II.
Folder 29-30

Camp Photographs

Scope and Content Summary

Miscellaneous camp photographs taken in Topaz.
Folder 31

Exhibition Photographs 1946

Scope and Content Summary

Photographs from the Common Council of American Unity exhibition.
Folder 32

Pacific Citizen 1946

Scope and Content Summary

1 photograph.
Folder 33-34

Redress 1987

Scope and Content Summary

Various photographs from redress efforts.
Folder 35

National Council for Japanese American Redress Undated

Scope and Content Summary

Various photographs from redress efforts.
Folder 36

Miscellaneous Photographs 1985-1995

Folder 37-39

Miscellaneous Photographs- Early Years Undated

Scope and Content Summary

Black and white photographs from Okubo's early years.
Folder 40

Miscellaneous Photographs- Later Years Undated

Scope and Content Summary

Black and white photographs from Okubo's later years.
Folder 41

Miscellaneous Photographs- Later Years Undated

Scope and Content Summary

Color photographs from Okubo's later years.
Folder 42

Slides Undated

Folder 43

Artwork Undated

Scope and Content Summary

Photographs of Okubo's artwork.
Box 3 Folders 44-48

Series 9 Publicity Materials

Physical Description: 5 folders

Scope and Content Summary

Miscellaneous publicity materials related to Okubo's art career between 1942 and 1946 as well as publicity materials covering the publication on Citizen 13660.
Box 3 Folders 55-62

Series 11 Personal Notebooks Undated

Series Scope and Content Summary

Variety of bound and unbound notebooks maintained by Okubo. Some are written in diary format. Many are calendars and datebooks with notes.
Box 6

Series 12 Artifacts Undated

Physical Description: 2 items

Series Scope and Content Summary

2 canvas bags.