JoAnn Hamamura and Lauren Zuchowski
Japanese American National Museum
© 2016
100 North Central Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone: (213) 830-5615
Email: collections@janm.org
URL: http://www.janm.org/
Japanese American National Museum. All rights reserved.
Finding aid for the Stanley Hayami Papers
Collection number: 2010.4
Japanese American National MuseumLos Angeles, California
- Processed by:
- JoAnn Hamamura and Lauren Zuchowski
- Date Completed:
- April 2016
- Encoded by:
- Lauren Zuchowski
© 2016 Japanese American National Museum. All rights reserved.
Title: Stanley Hayami papers
Dates: 1934-1946
Bulk Dates: 1944-1945
Collection number: 2010.4
Creator:
Koide, Grace
Creator:
Hayami, Stanley Kunio, 1925-1945
Collection Size:
1.50 linear feet
Repository:
Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Los Angeles, California 90012
Abstract: This collection contains correspondence from Stanley Hayami and Sach Hayami, personal items and documents belonging to Stanley
Hayami, ephemera, photographs of soldiers, artifacts, drawings, and newspapers.
Physical location: Japanese American National Museum. 100 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90012
By appointment only. Please contact the Collections Management and Access Unit by email (collections@janm.org) or telephone
(213-830-5615).
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).
[Identification of item], Stanley Hayami papers. 2010.4, Japanese American National Museum. Los Angeles, CA.
Gift of Grace S. Koide, 2010.
The collection was held by Grace Koide (née Sachiko Hayami) until being donated to the Japanese American National Museum.
Originally processed by JoAnn Hamamura in March 2015 with later processing by Lauren Zuchowski in April 2016.
Biography / Administrative History
Stanley Kunio Hayami was born December on 23, 1925 in Los Angeles to Naicho and Asano Hayami. Stanley had an older brother
named Frank, an older sister named Sachiko (“Sach”), and a younger brother named Walter (“Walt”). At one point Sach began
goign by Grace. The Hayami family owned and operated a nursey in San Gabriel until the passage of Executive Order 9066. The
Hayamis left their home in San Gabriel to live in Los Angeles for one month before transferring to the Pomona Assembly Center
and then moving to Heart Mountain in August 1942.
Stanley attended high school during his time in Heart Mountain. During the summer of 1943 he worked at the poster shop with
odds and ends. One project was to assist with the creation of a scrapbook for the Sentinel papers. In August 1943 Frank left
for New York and Sach for Chicago. Frank worked as a busboy while waiting for his defense clearance and Sach left to attend
the Chicago Academy for the Arts. She originally secured a position working for a doctor’s family but was fired and found
work with another family. During this time Walter also worked at the poster shop with Stanley.
Stanley began writing about the army in his diary as soon as he turned 18. He registered with the draft board the day after
his birthday. Sach moved from Chicago to New York after struggling to maintain work in January 1944, the same month that Stanley
received his questionnaire from the Selective Services. In February 1944 Stanley was elected the art editor of the school
annual, Tempo.
In May 1944 Stanley left Heart Mountain for his physical exam in Denver and then graduated high school 2 weeks later. Stanley
would be inducted into the army shortly after. In the meantime, he went to Hardin, Montana with friends to thin sugar beets
from May 24 to June 18. Stanley returned to Heart Mountain briefly and left for basic training in Fort Blanding, Florida on
August 22, 1944. Frank had entered the army a few months beforehand. Stanley’s parents and younger brother, Walt, remained
in Heart Mountain.
Stanley left for France as a part of the 442nd Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Company E. He was briefly hospitalized after contracting
the measles and later joined his battalion in Southern France. His unit departed for Italy in March 1945, where Stanley would
be killed in action while trying to save another soldier. Stanley was posthumously awarded a purple heart for his bravery
in Italy.
Scope and Content of Collection
Documents include letters from Stanley to his sister, letters from Sach to her family in Heart Mountain, camp newspapers
and newsletters, personal items belonging to Stanley (1945 diary, certificate of baptism, application for life insurance,
report cards), items of Stanley’s clothing, photographs of soldiers, and drawings by Stanley. These materials pick up where
his high school diary ends (95.226) and portray his time with the 442nd Infantry Regiment leading up to his death in 1945.
The collection is organized into the following series:
Series 1. Photographs, undated
Series 2. Drawings
Series 3. Newspapers and Newsletters
Series 4. Ephemera
Series 5. Letters, 1941-1945
Series 6. Personal Documents
Series 7. Artifacts
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Hayami, Stanley Kunio, 1925-1945
Hayami, Sachiko
Hayami, Frank
Hayami, Walter
Hayami, Naicho
Hayami, Asano
United States. Army. Infantry Regiment, 442nd
Heart Mountain Relocation Center (Wyo.)
Concentration Camps, Heart Mountain
Japanese Americans--California--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945
World war II
Powell (Wyo.)
New York (N.Y.)
Chicago (Ill.)
France
Italy
The museum also holds Stanley Hayami's high school diary (95.226). This item is not open to researchers but a digital surrogate
is available through the Online Archive of California.
Box 1-2
Box 1-2
Box 1-2
Box 1-2
Box 1-2
Series 5 Letters 1941-1945
Physical Description: 1.0 linear feet
Series Scope and Content Summary
Approximately 50 letters handwritten by Stanley Hayami to Sach from 1941 to 1945. The last letter is postmarked April 5, 1945
and sent from Europe. These letters were written in multiple locations: YMCA summer youth camp, Heart Mountain, Fort Blanding,
and Europe. Some letters contain drawings by Stanley illustrated his life in the 442nd. In addition, there are approximately
36 letters from Sach to her family detailing her life and news from Stanley via his letters. This set also includes a description
of Sach and Stanley's visit together during his furlough in New York City.
Box 1-2
Series 6 Personal Documents
Physical Description: 6 folders
Series Scope and Content Summary
This series contains personal documents of the Hayami family mostly documenting Stanley's life.It includes one transfer of
the family business by Frank, Stanley's certificate of baptism, Stanley's body measurements, two of Stanley's report cards,
Stanley's application for life insurance, and one diary. One of the report cards is signed by Stanley's peers. The diary details
Stanley's travels from the United States to Glasgow, Scotland. At 32 pages, it contains some ink drawings by Stanley and talks
about a chace meeting with his brother, Frank, at an Army mess tent. The diary begins on January 24, 1945 and ends on February
15, 1945.
Box 3
Series 7 Artifacts
Physical Description: .50 linear feet
Series Scope and Content Summary
This series contains personal belongings of Stanley Hayami, including two exercise grips, one shirt, one 442nd patch, and
one belt. The shirt was made by Sachiko for Stanley. The grips are written about by Stanley in multiple letters to his sister.
It was very important to him that she locate and send them to him. Sachiko was unable to find them until after Stanley's death.