Contributing Institution: California State University Dominguez Hills, Gerth Archives and Special Collections

Title: Dale Ann Sato Collection

Creator: Sato, Dale Ann

Identifier/Call Number: SPC.2016.011

Physical Description: 27 boxes (16 document boxes; 2 record storage boxes; 1 photograph box; 7 media boxes; 1 oversized box)

Physical Description: 16.34 Linear Feet

Date (inclusive): 1800-2012; undated

Date (bulk): 1930-2008

Abstract: The Dale Ann Sato Collection documents the progression of research and preparation for four projects to which oral historian and educator Dale Ann Sato contributed. Initial research and interviews were recorded for community Nisei oral histories, which led to her contribution to the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program (CCLPEP). The findings of the initial research also led to the Japanese American Historical Mapping Project (JAHMP), which paved the way for an Arcadia Publishing book, Japanese Americans of the South Bay (2009). The materials focus on Japanese American farming families living in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, in particular Gardena, Torrance, Lomita, Harbor City, Carson, Wilmington, and the Palos Verdes Peninsula from the early 1900s through World War II.

Language of Material: Collection material is in English and Japanese.

There are no access restrictions on this collection.

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

For information about citing archival material, see the Citations for Archival Material  guide, or consult the appropriate style manual.

Donated by Dale Ann Sato to the Department of Archives and Special Collection, University Library, California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Collection processed by Brandon Werts, 2016; reprocessed by Karen Clemons 2022.

Dale Ann Sato is an oral historian, author, and a college educator. Sato was born in 1946 at Seaside Hospital in Long Beach, California, and spent her childhood in the South Bay area of Los Angeles. Sato studied Elementary Education, Occupational Therapy, Bilingual-Bicultural Education, and developed her interest in missionary studies, Nisei oral histories, and local South Bay history in 1998-1999 in the UCLA Asian American Studies Department. She is the founder of the Japanese American Historical Mapping Project (JAHMP), dedicated to recording the history of the communities and land of the South Bay from the early 1900s through the 1950s.

The Dale Ann Sato Collection (1800-2012;undated) contains 27 boxes and 16.34 linear feet that documents the progression of research and preparation for four projects for which oral historian and educator Dale Ann Sato contributed. Initial research and interviews were conducted to record community Nisei oral histories. This history led to Sato's contribution to the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program (CCLPEP). The CCLPEP collected materials documenting the many Japantown areas in California, which were then included in the collections at the California State Library in Sacramento. This work led to continued research and creation of the Japanese American Historical Mapping Project (JAHMP), documenting the Japanese American farming communities in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, California. Interest in the JAHMP research led to the creation of Sato's Arcadia Publishing book, Japanese Americans of the South Bay (2009). The South Bay region spans the south western area of Los Angeles, and includes the cities of Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance, Wilmington, Harbor City, Gardena, Lomita, Carson, and the Palos Verdes Peninsula among others. The materials within the collection were primarily gathered between 2002 and 2007, with most of the interviews occurring between 2004 and 2007. The discussions, subjects, and items within the collection are focused on the early 1900s through the 1950s. The collection contains project proposals, reports and lectures, correspondence, yearbooks, photographs – physical and digital, audio interviews, videos, newspaper articles, maps – physical and digital, posters, newspaper reproductions,interview consent forms, oral history transcripts, and other material. The reports within the collection describe the lifestyle and communities of first generation Japanese emigrants ("Issei") and their children ("Nisei"), collectively referred to as the Nikkei. In particular the materials track the farming practices, community, and locations of those families in the South Bay region. Interview recordings in the collection were conducted with descendants of the early Nikkei of the South Bay to record the narrative of farm life during the early 1900s, focusing on locations and landmarks, and leading up to the relocation of the Nikkei during World War II. The interviews were recorded between 2004 and 2007, and are stored on mini DVD-Rs and CD-Rs. The photographic materials and maps in the Dale Ann Sato Collection were culled from a variety of sources. The majority of the physical photographic objects are low quality computer reprints from public libraries and archives, used as reference while selecting images for the Arcadia Publishing book, Japanese Americans of the South Bay (2009). The collection also includes original photos donated by families, postcards, and digital prints made from stills of a Japanese American Farming DVD (also in the collection). High resolution digital copies of the photographs collected while preparing the book are stored on CD-Rs and flash drive storage devices. Map reprints in the Sato Collection show the areas around the South Bay, in some cases stretch north to include the entire state of California, and east to include some of the border area of Arizona. The Dale Ann Sato Collection may be helpful to researchers who are looking for information on early Japanese settlement in the Los Angeles area, farm production in California during the early 1900s, land layout of the South Bay region with focus on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, and the treatment of Japanese emigrants and Japanese American citizens following the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941. Photographs in the collection may be useful as reference tool, but many of the images used in Japanese Americans of the South Bay were licensed for a one-time use, and may not be reproduced by the archives. In addition, some of the maps in the Sato collection have been reprinted by other archival institutions, and the materials may be viewed with this collection, but may not be reproduced.

Arranged in four series:

oversized material has been stored separately in map case 3, drawer 9.