Finding Aid for the Toyota family papers, ca. 1910-1961
Processed by Susanne Mari Sakai in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), with assistance from Megan Hahn Fraser,
November 2011; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/
© 2012
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Toyota family papers
Date (inclusive): ca. 1910-1961
Collection number: 2010
Creator:
Toyota family
Extent:
2 boxes (1 linear ft.)
Abstract: Fred Shizutaro Toyota (1885-1959) worked as a labor contractor heading the Japanese labor camp for the Nevada Consolidated
Copper Corporation from 1912 to 1941. He arrived in the United States from Hiroshima Prefecture in 1905. In 1916 he married
Kame Tetsumura, another Hiroshima native who came to join her husband in the United States the following year. Together they
had five children. Kame and her children worked tirelessly to prove Fred's innocence and seek justice during his internment
from 1941 to 1944 on false charges. The collection consists of personal and financial document of the family, numerous correspondence
including letters of appeal, as well as records relating to the labor camp Fred headed. Materials are in both English and
Japanese.
Language: Finding aid is written in
English and Japanese.
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections
for paging information.
Administrative Information
Restrictions on Access
Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library
Special Collections for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UC Regents. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the
creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright
owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Processing Note
Processed by Susanne Mari Sakai in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), with assistance from Megan Hahn Fraser,
November 2011.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Toyota family papers (Collection 2010). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, UCLA.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography
Fred Shizutaro Toyota was born March 18, 1885 and a native of Hiroshima Prefecture. He arrived in the Untied States in 1905.
After working as an interpreter and foreman for various railroad companies, he was put in charge of a Japanese labor camp
of about 250 men for the Nevada Consolidated Copper Corporation at Ruth and McGill, Nevada in 1912. He remained in this position
until 1941, when he was arrested and interned on the suspicion of loyalty to an enemy nation, stemming from the fact that
he had been sending money back to Japan on behalf of some of his workers. In the span of December 1941 to Janauary 1944, he
was interned at Fort Missoula, Montana; Fort Sill, Oklahoma: Fort Livingston, Louisiana; and Santa Fe, New Mexico. He died
on May 22, 1959 from a lingering illness.
Kame Toyota (né.e Tetsumura) was born July 10, 1894 and also a native of Hiroshima Prefecture. She married Fred S. Toyota
on August 17, 1916 and arrived in the United States in 1917 to join her husband. Prior, she taught elementary school in Hiroshima.
During her husband's internment, she worked tirelessly to appeal charges against him.
Together, they had five children: Yoshiko, Toshiko, Fred Taro, Shizuko, and Kimiko.
Scope and Content
The collection consists of documentation and ephemera for Fred and Kame Toyota individually as well as official and financial
records of their family as whole. A large portion of it comprises of various correspondence, both within family members and
with others. Included among the correspondence are letters written by Kame and her children to appeal charges against Fred
and seek justice for his wrongful internment. Further, the collection contains materials relating to the Japanese labor camp
Frank headed in McGill, Nevada, such as correspondence between camp workers and the Toyotas as well as the camp's financial
records. Materials are in both English and Japanese.
Organization and Arrangement
Arranged in the following series:
- Personal and financial records of the family
- Correspondence of the family
- Correspondence regarding Fred Toyota's wrongful internment and his family's efforts to seek justice
- Personal correspondence of Kame Toyota
- Documents relating to the Japanese labor camp in McGill, Nevada and its employees
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Toyota Family--Archives.
Toyota, Seitaro--Archives.
Toyota, Kame--Archives.
Japanese American Research Project (University of California, Los Angeles).
Japanese American families--United States--Archival resources.
Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945.
Genres and Forms of Material
Letters.
Family papers.
Correspondence.
Related Material
Box 145, Folder 1
Records on Fred Shizutaro Toyota
1911, ca.1916-1942
Scope and Content Note
Includes Fred’s tax and earning records, business licenses, an alien enemy questionnaire, and ephemera.
Box 145, Folder 2
Records on Kame Toyata (né.e Tetsumura)
ca.1910-1960
Scope and Content Note
Includes Kame’s school and teaching certificates, immigration records, and study materials for the
naturalization exam.
Box 145, Folder 3
Will, marriage and family records of Fred and Kame Toyota
ca.1917
Box 145, Folder 4
Records on some of the Toyota children
1948 and 1957
Scope and Content Note
Includes documents regarding the passing of son Fred Taro Toyota, who died from a kidney ailment in 1948
a day after his marriage, and correspondence of two of the daughters, Shizuko and Toshiko.
Box 145, Folder 5
Documents relating to Fred’s death and funeral services
1959 May 22-July 11
Box 145, Folder 6
Family financial records
1948-1959
Scope and Content Note
Includes bank deposit statements and balance books.
Box 145, Folder 7
Correspondence of Fred Toyota with Kame Toyota and their children during his internment
1941 December 25-1944 January 28
Scope and Content Note
Includes letters, postcards, and telegrams.
Box 145, Folder 8
Letters of appeal for Fred Toyota’s release from internment
1941 Aug -1944 January 26
Box 145, Folder 9
Kame Toyota’s correspondence with publishers of various Japanese news publications
1959-1961
Scope and Content Note
Publishers include Masaru Akahori of the Town Crier Japanese Daily News and Shinichi Kato of the New
Japanese American News among others. Her letters mainly concern her seeking advice on the matter of her family’s trouble with
another family, the Kidos, which arose as a result of her husband’s internment.
Box 145, Folder 10
Correspondence from Kame Toyota to Joe Grant Masaoka
1964 December & 1966 November
Scope and Content Note
Masaoka was the administrator of the Japanese American Research Project (JARP) at UCLA from 1964 to
1970.
Box 146, Folder 1
Correspondence to Kame Toyata from others
ca.1947-1959
Box 146, Folder 2
Correspondence from former workers at the Toyota labor camp to Fred and Kame Toyota
ca. 1942 February-1945 November
Box 146, Folder 3
Records relating to the death of Toyota’s labor camp employees and the disposition of their estates
1941, 1955, 1958
Scope and Content Note
Documents regarding the death of Tokuichi Uto (1941), [Ya?]taro Okazaki (1955), and Frank K. Mishima
(1958).
Box 146, Folder 4
Financial records relating to the Japanese labor camp in McGill, Nevada
ca. 1940-1945
