Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Guide to the Harry Y. Ueno Papers, 1912-1997
M0930
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: Ueno, Harry Y. (Harry Yoshio), 1907- . Papers ,
Date (inclusive): 1912-1997
Collection number: M0930
Creator:
Ueno, Harry Y. (Harry Yoshio), 1907-
Extent:
1.5 linear ft.
Repository:
Stanford University. Libraries. Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives.
Abstract: Papers relating to the Harry Ueno's internment at Camp Manzanar in 1942. Includes correspondence, clippings, and oral history
interview.
Language:
English.
None.
Property rights reside with the repository. Literary rights
reside with the creators of the documents or their heirs. To
obtain permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the
Public Services Librarian of the Dept. of Special Collections.
Gift of Harry Yoshio Ueno, 1997.
Harry Y. Ueno Papers. M0930. Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
During World War II, approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans were deemed a national security threat and placed in internment
camps. Contrary to common belief, Japanese Americans protested against their involuntary confinement. The Manzanar Riot is
among the most renowned examples of internee resistance and Harry Ueno played a central role in it.
Harry Ueno was born on April 14, 1907 in Hawaii. When he was eight years old, he was taken to Hiroshima, Japan, to be educated.
Afler graduating from the Kuba City grammar school and attending a trade school in Tokyo for nearly a year, he returned to
the United States in 1923. He held various positions in Washington and northern California before moving to Los Angeles in
1931. In Los Angeles, he and his wife, Yaso, had three children. Harry Ueno was employed as a salesman for retail fruits and
vegetables until the evacuation.
The Ueno family was evacuated to Manzanar. A few months into his internment, he initiated the investigation of the sugar and
beef shortage, and organized 1,600 kitchen workers into Mess Hall Workers Union. On December 5, 1942, Tayama, a JACL (Japanese
American Citizen's League) leader in Manzanar, was severely beaten by masked internees. Although Ueno was arrested for this
incident, he was not charged or given a trial. The internees in Manzanar congregated in front of Ueno's jail cell demanding
his release. Ueno was the veritable folk hero, the martyr of Manzanar, around whom the internees marched. The riot ended with
eight internees wounded and two killed. Ueno along with other camp leaders were removed to isolation centers where they were
cut off from all contact. It was not until nearly a year later, that he would see his family again.
With the war's end, the Ueno family resettled in northern California and began a cherry and strawberry farm. Harry Ueno is
now retired, and is an act!ve member and supporter of the Japanese American community and its related research.
Collection Scope and Content Summary
The Harry Ueno Collection consists of 2 linear feet of original and photocopied manuscript materials, newspaper clippings,
and photographs.
Much of the Japanese-language materials were kept as they were found when the collection first arrived at Stanford University
Libraries. However, most of the English-language manuscripts have been rearranged into six series or topics for easier access
to materials.
The war-time diaries of Harry Ueno, Yaso Ueno, and Masunaka are valuable parts of this collection. Harry Ueno's Japanese language
diary have been re-arranged by the organizer in a chronological order. Also unique to this collection, is Ueno's handwritten
record and member lists of the Manzanar Mess Hall Union lists found in Box 1. Series 2, containing newspaper clippings, will
be especially helpful for scholars working with redress and reparation. Lastly, many of the government documents are missing
pages and may be hard to follow.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Bendetsen, Karl R.
Hayakawa, S.I. (Samuel Ichiyâe), 1906-
Hohri, William Minoru, 1927-
Kurihara, Joseph Y.
Myer, Dillon S. (Dillon Seymour), 1891-
Ueno, Yasoko.
Welgyn, Michi.
Japanese American Citizens' League.
Japanese American Citizens' League. National Committee for.
National Council for Japanese American Redress.
United States. War Relocation Authority.
Concentration camps--United States.
Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945.
World War, 1939-1945--Evacuation of civilians.
World War, 1939-1945--Japanese Americans.
World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, American.
Manzanar (Calif.)
Manzanar National Historic Site (Calif.)
Manzanar War Relocation Center.