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Esther Klotz collection on Miné Okubo
MS 094
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Title: Esther Klotz collection on Miné Okubo
Date (inclusive): 1932-2009, undated
Date (bulk): 1970-1979
Collection Number: MS 094
Creator:
Klotz, Esther
Extent:
0.44 linear feet
(1 box, 1 flat file folder)
Repository:
Rivera Library. Special Collections Department.
Riverside, CA 92517-5900
Abstract: This collection is comprised of press clippings, correspondence, artwork, brochures, and other material regarding the personal
and professional life of Miné Okubo, a Japanese American artist and author. Includes material on Okubo's book
Citizen 13660 and the art exhibit
Miné Okubo: An American Experience. Mailings from Okubo to personal contacts that contain correspondence, artwork, exhibit brochures, and original envelopes
are also included. Additionally, there is material on Japanese American life in the United States that focuses on the World
War II internment of Japanese Americans, Miné Okubo's experiences at war relocation camps during World War II, and the history
of Japanese Americans in Riverside, California.
Languages: The collection is in English.
This collection is open for research.
Copyright Unknown: Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction,
and/or commercial use, of some materials may be restricted by gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and
publicity rights, licensing agreement(s), and/or trademark rights. Distribution or reproduction of materials protected by
copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. To the extent other restrictions
apply, permission for distribution or reproduction from the applicable rights holder is also required. Responsibility for
obtaining permissions, and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
[identification of item], [date if possible]. Esther Klotz collection on Miné Okubo (MS 094). Special Collections & University
Archives, University of California, Riverside.
Gift of Esther Klotz, 1974.
Processed by Eric Milenkiewicz, Archives Assistant, 2010.
Miné Okubo was born on June 27, 1912 in Riverside, California. Okubo attended Riverside Junior College and went on to receive
both a bachelor's and master's degree in Fine Arts from the University of California, Berkeley. In 1938, Okubo was awarded
the Bertha Henicke Taussig Traveling Fellowship to study art in Europe for eighteen months. At the conclusion of her fellowship
Okubo returned to the United States and accepted a job as an artist through the federal Works Progress Administration in Northern
California. The bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on December 7, 1941 would forever change the course of Okubo's life.
On April 24, 1942 she was forced into a Japanese internment camp and had to relocate to the Tanforan Relocation Camp in San
Bruno, California and was later transferred to the Central Utah Relocation Camp in Topaz, Utah. While being held at the relocation
camp Okubo completed numerous pen and ink drawings that illustrated daily life for the camp's detainees. She would later publish
this collection of drawings and sketches in the acclaimed book
Citizen 13660 that gave the world insight into the treatment of the Japanese at these camps. Okubo eventually moved to New York, New York
and continued her career as an artist creating numerous artistic works throughout her career that included illustrations for
several publications such as
Fortune,
Time, and
Life. She also served as an active voice of the Japanese American community and even testified before the Congressional Commission
on Wartime Relocation in 1981. Miné Okubo died on February 10, 2001 at the age of 88 in Greenwich Village in New York City.
| 1912 | Miné Okubo was born in Riverside, California on June 12th. |
| 1935 | Okubo graduated from UC Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts. |
| 1936 | Okubo graduated from UC Berkeley with a master's degree in Fine Arts. |
| 1939-1941 | Okubo was commissioned by the Federal Arts Program as an artist on public art projects. |
| 1942 | Okubo was forced to evacuate under Executive Order #9066 as a result of the bombing of Pearl Harbor in World War II. |
| 1946 | Okubo's Citizen #13660 was published by Columbia University Press. |
| 1950-1952 | Okubo taught art at University of California, Berkeley. |
| 1974 | Okubo was named Alumna of the Year at Riverside Community College. |
| An exhibition of Okubo's paintings was held at Riverside Community College. | |
| 1991 | Okubo received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women's Caucus for Art of the College Art Association. |
| 2001 | Miné Okubo died in New York, New York on February 10th. |
This collection is comprised of press clippings, correspondence, artwork, brochures, and other material regarding the personal
and professional life of Miné Okubo, a Japanese American artist and author. Includes material on Okubo's book
Citizen 13660 and the art exhibit
Miné Okubo: An American Experience. Mailings from Okubo to personal contacts that contain correspondence, artwork, exhibit brochures, and original envelopes
are also included. Additionally, there is material on Japanese American life in the United States that focuses on the World
War II internment of Japanese Americans, Miné Okubo's experiences at war relocation camps during World War II, and the history
of Japanese Americans in Riverside, California.
This collection is arranged into three series as follows:
- Series 1. Japanese-American life, 1943-1979, undated
- Series 2. Personal correspondence, 1941-1977, undated
- Series 3. Professional career, 1932-2009, undated
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog.
Okubo, Miné
Japanese American artists
Japanese Americans -- Exclusion and incarceration, 1942-1945
Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence
Works of art