Description
Charles Kikuchi (1917-
) worked for the California State Employment Service, surveying Nisei occupations. He was
recruited by Berkeley sociologist Dorothy Swaine Thomas for the Japanese Evacuation and
Relocation Study (JERS). He began to keep a diary and completed field surveys at the
Tanforan Assembly Center in Northern California and at the Gila River Relocation Center in
Arizona and in 1943 chronicled camp resident settlement in Chicago. He was drafted into the
United States Army just before the bombing of Hiroshima. The collection consists of Charles
Kikuchi's diaries, correspondence, and related printed material about Japanese Americans and
their relocation during World War II. Many diaries include clippings and programs related to
the career of Kikuchi's wife, Yuriko Amemiya, a professional dancer and a member of Martha
Graham's dance group.
Background
Kikuchi was born in 1917 in the San Francisco Bay Area; his father was an Issei barbershop
owner; he was placed in an orphanage when he was 8 years old; in 1934 he headed for San
Francisco; BA, San Francisco State College, 1939; anonymously published an autobiographical
essay, A Young American with a Japanese Face, in Louis Adamic's anthology titled, From Many Lands (1939); worked for the California State Employment
Service, surveying Nisei occupations; attended School of Social Welfare, University of
California, Berkeley, and received certificate in social work in 1942; recruited by Berkeley
sociologist Dorothy Swaine Thomas for the Japanese Evacuation and Relocation Study (JERS);
Kikuchi began to keep a diary and completed field surveys at the Tanforan Assembly Center in
Northern California and at the Gila River Relocation Center in Arizona; began chronicling
camp resident settlement in Chicago, 1943; he was drafted into the United States Army just
before the bombing of Hiroshima; received master's degree in social work, New York
University (NYU), 1947; worked as a social worker with the Veterans Administration, New
York; married Yuriko Amemiya, a professional dancer, in 1946; died September 25, 1988.
Extent
29.0 Linear Feet
(58 boxes and 4 oversize boxes)
Restrictions
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All
other 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.
Availability
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in
advance using the request button located on this page.