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Japanese American National Museum
Collections Management & Access Unit
100 North Central Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90012
Phone: (213) 830-5619
Email: collections@janm.org
Collections with online items: 9
Physical collections: 80
Browse the Collections
From A to Z
0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 
A
 
American Friends Service Committee Collection

This collection contains materials the American Friends Service Committee produced and collected pertaining to their activities and the experience of Japanese Americans during and after World War II.

 
B
 
Ban (Takeshi) Papers

Takeshi Ban was an Issei congregational minister from Kumamoto prefecture, and a president of the Pacific Society of Religious Education. The collection consists of documents, publications, and phonographs records, and 3D objects spanning from 1902 to 1986. The film portion...

 
Bell (Marion & Lorne W.) Papers

This collection contains the materials collected and created primarily by Marion Bell, dating from 1942 to 1978. The contents are primarily watercolor paintings and woodblock prints of the Topaz Relocation Center, as well as a diary, articles, ration books, and...

 
Bonomi (John) Papers

John Bonomi worked for the Brunswig Drug Company and supplied pharmaceutical materials to Japanese Americans in concentration camps. This collection contains correspondences from various Japanese Americans who requested medicine and household materials, discussed payment methods, shared camp life, and friendly...

 
C
 
Civil Liberties Public Education Fund Grant Program Records

The Civil Liberties Public Education Fund (CLPEF) was a government-sponsored program that developed from the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. The CLPEF's mission was to educate the public on the issues surrounding the wartime incarceration of Americans of Japanese ancestry....

 
E
 
E.O. 9066 Inc. Records

The collection contains surveys, correspondence, administrative papers, and mailing lists created by and related to E.O 9066 Inc. from 1942 to 1994. The materials relate to the push by E.O 9066 Inc. for redress, and include primarily responses to a...

 
F
 
Fast (Emery) papers

Emery Fast (ca. 1907-1997) worked for the War Relocation Authority during World War II. The collection is largely comprised of personal letters written to his wife, Ethel “Billie” Fast, as he worked in both Utah and California and she worked...

 
Freeman (Miller) Correspondence

The collection contains letters sent to Miller Freeman, publisher and chairman of the Joint Committee for the Protection of the Pacific Coast Fisheries during the 1930s and 1940s. The letters range in date from 1939-1945.

 
Frost (Charles W. and Margaret) Papers

This collection contains items belonging to Margaret Frost. The War Relocation Authority (WRA) employed Mrs. Frost and her husband, Charles W. Frost, as teachers at the Tule Lake and Minidoka concentration camps.

 
Fujii (George) Papers

This collection consists of letters between George and Mary Fujii, note cards created by George in his spare time while separated from his family, and one family portrait taken once the family was reunited in Crystal City, Texas.

 
Fukuda and Whitney Families Papers

The collection contains materials sent between the Fukuda and Whitney families during WWII; primarily letters from Fumiko Fukuda at Poston to Mrs. Olive Whitney in Upland from 1942 to 1943. Items include mostly correspondence, research materials, photos, and information about...

 
Furuya (Masazo & Yoneko) Papers

This collection contains correspondence and forms sent to and from Masazo and Yoneko Furuya between 1942 and 1944. Items are mostly letters, but also include work permits, parolee agreements, postcards, and other forms.

 
H
Hayami (Stanley) Diary

Stanley Hayami was a Japanese American student from Los Angeles who attended high school at the Heart Mountain concentration camp in Wyoming.

 
Hayami (Stanley) Papers

This collection contains correspondence from Stanley Hayami and Sach Hayami, personal items and documents belonging to Stanley Hayami, ephemera, photographs of soldiers, artifacts, drawings, and newspapers.

Hibi (Hisako) Collection

Sixty-three oil paintings painted by Hibi at Tanforan Assembly Center in California and Topaz concentration camp in Utah from 1942 to 1945. Subjects include various daily activities, still lifes, and landscapes....

 
Higgins (Martin) Papers

The collection includes letters and pamphlets sent to and from Martin J. Higgins between 1948 and 1950. The letters and pamphlets primarily concern H.B. 199 (the Equality in Naturalization and Immigration bill) and House Joint Resolution 238, which aimed to...

 
Hohri (Sohei [John]) and Landon (Harold) Letters

This collection primarily consists of handwritten, illustrated letters with the exception of a few postcards and one photograph. Sohei Hohri wrote the letters while incarcerated at Manzanar to his friend, Harold Landon. The bulk of the documents are dated from...

 
Hohri (William) Papers

William Hohri, was one of the leading contributors of the Japanese American redress and reparations efforts during the 1980's. Serving as chairman of the National Council for Japanese American Redress (NCJAR), he sought redress through the courts. This collection consists...

 
Holmes (Hannah Tomiko) Papers

The Hannah Tomiko Holmes Papers contains photocopies press-clippings, transcripts, documents, and essays related to redress and the National Council for Japanese American Redress. These materials are all reproductions. The bulk of the collection is original color photographs taken by Holmes...

 
Hoshida (George) Papers

George Hoshida (1907-1985) was incarcerated in Hawaii following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He was separated from his family for two years. This collection primarily consists of correspondence written by the Hoshida family while separated during World War II. It...

 
I
 
Ikemura Family Papers

This collection contains the materials related to the Ikemura family dating from 1915 to 2003. The contents are primarily official documents (birth, marriage, and death certificates), army documents, photographs, films, and mementos.

 
Ito (Susumu) Collection

The Susumu Ito collection consists primarily of photographs and negatives from Ito’s service as a part of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team’s 522nd Field Artillery Battalion. Throughout the war Ito carried a small camera with him at all times, capturing...

Iwata (Jack Masaki) Collection

This collection consists of 166 photographs and copy negatives of photographs taken at Manazanar and Tule Lake concentration camps between 1942 and 1945. Subjects include scenes of daily life, group portraits, and landscapes....

 
Iwata (Masakazu) Papers

This collection contains documents related to Masakazu Iwata’s agricultural research, primarily for his book “Planted in Good Soil,” with items dating from 1907 to 1998. Items include notes, drafts and typescripts, newspaper clippings, reports, correspondence, and other materials related to...

 
Iwate (Tatsumi) Papers

Sergeant Tatsumi Iwate served in the United States Army under the highly decorated 442nd Regimental Combat Team. This collection contains correspondence, pamphlets, photographs, and newspaper clippings.

 
J
 
JAMA Life History Project Records

The Japanese American Medical Association Life History Project was started in 2002 with funding from the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program in conjunction with the UCLA Asian American Studies Center and the Japanese American National Museum. This project sought...

 
Japanese American Citizens League Pacific Southwest District Office Records

The Pacific Southwest Region of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) served as the political voice for the Japanese American community and sponsored a variety of social and educational activities. Records include: administrative files, meeting minutes and agendas, reference files,...

 
Japanese Americans Citizens League, Washington, D.C. District Office Records

The records of JACL, Washington, D.C. District Office (JACL-DC) document the administration, JACL-endorsed advocacy issues, and reference files. The collection includes numerous court cases involving employment discrimination, immigration, military, and redress. In a number of these cases, JACL was directly...

 
Japanese Farm Survey for Defense Records

This collection contains information collected during two surveys of Japanese farmers in the Los Angeles area in 1940 and 1942. The first survey relates to farms along major power transmission lines and aqueducts (1940) and the second to farms in...

 
K
 
Kaneko (Hiroshi) Papers

This collection contains items related to relocation of Japanese Americans, primarily items from Tule Lake, California from 1942 to 1945. The majority of the collection is newspapers and printed material, but correspondence, pamphlets, newspaper clippings, art, and other materials are...

 
Kaufman (Miriam Stirberg) Letters

This collection contains primarily letters sent to Miriam (Stirberg) Kaufman, dating from 1944 to 1945. The contents are primarily letters and photos Kaufman received while corresponding with two World War II soldiers in the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team, as well...

 
Kelley (Gorman F.) Papers

Gorman F. Kelley worked for the War Relocation Authority during World War II. This collection is largely comprised of letters written from Kelley during his four month employment at Tule Lake to his family in Los Angeles.

 
Kleiner (Herman) Collection

This collection contains items collected by Herman Kleiner, dating from 1942 to 1944 (and one item from 1992). The contents include mostly newspaper articles and reports, but also includes correspondence about Japanese American students. Most the items relate to Japanese...

 
Kondo Family papers

This collection contains more than 50 letters written by Yasaku Kondo and his children Henry Kondo and Yuri Kondo Morimoto during World War II. The letters between Henry Kondo and Yasaku Kondo were written from 1943 to 1944, and letters...

 
Kozai (Jiro) Papers

Jiro Kozai, an Issei from Tottori Prefecture who immigrated to the United States in 1911, was one of the early Japanese pioneers of New York City. He was the president of the Japanese Association of New York and was the...

 
L
 
Leppman (Ruth A.) Papers

This collection contains letters between Kiyoko Oda and Ruth A. Leppman and cover Kiyoko’s time at Gila River, her return to Japan in 1943, and her process of returning to the United States that began in 1951. The collection also...

 
Louis Frizzell Jr. Collection

Louis (Lou) Frizzell Jr. was a drama teacher at Manzanar during WWII, and later a character actor in Hollywood. The collection documents Frizzell's time as a teacher at Manzanar. This collection contains photo albums, a 1943-1944 yearbook, photographs, correspondence, pamphlets,...

 
M
 
Marutani (William M.) Papers

Philadelphia judge, the Honorable William M. Marutani (1923-2004), was the only Japanese American commissioner to sit on the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC). The CWRIC was a congressional commission established in 1980 and charged with studying...

 
Matsuura Family Collection

This collection includes materials collected by Melba Yonemura Matsuura, primarily dating from 1904-1951. The bulk of the collection are letters exchanged with her second husband George Matsuura during the war, photos documenting the first 35 years of Melba’s life, family...

 
Minerich (Paul T.) Papers

The Paul T. Minerich Papers document the court cases of draft resisters who were court-martialed in 1944 in Ft. McClellan, Alabama. The resisters, also known as DB Boys (Detention Barracks Boys), were court-martialed and sentenced to a dishonorable discharge and...

 
Mineta (Norman Y.) Papers

Norman Yoshio Mineta (1931-) was the first Japanese American to serve as Mayor of a major American city and the first from the continental United States to be elected to Congress. Spanning from 1975 to 1996, this collection consists of...

 
Mita (Edo) Papers

This collection includes materials collected by and created primarily by Edo Mita, dating from 1930-1955. The bulk of the collection are personal diaries related to his time in 1930s France, correspondence with Huguette Clark and others on the topic of...

 
Mitsuoka (Norio) Papers

Norio Mitsuoka (1917-2010) was discharged from the Air Corps following Pearl Harbor and was subsequently incarcerated in Minidoka, where he worked at the fire station. This collection is largely comprised of letters sent to Norio from friends who were...

 
Mori (Floyd) Papers

This collection contains materials primarily from Floyd Mori’s time as a California State Assemblyman and his involvement with the JACL and APAICS. The bulk of the collection is from the late 1970s, and approximately 2000 through 2018. Items are mostly...

 
Mukaeda (Katsuma) Papers

Katsuma Mukaeda was an Issei lawyer, community activist, and long-time president of the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in Los Angeles, California. The collection consists of personal correspondence, photographs, community service medals, and biographical information spanning from 1941 to...

 
Murai Family Papers

This collection contains letters, ephemera, a book and several photographs. It is divided into four series: Correspondence, Photographs, Ephemera and Publications....

Muramoto (Walter) Collection

361 black and white photographs of daily life in camp in Rohwer, Arkansas....

 
Muro (Jack) Photographs

Jack Muro was 23 years old when he was incarcerated at Amache in Granada, Colorado. In 1943 he learned about photography from a family friend and throughout his time at Amache took pictures of his friends, the camp, and the...

 
Murphy (Mollie Wilson) Papers

Mollie Wilson Murphy was an African-American woman who lived in Boyle Heights during World War II. She had many Japanese-American friends who were forced into concentration camps during the war. This collection comprises of the correspondences between Mollie and her...

 
Myaida (Shogo) Papers

Spanning the years 1920 to 1989, the collection consists of approximately six linear feet of archival material. The bulk of the collection contains materials dating from 1920 until Myaida's retirement in 1972. The collection chiefly consists of documents, such as...

 
N
Nance (Afton Dill) Papers

This is a collection of roughly 265-300 letters written by Japanese American students who were incarcerated in American concentration camps, including Heart Mountain, Wyoming and Poston, Arizona during World War II and all addressed to their pre-war teacher, Ms. Afton...

 
Nicholson (Herbert V.) Papers

This collection consists of letters written to the Nicholson family, largely related to the Friendship Home in Pasadena, California. Herbert Nicholson was a reverend and a missionary in Japan for much of his adult life. The collection also includes publications,...

 
Nishio (Esther Takei) Papers

This collection contains documents and objects collected by Esther Takei Nishio related to her experience returning to Pasadena to enroll in college before the exclusion order was lifted from the west coast. Items are primarily letters and articles, but also...

 
O
Oiye (George) Album

One 34-page album of black and white photographs taken by George Oiye and Susumu Ito....

 
Okihiro (Gary Y.) Papers

This collection documents the professional activities of Gary Okihiro including research he conducted for his publications. One such publication is (1999). Based on archival research and oral histories from nisei students, describes how these students relocated to colleges and universities...

Okubo (Miné) Collection

The collection contains paper materials related to Miné Okubo's career and personal life. Many items are related to her book, Citizen 13660.

 
P
 
Palmerlee (Charles) Papers

Charles Palmerlee was a high school teacher at the Tule Lake War Relocation Authority center in Newell, California, during World War II. This collection contains correspondence, booklets, news clippings, ephemera, and typescript. It also contains images, moving images, a color...

 
Pierce (Frances Cushman) Papers

The collection contains materials collected by Frances Cushman Pierce dating from 1975 to 1994. Items are primarily survey responses from her former students, but also include JACL newsletters, correspondence, materials related to a 1994 Poston III reunion, and two typed...

 
R
 
Rafu Uwamachi Daini Gakuen Records

The Rafu Uwamachi Daini Gakuen (Los Angeles Uptown Second Education House) was a Japanese language school established in 1915 and attended by local Japanese American students, with a break during the years of World War II, until its closure in...

 
S
 
Saito Family Collection

This collection consists of letters, a scrapbook, pictures, and other memorabilia related to the Saito Family, with an emphasis on George and Calvin Saito, who served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT) during World War II, and died while...

 
Sakamoto-Sasano Family Collection

This collection contains documents, objects, and ephemera from the Sakamoto-Sasano family. The belongings of matriarch Taye Sakamoto Sasano, her sister Chiyoko Sakamoto Takahashi, and her two daughters Louise Sasano Yoshida and Frances Sasano make up the bulk of the collection....

Shimada (Moriyuki) Scrapbook

Moriyuki Shimada was twenty-two years old when he and his family were forcibly removed from their home in Santa Clara, California to the Heart Mountain Concentration Camp in Wyoming. Shimada created a scrapbook after the war with the photographs he...

 
Southern California Flower Market Papers

The Southern California Flower Market Papers consists primarily of financial and legal documents pertaining to the tax exempt status of the corporation. The collection also includes documents created by Golden Sky Investment Company in relation to the Southern California Flower...

 
St. Mary's Episcopal Church Records

The collection contains correspondence, reports, photographs, and printed materials from 1895 to 2007. Materials are related to St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, and include administrative documents and activities of the church as well as biographical information and office files of two...

 
Starmer (Garrett) Collection of Student Essays

This collection consists of 48 autobiographical essays that Nisei students wrote for Garrett Starmer's class at Tri-State High School at the Tule Lake concentration camp. The students wrote about their family history and thoughts over their removal and incarceration. The...

Sugimoto (Henry) Collection

130 paintings by Henry Sugimoto, a Japanese American artist who flourished in the 1930s and continued to paint well into the 1990s....

 
Sugino (Chica) Papers

Chica Sugino was an Issei research analyst for Alexander Leighton, head of the War Relocation Authority's (WRA) Sociological Research Bureau at Poston Relocation Center. Her research contributed to Leighton's book, The Governing of Men, one of the first monographs published...

 
Suzuki (Claire [Tsuyuko Fukumitsu] and Isao) Papers

This collection contains artifacts, photographs, and papers pertaining to Claire (Tsuyuko Fukumitsu) and Isao Suzuki’s family history, childhood, their incarceration at Tule Lake during World War II, and their post-war business careers.

 
T
 
Takahashi (Sakae) Papers

This collection contains documents, a photo, and a certificate collected by Sakae Takahashi related to his service as a Hawaiian senator from 1967-1970. Other items are related to Hawaii and Japanese American service in WWII.

 
Tigers Youth Club Records

This collection was created by Daniel Kawahara. Kawahara was instrumental in founding the Tigers Youth Club, a Japanese American sports league started in Southern California in 1957 and still active as of 2014. This collection contains photographs, a scrapbook, and...

 
Toyama (Tetsuo) Papers

This collection, comprised largely of letters between husband and wife while separated during World War II, provides valuable insight into camp life and family life. Letters between Tetsuo and Sadako, are written primarily in Japanese. Letters from his son describe...

 
W
 
Watanabe (Paul) Sermons

Paul Yorishige Watanabe served at several Southern California Japanese American churches in the 1920s and 1930s, including the Los Angeles Japanese Baptist Church (now Evergreen Baptist Church) and the Fundamental Baptist Mission to the Japanese. This is a collection of...

 
West Adams Christian Church Records

The collection consists of documents, photographs, and a small number of three-dimensional artifacts produced or housed by the West Adams Christian Church (formerly the Japanese Christian Church) from its inception in 1908 to the 1970s. During World War II the...

 
Wolter (Hugo W.) Papers

This collection contains documents, objects, and ephemera from the War Relocation Authority (primarily at the Gila River Relocation Center), collected and/or written by Hugo Wolter. Items date primarily from 1943-1945, and include office papers, correspondence, reports, yearbooks, pamphlets and programs,...

 
Y
 
Yamaoka (Shizue) Papers

This collection contains documents and photographs related to the personal life of Shizuye Yamaoka, dating from approximately 1900 to the 1980s. The contents include correspondence; photographs; birth, marriage, and death certificates; and papers related to Shizuye’s cosmetology career.

 
Yamauchi (Gary) Collection

This collection relates only to Yamauchi’s bowling activities dating from 1958 to 1972. The contents include bowling attire, bowling balls and bags, photographs, newspaper clippings, score sheets, correspondence, awards, membership cards, and tournament programs.

 
Yamauchi (Wakako) Papers

This collection contains items created and collected by Wakako Yamauchi from the 1970s through 2003. Items are mostly related to her writing, including play scripts, correspondence, and short stories. Also included are promotional material, reviews, contracts, and photographs.

 
Yasukochi (Taisuke) Family Letters

The letters in this collection were written by members of the Yasukochi family between 1942 and 1944. The contents are mostly addressed to Taisuke Yasukochi, the head of the Yasukochi household, while he was at the Lordsburg and Santa Fe,...

 
Yonemoto (Bruce & Norman) Papers

This collection contains papers related to the professional filmmaking of Bruce and Norman Yonemoto, for films between the 1960s and 1990s. The contents are primarily correspondence, press materials, exhibition catalogs and brochures, and screenplays and production notes for videos.

 
Yoshizumi (Kogan) Papers

Reverend Kogan Yoshizumi (1894-1975) was the Buddhist priest of the Soto Mission of Aiea in Hawaii on Oahu. Yoshizumi was arrested and detained at Sand Island after the attack on Pearl Harbor and was subsequently transferred to a series of...