Buddhist Churches of America records, 1832-2016

Office of the Bishop, 1946-2017

Scope and content:

Records were created or compiled by the Bishop's office between 1959 and 1996. Documents found here include correspondence and memos, various reports, publicity records, photographs, and miscellaneous issues of BCA and non-BCA publications. Although most bishops served terms of 3 to 5 years, they likely inherited records from their predecessors or others, which explains discrepancies between dates of terms served and dates of records.

Bishops represented by this subgroup include Bishop Shinsho Hanayama (1959-1968), Bishop Kenryu Tsuji (1968-1981) and Bishop Seigen Yamaoka (1981-1996).

The Bishop Hanayama files include approximately 6 linear feet of personal office diaries (1961-1968) and correspondence related to topics such as BCA temples, the BCA Study Center (later the Institute of Buddhist Studies), ministerial applicants, transfers, students, Advisory Council, speakers, and special lectures. Foreign affairs correspondence includes Canada (Winnipeg, Vancouver, Toronto), Mexico, Thailand, and Brazil.

The Bishop Tsuji files contain approximately 21 linear feet and include primarily correspondence, office diaries, and subject files. Also included are his writings, BCA temple pamphlets, newsletters, reports, minutes, publicity records, photographs, and blueprints collected during his tenure. Other subjects covered are the BCA's 75th Anniversary in 1974, the creation of the board of Buddhist Education (BBE), and the BCA Expansion Program's New Horizons Program for researching propagation. Additional file related to the BCA's reaction to Japanese Americans is The Untold Story and to the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii.

The Bishop Yamaoka files span 1 linear feet and include conference materials, a commemorative publication regarding ministry in the military, and photographs, including an album of the Buddhist Studies' Summer Youth Program in 1987.

Language:
Records created before 1969 are primarily in Japanese while those created after 1970 are primarily in English.

Contents

Access and use

Parent restrictions:
Portions of this collection are restricted due the presence of financially sensitive materials.
Parent terms of access:
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.
Location of this collection:
A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4988