Blue Circles and Friends/Komai Family Slides, 1930-1994, bulk 1955-1956

View only results with digital items
Printable guide [HTML]

Summary

Abstract:
This collection includes digitized negatives, photographs, and presentation board from the Blue Circles, Little Misses, and Jr. Misses social organizations. The presentation board consists of images from the 1930s and 1990s of the Blue Circles, a Young Women's Christian Girl Reserves group affiliated with the Centenary Church in Los Angeles. The negatives in the collection are of the Little Misses and Jr. Misses social organization, which were also part of the Young Women's Christians Association Girl Reserves group. The negatives include images of picnics, holiday events, slumber parties, and camping trips. All of the collection has been digitized, and some of the photographs are available online.
Extent:
229 Megabytes 231 jpeg files
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

For information about citing archival material, see the Citations for Archival Material guide, or consult the appropriate style manual.

Background

Scope and content:

The Blue Circles and Friends/Komai Family Slides (229 Mb, 231 jpeg files) include digitized negatives, photographs, and a presentation board from three youth social organizations; Blue Circles, Little Misses, and Jr. Misses. The presentation board consists of photos from the Blue Circles, a Young Women's Christian Association Girl Reserves group affiliated with the Centenary Church in Los Angeles. Kay Moratani Komai was part of the social organization with about fifteen to twenty other young women before World War II. The presentation board includes photographs of pre-World War II social events, group members, and friends. It also contains 50th wedding anniversary photographs from several of the group members in the 1990s. In addition to the presentation board, the collection also contains digitized color negatives from after World War II of the Little Misses and Jr. Misses social clubs. The Jr. Misses club was also part of the Young Women's Christians Association Girl Reserves group. The photographs from the two social groups include picnics, holiday events, slumber parties, and camping trips.

Biographical / historical:

Kiyoko Kay Komai was born on December 4, 1920. She grew up in Berkeley, California, until she moved to Los Angeles with her aunt and uncle, Fumiko and Frank Nagata. They became her adoptive parents. While living in Los Angeles, she joined the Blue Circles, a Young Women's Christian Association Girl Reserves group. She married her husband, Khan Komai before World War II, and was pregnant when she left with her husband's family to the Santa Anita racetrack and then to the Granada incarceration camp. They left the incarceration camp in 1944 and moved to Ohio before eventually returning to Los Angeles. They raised four children together. During this time, Kay also worked at local universities until she retired in the 1980s. She spent her spare time doing bonsai, something she learned from her aunt and uncle. Kay continued doing bonsai and meeting with the Blue Circles after she retired.

Acquisition information:
The Blue Circle and Friends/Komai Family Slides was loaned to the Gerth Archives and Special Collections for digitization in 2020.
Processing information:

The Gerth Archives and Special Collections created digital reproductions from the original material for long-term preservation and access. These preservation files (12.6 Gb, 231 tif files) were scanned to and stored on the Gerth Archives and Special Collections Deparment Drive. For more information on the best practices and standards for the digitization process, please see: CSU Japanese American Digitization Project technical reference guide.

Physical / technical requirements:

The access files are JPG files stored on the Public Use Drive. Access to the files is available on-site in the Gerth Archives and Special Collections reading room. Please request copies at the reference desk.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

There are no access restrictions on this collection.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Preferred citation:

For information about citing archival material, see the Citations for Archival Material guide, or consult the appropriate style manual.

Location of this collection:
University Library, 5th Flr (5039)
1000 E. Victoria Street
Carson, CA 90747, US
Contact:
(310) 243-3895
archives@csudh.edu
Website