Collection Guide
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Satoru Maeda Heart Mountain Photo Album
SPC.2019.023
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
California State University Dominguez Hills, Gerth Archives and Special Collections
Title: Satoru Maeda Heart Mountain Photo Album
Creator:
Maeda, Satoru, 1922-2017
source:
Koyama, Shinkichi
Identifier/Call Number: SPC.2019.023
Physical Description:
1 box
Physical Description:
1 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): circa 1930-1945
Date (bulk): 1942 May-1943 September
Abstract: This collection contains one photograph album mostly depicting life at the Heart Mountain incarceration camp in Cody, Wyoming.
The album contains photographs of facilities, events, jobs, and others in the camp as well as few photographs taken during
the prewar and postwar periods. Most of the items in this collection have been digitized and are available online.
Language of Material:
English
, Japanese
.
There are no access restrictions on this collection.
Existence and Location of Copies
Most of the items in this collection have been digitized and digital reproduction access files are available at the CSU Japanese
American Digitization Project site:
Satoru Maeda Heart Mountain Photo Album
Arranged in one box.
Satoru Maeda (1922-2017) is a Kibei Nisei who was born in Los Angeles, California to his Issei parents immigrated from Hiroshima,
Japan. He and his siblings were sent to Japan for education, and he and his brother returned to the United States prior to
World War II while his sister remained in Japan. During the war, he and his parents were incarcerated in the Heart Mountain
camp in Cody, Wyoming on May 12, 1942 and transferred to the Tule Lake Segregation Center on September 21, 1943 as incarcerees
who decided to return to Japan. His brother's family was incarcerated in the Gila River incarceration camp in Rivers, Arizona
on May 6, 1943 and also transferred to the Tule Lake Segregation Center on October 3, 1943. His parents, Kumejiro and Natsu,
returned to Japan on December 25, 1945 while he was further transferred to the Santa Fe Internment Camp in New Mexico on January
26, 1945. It is unknown whether he returned to Japan or remained in the United States afterwards.
After the war ended, he reestablished his life, returning to the Sothern California. He became a gardener and resided with
his wife in Santa Monica. Even though the exclusion orders were rescinded and Japanese Americans were allowed to return from
incarceration camps, discrimination and prejudice were still lingering in postwar America. Banks were reluctant to lend to
Japanese Americans, for example. However, his non-Japanese American friend helped him to get a loan from a bank and he was
able to purchase a duplex apartment in Santa Monica and became a landlord. He and his wife had no children, his wife passed
away years earlier, and he passed away in 2017.
For information about citing archival material, see the
Citations for Archival Material guide, or consult the appropriate style manual.
The Gerth Archives and Special Collections created digitized materials from original items for long-term preservation and
electronic access, adhering to best practice and standards to ensure the authenticity, integrity, and security of material.
Most of the collection has been digitized and are available online. For more information on digitization production, please
see
CSU Japanese American Digitization Project technical reference guide .
The set of preservation files are stored on the Gerth Archives and Special Collections' department drive for preservation
purposes. These files are also available for duplication requests by contacting the department.
CSU Japanese American Digitization Project
This collection is part of the California State University Japanese American Digitization Project. Other collections about
the history of Japanese Americans are found in the digital repository:
CSU Japanese American Digitization Project .
Satoru Maeda Heart Mountain Photo Album contains photographs mostly taken in the Heart Mountain incarceration camp in Cody,
Wyoming, documenting life in the camp during World War II. Photographed are the facilities, jobs, sports events, and social
activities at the camp. Included are interiors of a mess hall, laundry room, shower room, washroom, barber, and offices, buildings
and workers of a fire station and police station, ambulance, electric panels, guard tower, livestock, construction sites including
an irrigation canal or possibly the Heart Mountain Canal constructed by incarcerees, timber and farm workers, sports events
for judo, baseball, and sumo, Bon dance, music performance, calligraphy class, and a trip to Yellowstone National Park. There
are also photographs of the incarcerees who are being sent from the Heart Mountain camp to the Tule Lake Segregation Center
and group photographs of male internees, presumably Issei and Kibei Nisei, at the Santa Fe Internment Camp in New Mexico.
Some prewar photographs are also included.
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.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Japanese Americans -- Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945
Heart Mountain Incarceration Camp
Tule Lake Segregation Center
Santa Fe Internment Camp (N.M.)
Koyama, Shinkichi