Ami Inuzuka correspondence, 1942-1988

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Summary

Creators:
Inuzuka, Ami.
Abstract:
This collection contains letters written by Japanese-American Ami Inuzuka to her friends Hardin and Raemond Craig, with 13 letters written while the Inuzukas were interned at the Gila River Relocation Center in Rivers, Arizona, beginning in 1942 and discussing life in an internment camp. In the rest of her letters, Ami discusses her life in Los Angeles, her family, and the difficulties of growing older.
Extent:
1.2 Linear Feet (1 box)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Ami Inuzuka correspondence, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

The letters written by Ami Inuzuka were sent to her friends and former employers Hardin Craig, Jr., and his wife Raemond, of Pasadena, California. Ami wrote the first thirteen letters (1942- 1945) while she and her family were interned at the Gila River Relocation Center in Rivers, Arizona. These letters give a detailed description of camp. Ami comments upon the living conditions in the barracks, the extreme weather of the Arizona desert, the employment situation, her children's education, sickness, social activities (including her daughter's engagement), and her family's plan for after the war. She also frequently thanks Raemond Craig for care packages she sent to the Inuzuka family, consisting of clothes, books and other items that Ami would request. In the letters after the war, Ami writes to the Craigs, who had moved to Houston, Texas, and discusses her life in Los Angeles and La Puente, including the difficulties of growing older. She gives details regarding her growing family (children finishing college, grandchildren being born, the death of her husband in 1969, etc.). Hardin Craig, Jr., dies in 1971, which makes Raemond Craig the only addressee of the letters after 1971. The collection contains a photograph of the Inuzuka family in the letter dated 1960, May 29, and a photograph of Mr. and Mrs. Inuzuka and Mr. and Mrs. Craig in the letter dated 1967, Aug. 18. There is one letter by Ami's son Tsuneo, thanking the Craigs for help with finding employment in California. Also included with the collection are two newspaper clippings, from the 1980s, about the internment of the Japanese during World War II.

Biographical / historical:

Ami Inuzuka, her husband, Henry, and their three children, Tsuneo, Kazuo, and Margaret were moved from their home in Pasadena, California, to the Gila River Relocation Center in Rivers, Arizona, in 1942. After the center closed in 1946, the family moved back to Southern California.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Raemond Craig, November 27, 1990.
Processing information:

Processed by Brooke M. Black in June 2003. In July 2024, Mari Khasmanyan updated the finding aid's linear feet and container information.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Ami Inuzuka correspondence, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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