Guide to the James Omura Papers M2294

Rebecca Manley

Department of Special Collections and University Archives

March 2018

Green Library

557 Escondido Mall

Stanford 94305-6064

specialcollections@stanford.edu

URL: http://library.stanford.edu/spc

Language of Material: English

Contributing Institution: Department of Special Collections and University Archives

Title: James Omura papers

Creator: Omura, James Matsumoto, 1912-1994

Identifier/Call Number: M2294

Physical Description: 30.55 Linear Feet (58 manuscript boxes, 1 half box, 9 flat boxes, 1 map folder)

Date (inclusive): 1912-1995

Abstract: The James M. Omura papers, 1912-1994, represent the life work of this influential Japanese American writer, journalist, and civil rights activist.

Physical Location: Special Collections and University Archives materials are stored offsite and must be paged 36 hours in advance.

Custodial History

After James Omura's death in 1994, the Omura family asked Professor Arthur A. Hansen to complete Omura's unfinished memoir. The Omura papers, along with Omura's draft manuscript, were turned over to Dr. Hansen in June 1995. They were housed in the Oral History Program Archives at California State University, Fullerton, until the memoir was completed. The collection was then donated to Stanford University.

Processing Information

Preliminary processing was done by archives students in San José State University's School of Library and Information Science between 1998-1999. Final processing and the creation of the Guide to the James M. Omura Papers were accomplished by Rebecca Manley, 2000-2001. Additional minor processing and creating the online guide were completed at Stanford in 2018.

Biographical / Historical

James Matsumoto Omura was born Utaka Matsumoto on November 27, 1912, on Bainbridge Island, Washington. His father had immigrated illegally to escape conscription into the Japanese army and had assumed the name Matsumoto to avoid detection. James Omura grew up in the small town of Winslow, across the Puget Sound from Seattle. He dropped out of school at thirteen in search of adventure in Alaska, where he found employment in the salmon canneries. From 1926 to 1929, Omura worked in the canneries, sawmills, and on the railroads in various western states before returning to Seattle. After trying unsuccessfully to get work as a reporter on the Japanese American Courier, Omura returned to school and earned his high school diploma. After graduation, Omura moved south to Los Angeles in 1933, where he took a job as the English-language editor of the Shin-Nichibei [New Japanese American News]. Three years later, he headed north and was offered a position in San Francisco as the English-language editor of the Shin Sekai Shimbun [New World Daily News]. During his tenure at that paper, some of his editorials evidently gave offense to the leaders of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL). Omura found himself shunned by certain members of San Francisco's Issei community, and this situation foreshadowed his chilly relations with JACL members in the 1940s and beyond. Soon after the paper merged with the Hokubei Asahi to become the Shin Sekai-Asahi Shimbun [New World Sun], Omura quit his job and began another long stretch of temporary positions, including stints as a migrant farm worker, tractor operator, and warehouse worker in central and northern California. By 1940, Omura has saved sufficient funds to launch his own magazine Current Life. After marrying and settling down in San Francisco, Omura and his first wife Caryl worked together to produce the magazine, which focused on social issues and cultural affairs of interest to the Nikkei [Japanese American] community. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Omura attracted public attention during February 1942 by his testimony at the Tolan Committee hearings in San Francisco. Not only was he the sole Japanese American not affiliated with the JACL to testify at these hearings related to the mass eviction of Nikkei from the West Coast, but the only spokesman who protested this public policy. In March 1942 Jimmie and Caryl relocated to the "free zone" state of Colorado and there tried unsuccessfully to continue publishing Current Life. After the magazine folded, Omura opened an employment agency to assist other Japanese Americans who had voluntarily relocated in Denver and other Rocky Mountain communities. Although he had been unable to prevent the relocation process, Omura continued to speak out on behalf of other Japanese Americans, most notably for those who resisted the government's plan in early 1944 to draft Nisei from the camps. As English editor of the Denver-based Rocky Shimpo, Omura wrote a series of controversial editorials supporting the stand of the draft resisters within the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee. As a result of his strong public pronouncements, Omura was brought to trial for conspiring with the FPC leadership to aid and abet the violation of the Selective Service Act. Unlike his convicted co-defendants, however, Omura was exonerated on the constitutional grounds of freedom of the press. In the post-World War II years, Omura received little attention for his efforts to preserve the civil rights of Japanese Americans. Living in obscurity and relative isolation from the Japanese American community, Omura supported himself as a landscape gardener in Denver, Colorado. During the 1980s when the push for redress and reparations for Japanese American camp survivors was brought to national awareness, Omura reemerged as a writer and significant resource for those interested in the wartime resistance movement. Omura received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Asian American Journalists Association in 1989 in recognition of his commitment to free speech in the crucible of war. Omura continued to receive honors bestowed by other organizations recognizing his courageous efforts in support of Nisei draft resistance and respect for individual conscience during World War II. He was engaged in writing his memoir at the time of his death on June 20, 1994.

Sources Hansen, Arthur A., "James Matsumoto Omura: An Interview," Amerasia Journal 13 (2, 1986-1987): 99 -113 _________ . "The 1944 Nisei Draft at Heart Mountain, Wyoming: Its Relationship to the Historical Representation of the World War II Japanese American Evacuation," OAH Magazine (Summer 1996): 48-60. Hirose, Stacey, "James Matsumoto Omura," in Niiya, Brian, ed., Encyclopedia of Japanese American History: An A-to-Z Reference from 1868 to the Present (New York and Los Angeles: Facts on File, Inc. and the Japanese American National Museum, 2000), 326. Omura, James, "Japanese American Journalism During World War II," in Nomura, Gail M. et al., eds., Frontiers of Asian American Studies: Writing, Research, and Commentary (Pullman, WA: 1989), 71-80. David K. Yoo, "Insiders on the Outside: Nisei Journalists and Wartime Editorials," Chapter 5 of Growing Up Nisei: Race, Generation, and Culture among Japanese Americans of California, 1924-49 (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2000), 124-48.

Scope and Contents

The James M. Omura Papers, 1912-1994, represent the life work of this influential Japanese American writer, journalist, and civil rights activist. Born on Bainbridge Island, Washington, in 1912, Omura worked during the 1920s and early 1930s as a laborer, until securing an editorial position with a Japanese American newspaper in Los Angeles. After moving to San Francisco in 1934, Omura served as the English editor of two Japanese American newspapers and also worked as a florist. In 1940, Omura started up his own magazine, Current Life, which he and his wife Caryl edited until it folded during World War II. Omura became known at this time for his vociferous opposition to the enforced mass eviction and detention of Japanese Americans, outspoken denouncement of the Japanese American Citizens League, and editorial support of the Japanese American draft resisters. After the war, Omura left journalism to develop a successful landscaping business in Denver. He reemerged in the early 1980s to participate in the movement for Japanese American redress and reparations, to redeem the tarnished reputations on the Heart Mountain draft resisters and himself, and to prepare his memoir for publication. Given the depth and breadth of the collection, the James M. Omura Papers document the varied and dramatic history of Japanese Americans in the 20th century. The Omura Papers contain a wide variety of materials relating to his childhood, early jobs as a cannery and railroad worker, and editorial work for Japanese American newspapers. The collection contains correspondence, notes and writing for Current Life and Rocky Shimpo, clippings, biographical documents, legal and financial records, photographs, cassettes, video recordings, computer disks, government documents related to Omura, ephemera, and more. Omura preserved copies of many of his editorials and other writings, as well as his efforts to write fiction and poetry. His Current Life files are particularly valuable, including complete issues, correspondence, and article submissions. Omura was a prolific letter-writer, and he conscientiously retained copies of incoming and outgoing correspondence with his family, friends, scholars, and members of the Japanese American community. He also was a lifelong diary keeper, and these invaluable documents record his experiences and emotions during the harrowing days of the evacuation and his removal to Denver, as well as the breakup of his first marriage and ultimate bankruptcy. After Omura retired from his landscaping business and became increasingly involved in Japanese American organizations and events, he began collecting documents relating redress, reparations and other ethnic and civil rights concerns. He also accumulated extensive subject files while doing background research for his unpublished autobiography, "Shattered Lives." Omura's massive collection of notes and many chapter drafts for his memoir comprise an important part of this collection.

General

The original container listing is in Box 1, Folder 0. Minor changes were made while creating the online finding aid which supercedes the original container listing.

Conditions Governing Access

Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use. Audiovisual materials are not available in original format, but have been reformatted to a digital use copies. Born-digital material is closed until processed.

Conditions Governing Use

While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/spc/using-collections/permission-publish

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was given (with the family's permission) by Professor Emeritus Art Hansen of Cal-State Fullerton to Stanford University, Special Collections in December 2014.

Preferred Citation

[identification of item], James Omura papers (M2294). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Arrangement

The collection was first organized into nine series: Series 1. Correspondence, 1933-1994, 3.3 linear feet

Series 2. Speeches & Writings, 1924-1994, 5.2 linear feet, 6 scrapbooks

Series 3. Biographical Material, 1940-1994, 0.4 linear feet

Series 4. Personal Financial Records, 1937-1993, 0.2 linear feet

Series 5. Personal Legal Records, 1912-1993, 0.2 linear feet Series 6. Omura Landscape Service Records, 1942-1988, 0.2 linear feet, 3 items

Series 7. Photographs & Media, ca. 1920s-1995, 0.8 linear feet, 5 items Series 8. Ephemera & Memorabilia, 1930-1994, 0.7 linear feet

Series 9. Research Material, 1930-1994, 8.7 linear feet Two additional series were subsequently added as donations: Series 10. Michi Nishiura Weglyn and Aiko Herzig Yoshinaga Correspondence and Documents Series 11. Wayne Omura's Collection of James Omura's Personal Archive

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Japanese Americans -- History

Japanese Americans -- Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945

Weglyn, Michi, 1926-

Yoshinaga-Herzig, Aiko

Japanese American Citizens' League.

Series 1. Correspondence 1933-1994

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Japanese Americans -- History

box 1, folder 1-67

A-Co, including Frank Abe, Frank Chin

box 2, folder 1-62

Cr - Ha, including Roger Daniels, Richard Drinnon, Frank Emi, Federal Bureau of Investigation

box 3, folder 1-36

Ha - Hu, including Arthur Hansen, John Herzig, William Hohri from National Council of Japanese American Redress

box 4, folder 1-65

I - Ko, including Toyo Suyemoto Kawakami, Mits Koshiyama, Nelson & Taka Kitsuse

box 5, folder 1-41

Ko - Ma, including Kazushi (Casey) Matsumoto, James Omura's Brother, Toshio Mori

box 6, folder 1-61

M - Ok, including Paul Nakadate, Kiyoshi Okamoto

box 7, folder 1-41

Ok - Pa, including Paul T. & Alice Nakadate, George Nazawa, Pacific Coast Evacuee Placement Bureau

box 8, folder 1-83

Pa - Ta, including Kozie Sakai, Eddie & Doris Sato, Sumi Seki, Tokutano N. Slocum

box 9, folder 1-65

Ta - Wr, including Toda, Tetsuko Toda, Publisher Rocky Shimpo, Mary Tomita, United States Department of the Army, Michi & Walter Weglyn

box 10, folder 1-20

Ya - Za

Series 2. Speeches & Writings 1924-1994

Series 2.1. Current Life

box 10, folder 21-37, box 11, folder 1-4

Articles, clippings, correspondence, submissions and copies of complete magazine 1941-1943

Material Specific Details: Box 10, folder 23 houses Grass by Arthur T. Morimitsu. The document was cleaned by conservation but is quite fragile.

Series 2.2. Diaries

box 11, folder 5-6

Fumiko Okuma 1942

box 11, folder 7-12

Holographic and typescript 1931-1994

box 11, folder 12

Diaries - typescript - chronologies 1912-1950

box 11, folder 13-14

Diaries - typescript - excerpts, incident

Series 2.3. Editorials and Columns

box 11, folder 22, box 12

Clippings, photocopies and typescripts 1934-1994

flat-box 60-62

Scrapbooks of newspaper clippings, 1930's and 1940's

Material Specific Details: Albums are unbound, fragile, deteriorating, with failing adhesives and some loose additional clippings within the pages.

Series 2.4. Letters to the Editor

box 12, folder 1-29

Typescript and/or published in Asian Week, The Call Bulletin, Chronicles Magazine, The Denver Post 1943-1981

Series 2.5. Manuscript Drafts

box 13, folder 1-5

Fair Play Committee

box 14-17

Shattered Lives

box 17, folder 3

Duplicates - typescript

Series 2.6. Notes

box 17, folder 4-16, box 18, folder 1-7

Various, most undated

box 18, folder 8

Notes – Akutsu, Jim A.

box 18, folder 10

Notes – American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

box 18, folder 9-14

Notes - A

box 18, folder 15-32

Notes - B-C

box 18, folder 27

Notes – Congress

box 18, folder 31

Notes – court cases

box 19, folder 4

Notes – Drinnon, Richard

box 19, folder 1-10

Notes - D-E

box 19, folder 7

Notes – Emi, Frank

box 19, folder 8

Notes – Esq.: Collins, Wayne

box 19, folder 13

Notes – F.B.I. Files

box 19, folder 11-35

Notes - F-H

box 20, folder 1

Notes – Hosokawa, William

box 20, folder 11

Notes - Ito, Kazuo

box 20, folder 14

Notes – Japanese American Citizen's League (JACL)

box 20, folder 3-18

Notes - I-J

box 20, folder 19-23, box 21, folder 1-10

Notes - K-L

box 21, folder 11

Notes – Masaoka, Mike M.

box 21, folder 14

Notes – Military – Japanese Americans

box 21, folder 12-19

Notes - M

box 21, folder 26

Notes – Notebook Title: "Background of Evacuation; DOJ Internment Camps"

box 21, folder 20-32

Notes - N

box 21, folder 7

Notes – Omura, James M

box 21, folder 33-34, box 22, folder 1-22

Notes - O-R

box 22, folder 14

Notes – Relocation Centers

box 22, folder 23-49, box 23, folder 1-9

Notes - S-Y

Series 2.7. Poetry

box 23, folder 10-11

Several typescript or clipping of poem published in newspaper

Series 2.8. Reports

box 23, folder 12-13

Treatment of Federal Prisoners of Japanese Descent 1944

Series 2.9. Reviews

box 23, folder 14,16

Clipping - "JACL in Quest of Justice" by Bill Hosokawa

box 23, folder 15

Reviews – Off Print - "Justice at War" by Peter Irons

box 23, folder 17

Reviews - Typescript - "Japanese American History" by Japanese American National Museum

box 23, folder 18

Reviews - Typescript - "Keeper of Concentration Camps: Dillon S. Myer and American Racism" by Richard Drinnon

box 23, folder 19

Reviews – Typescript – Lim Report – Correspondence and comments

box 23, folder 20

Reviews - Typescript - "They Call Me Moses Masaoka" by Mike Masaoka with Bill Hosokawa

Series 2.10. Short Stories

box 23, folder 21

"Short Story Writing"

box 23, folder 22

Clavell Short Story Contest

Series 2.11. Speeches

box 23, folder 23

"The Fair Play Committee Papers" 1993

box 23, folder 24

"Introduction of Frank Seishi Emi" 1994

box 23, folder 25-27

"Japanese American Journalism During World War II" 1988

box 24, folder 1

"Nikkei History and its Myths"

box 24, folder 2

Notes

box 24, folder 3

"A Rare Ethnic Honor" 1994

box 24, folder 4

"Seattle Hearing 1981

box 24, folder 5

"Why I Oppose the J.A.C.L." 1943

Series 2.12. Testimony

box 24, folder 6

Testimony – Commission on Wartime Relocation & Internment of Civilians – [Donated by Aiko Herzig, 15 May 2001] 1981

box 24, folder 7

Testimony – National Defense Migration - San Francisco Hearings [1942?]

Series 2.13. Writers Institute Aptitude Test

box 24, folder 8

Writers Institute Aptitude Test

Series 3. Biographical Material 1990-1994

box 24, folder 9

Autobiographical Timelines

box 24, folder 10-21

Clippings

box 24, folder 22

Clippings, Caryl Fumiko Omura (Okuma) 1941-1942

box 24, folder 23

Conference - "Coming of Age in the Thirties: The Nisei and the Japanese Immigrant Press" 1944

box 24, folder 24

Curriculum Vitae, James Matsumoto Omura

box 24, folder 25-27

Honors and Awards

box 24, folder 28-31, box 25, folder 1-4

Interviews

box 25, folder 5-6

Notes

box 25, folder 7

Press Releases

box 25, folder 8-9

Writings about James Omura

Series 4. Personal Financial Records 1937-1993

box 25, folder 1-14

Bank statements, checks, correspondence, household expenses

box 25, folder 15-29

Ledger, notes, pay stubs, receipts, savings passbooks, W-2 forms, and other similar

Series 5. Personal Legal Records 1912-1993

box 25, folder 30

Agreement between New Japanese American News and Jimmy Omura 1934

box 25, folder 31

Application to transfer printing contract of Current Life 1941

box 25, folder 32

Bankrupt required to attend 1945

box 25, folder 33

Birth certificate - copy 1912

box 25, folder 34

District Court of the United States, indictment for violation of the Selective training and Service Act of 1940 - copy 1944

box 25, folder 35-36

Name change filed in district court, 1943; complaint for divorce, 1947

box 25, folder 37

Constitution and by-laws, Denver Metropolitan Council on Fair Employment Practice

box 25, folder 38-41, box 26, folder 1-7

Correspondence with various attorneys

box 26, folder 8

Correspondence – U. S. Department of Labor, Re: Western Wholesale Florist 1942

box 26, folder 9

Deposition F.B.I. Agent Robert Lawrence 1944

box 26, folder 10

Driver's License

box 26, folder 11

"Failure of Defense Counsel to Properly Prepare Case" and "Why I Should Have Been Discharged Even Without an Attorney"

box 26, folder 12

F.B.I. Inventory Items Seized 1944

box 26, folder 13

Fishing License 1949

box 26, folder 14

Motion to Quash; Motion for Bill or Particulars; Demurrer

box 26, folder 15

Report on the Coca Cola Situation 1942

box 26, folder 16-17

Report: The United States vs James M. Omura 1944

box 26, folder 18-21

Settlement with VJI Barbershop; Shiegeri Fujii v. United States of America; Summons Complaint for Divorce; Synopsis of Minoru Yasui's Threat of Libel Action

box 26, folder 22

Warranty Deed 1966

box 26, folder 23

Will 1981-05-21

Series 6. Omura Landscape Service 1942-1988

box 26, folder 24-33

Material related to Associated Landscape Contractors of America, Inc. (ALCA)

box 26, folder 34-36

Advertisements, certificates, clippings

box 26, folder 37

Correspondence 1942-1980

box 26, folder 38

Directory of Landscape Firms 1968

box 26, folder 39-45

Ephemera, including postcards, stationery, auction flyers, accounting statement forms

box 27, folder 1-4

Financial records

box 27, folder 5, flatbox-small 64

Landscape Contractors of Colorado - memorabilia and newsletters

box 27, folder 6, map-folder 65

Landscape Plans

box 27, folder 7

Legal works

box 27, folder 8, flatbox-small 64

Memorabilia

box 27, folder 9

Periodicals

box 27, folder 10

Photographs – photocopies

box 27, folder 11

Standard Army Automated Contracting System Vendor Application

Series 7. Photographs & Media 1920-1995

Subseries 7.1. Photographs

box 27, folder 12

Alaska

box 27, folder 13

Angel Island, California

box 27, folder 14

Asparagus harvest, Sacramento, California

box 27, folder 15

Association of Contractors of America

box 27, folder 16

Auto Accident 1993

box 27, folder data_value_missing_ec13401016a42cc421618aad38afc70d

Bowling Team 1962-1964

box 27, folder 19

Boxer, unidentified

box 27, folder 20-21

Building site – unidentified; building site and equipment

box 27, folder 22

Calendar photo reprints – San Francisco 1939

box 27, folder 23

Collins, Wayne – attorney

box 27, folder 24

Current Life photos

box 27, folder 25

Drinnon, Richard 1987

box 27, folder 26

Fair Play Committee Poster 1982

box 27, folder 27

Friends and Associates 1931-1937

box 27, folder 28

"The Future" Bainbridge Island, Washington 1982

box 27, folder 29

Garden Party 1967

box 27, folder 30

Hidden Inlet, Alaska – negatives, 1930's

box 27, folder 31

Home and Garden Show 1970

box 27, folder 32

Horse and 2 people

box 27, folder 33

Japanese Camp – Union Bay, Idaho 1931

box 27, folder 34

Japanese Community Cultural Center – Nisei Week Queen 1993

box 27, folder 35

Ketchikan, Alaska [?] – negatives

box 27, folder 36

Kikuchi, Yuriko – New York, [1940's ?]

box 27, folder 37

King Dome – Seattle, Washington 1982

box 28, folder 1-7

Landscapes

box 28, folder 8

Lucayan, G. B. Gardens

box 28, folder 9-12

Matsumoto, Casey (brother)

box 28, folder 13

Miyatake, Toyo

box 28, folder 14

National Coalition for Redress/Reparations – Day of Remembrance 1944

box 28, folder 15

N.C.J.A.R., Vacation & Family [1983?]

box 28, folder 16-17

Omura, Caryl Fumiko Okuma

box 28, folder 18-19

Omura Family & Friends

box 28, folder 20-24

Omura, James Matsumoto – portraits

box 28, folder 25-28

Omura, James Matsumoto – Pocatella, Idaho; Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colorado; [Seattle, Washington]

box 28, folder 29-30

Omura, James & Caryl

box 28, folder 31

Omura, James & Koshiyama, Mits – San Jose, California

box 28, folder 32

Negatives – James M. Omura

box 29, folder 1-2

Negatives – unidentified

box 29, folder 3-19

Omura Landscape Service

box 29, folder 20-21

Pacific Coast Evacuee Placement Bureau

box 29, folder 22-24

Photograph albums

box 29, folder 25

Photograph photocopies

box 29, folder 26

Resisters and Frank Chin

box 29, folder 27

Tamesa, Uhachi

box 29, folder 28

Wedding portrait

box 29, folder 29

Weglyn, Michi

box 29, folder 30

Unidentified photos

flat-box 63

3 photograph albums and 1 oversized group photo

Subseries 7.2. Audio Cassettes

Box 66, cassette 1

Frank King

M2294_b66_f01