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Sakamoto-Sasano Family Collection
2018.10  
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Collection Overview
 
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Description
This collection contains documents, objects, and ephemera from the Sakamoto-Sasano family. The belongings of matriarch Taye Sakamoto Sasano, her sister Chiyoko Sakamoto Takahashi, and her two daughters Louise Sasano Yoshida and Frances Sasano make up the bulk of the collection. Yearbooks, school notebooks, scrapbooks, diaries, and notes from friends characterize Frances and Louise's lives as teens and young adults experiencing incarceration. Photos, citizenship documents, business cards, and letters characterize lives of familial support and financial success and after being released from camp. Letters from Richard DeQueiroz, Frances' partner she met in camp, illustrate the trying transition between camp and life after incarceration through the perspective of young adults in love.
Background
Taye (b. March 5, 1901) immigrated to the United States from Japan aboard the American Maru on January 2, 1903 with her mother Kume Sakamoto (b. September 3, 1883) and her father Hisamatsu Sakamoto (d. 1925). Taye attended school in Napa, California from 1908 to 1917 until she moved with her family to Boyle Heights, Los Angeles and attended high school at Polytechnic High School. Her sister, Chiyoko (b. June 30, 1912), was born in the United States, automatically making her an American citizen.
Extent
4 linear feet (9 boxes)
Restrictions
All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in this collection must be submitted to the Collections Management and Access Unit at the Japanese American National Museum (collections@janm.org).
Availability
By appointment only. Please contact the Collections Management and Access Unit (collections@janm.org). Advanced notice is required.