Collection Guide
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Inventory of Kuwahara Family Papers SPC.2018.040
SPC.2018.040
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
California State University Dominguez Hills, Gerth Archives and Special Collections
Title: Kuwahara Family Papers
Creator:
Kuwahara, Tatsuya, 1925-
Creator:
Kuwahara, June Ikuko, 1930-
Creator:
Kawabe, Kenji, 1886-1973
source:
Kuwahara, Terry
Identifier/Call Number: SPC.2018.040
Physical Description:
1 box
(1 flat box including 2 disks (DVDs))
Physical Description:
1.25 Linear Feet
(1 box)
Date (inclusive): 1943-2011
Abstract: This collection documents the Kuwahara family's time at the Poston incarceration camp in Arizona during World War II. Materials
include: newsletters from the schools and community in Poston's camp, photographs of the people incarcerated at the camp and
the desert landscape, watercolor paintings of the camp facilities, and programs and booklets from the reunions of the Poston
camp families. Some of the items in this collection have been digitized and available online.
Material Specific Details: English translation, synopses, and brief descriptions for Japanese language materials are available at the CSU Japanese American
Digitization Project site:
Kuwahara Family Papers Digital Collection
Language of Material:
English
, Japanese
.
There are no access restrictions on this collection.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Terry Kuwahara donated the collection to the Gerth Archives and Special Collections on Sept 22, 2018 when the Library hosted
a Scanning Day event at the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute.
Availability of Digital Reproductions
Some of the items in this collection have been digitized and available at the CSU Japanese American Digitization Project site:
Kuwahara Family Papers Digital Collection
Ikuko June Kuwahara (1930-) was born in Los Angeles County to Kenji and Seiko Kawabe. Tatsuya Kuwahara (1925-) was born in
Los Angeles County to Den'emon and Takeno Kuwahara.
The Kawabe and Kuwahara families were forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated in 1942 to the Poston incarceration
camp in Arizona. The Kawabe family was incarcerated at the camp until 1945. Tatsuya was imprisoned at the camp until 1944.
Tatsuya and June were married in Los Angeles in 1953.
Poston War Relocation Center History
The Colorado River Relocation Center, also known as the Poston War Relocation Center, was the largest Japanese American incarceration
camp in the United States, located in Poston, Arizona. Made up of three sites, it was operational from 1942-1945, and at its
height imprisoned over 17,000 people. A memorial monument was built on the site in 1992.
For information about citing archival material, see the
Citations for Archival Material guide, or consult the appropriate style manual.
The collection was processed by Kathryn Brunet in 2018; the finding aid was updated by Yoko Okunishi in 2019.
Text files were 4.01 GB (34 files) and extracted from DVDs and normalized to a PDF format.
English translation, synopses, and brief descriptions for Japanese language materials are prepared by Yoko Okunishi.
The Gerth Archives and Special Collections also created born-analog objects (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. Redaction was applied to protect personal identifiable information and large files were compressed
for greater efficiency online. For more information on digitization process, please see
CSU Japanese American Digitization Project technical reference guide .
The most of the items in this collection have been digitized. The set of digital reproduction preservation files along with
normalized text files is stored on the Gerth Archives and Special Collections' department drive for both preservation purposes
and duplicate requests.
The set of digital reproduction access derivatives (access files) created for the digital management system is stored on the
Gerth Archives and Special Collections' department external drive for staff use.
The Kuwahara Family Papers contains documentation of the Kuwahara family depicting the daily life and people incarcerated
in the Poston camp in Arizona during World War II. Materials include: junior high school, high school, and camp community
newsletters in both Japanese and English; a short travel journal written by Kenji Kawabe detailing his time while visiting
the Granada camp in Colorado, Salt Lake, and the Topaz camp in Utah; photographs of class groups, farm workers, and the desert
landscape; watercolor paintings of the Poston camp facilities; and programs and booklets of the family and community reunions
of the Poston incarceration camp in print and electronic formats.
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.
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
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Japanese Americans -- Evacuation and relocation, 1944-1945 -- Archives
Japanese Americans -- History -- 20th century
Kuwahara, Terry
Poston Incarceration Camp
- Collection Overview
-
Collection Details
- Conditions Governing Access
- Immediate Source of Acquisition
- Availability of Digital Reproductions
- Biographical / Historical
- Poston War Relocation Center History
- Preferred Citation
- Processing Information
- Digital Reproductions
- Scope and Contents
- Conditions Governing Use
- CSU Japanese American Digitization Project