Inventory of the Japanese American History Collection SPC.2019.035
Jennifer Hill
California State University Dominguez Hills, Gerth Archives and Special Collections
2019-10-07
University Library South -5039 (Fifth Floor)
1000 E. Victoria St.
Carson, CA 90747
Business Number: 310-243-3895
archives@csudh.edu
Contributing Institution:
California State University Dominguez Hills, Gerth Archives and Special Collections
Title: Japanese American History Collection
Identifier/Call Number: SPC.2019.035
Physical Description:
18 boxes
Physical Description:
7.54 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): circa 1900-2014
Abstract: This collection contains books, pamphlets, flyers, photographs, booklets, correspondence, periodicals, and oversized material
related to Japanese Americans. Subjects in the collection include incarceration camps, Southbay local history, World War II
propaganda, Japanese American families, incarceration camp pilgrimages, and other topics.
Language of Material:
English
, Japanese
.
Preferred Citation
Conditions Governing Access
There are no access restrictions on this collection.
Conditions Governing Use
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.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection contains library acquired material as well as material received through donations.
Related Materials
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in seven series. The Periodicals and books series has four subseries: Books, Magazines, Directories,
and Other periodicals.
Series:
- Series One: Pamphlets, booklets, and other material created before World War II
- Series Two: Pamphlets, booklets, and other material created during World War II
- Series Three: Pamphlets, booklets, flyers, and other material created after World War II
- Series Four: Periodicals and books
- Series Five: Correspondence
- Series Six: Photographs
- Series Seven: Oversized materials
Scope and Contents
The Japanese American History Collection (1907-2014) contains 7.54 linear feet of pamphlets, booklets, flyers, books, photographs,
correspondence, oversized materials, periodicals, and other material related to Japanese Americans. The first three series
in the collection are organized by time period. They include topics such as the Sino-Japanese Conflict, incarceration camps,
perceptions of Japanese Americans during World War II, Redress, prominent Japanese Americans, incarceration camp reunions,
and other topics. Series four through seven are arranged by material type. Series four includes books about Japanese Americans,
World War II and incarceration camps, Japanese American directories, magazines, and other newspapers and periodicals. Series
five contains postcards and letters from Japanese Americans and includes empty propaganda envelopes. Series six contains photographs,
photo albums, and photo collections on subjects such as Japanese American families, Japanese American families in the United
States, Ethiopia, and Japan, Southbay history, and other topics. The final series includes oversized material such as paintings,
posters, and photographs.
Availability of Digitized Materials
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Japanese Americans
Japanese American families
Japanese Americans -- History
World War, 1939-1945 -- Japanese Americans
Japanese Americans -- Forced removal and internment, 1942-1945
World War, 1939-1945
Manzanar War Relocation Center--1940-1950
Gila River Relocation Center
Central Utah Relocation Center
Rohwer Relocation Center (Ark.)
Heart Mountain Incarceration Camp
Series One: Pamphlets, booklets, and other material created before World War II
circa 1920-1941
Language of Material: English, Japanese.
Scope and Contents
Series One contains booklets, pamphlets, an autograph book, and other material created before World War II. Topics in this
series include the Sino-Japanese Conflict and the history of Gardena Valley.
box 1
"A Short History of Gardena Valley" by Olive Hensel Leonard and Emily D. Cost
June 1934
item SpCol JV6888.C2 A64 1921
"California and the Japanese: A complilation of Arguments Advertised in Newspapers by the American Committee of Justice in
Opposition to the Alien Land Law, together with the memorial addressed by the Said Committee"
December 1920
box 1
In the Supreme Court of the State of California K. Shimizu, Plaintiff and Respondent, vs. N. Nojiri, doing business under
the firm name and style of Sacramento Produce Distributors, and N. Nojiri, Defendant and Appellant, Appellant's Reply Brief
circa 1920
box 1
"Japanese American directory of Young People's Organization" booklet
1935
box 1
"Japan's Position in the Far Eastern Conflict" by Kanzo Shiozaki, Consul General of Japan, San Francisco booklet
circa 1937
box 1
Mary Alice autograph book
1939-1941
Language of Material: English, Japanese.
General
Mary Alice's autograph book contains autographs and notes written in Japanese and English. Many of the autographs may have
been written at a hospital in Portland, Oregon.
box 1
"Sino-Japanese Conflict:The Facts of the Present Trouble" published by Japanese Association of North America booklet
1937
box 1
"What is Japan Fighting For? The Truth about the Sino-Japanese Conflict" published by the Japanese Association of America
booklet
1937
box 1
"Keep America White: Re-elect James D. Phelan, United States Senator"
circa 1915-1921
Series Two: Booklets, pamphlets, and other material published during World War II
July 23, 1942-1945
Language of Material: English.
Scope and Contents
Series Two contains booklets, pamphlets, and other material created during World War II. This series has several incarceration
camp yearbooks, documents, and booklets from the War Relocation Authority, and other material related to Japanese Americans
and World War II.
box 2
"Be cautious when driving your car" flyer
July 23, 1942
box 2
United States v. Minoru Yasui, no 16056 District Court, D. Oregon
November 16, 1942
box 2
New York State Bar Association-Lawyer Service Letter no. 74
December 31, 1942
box 2
Movie ticket for the Minidoka Community Activities
1942-1945
item SpCol D769.8.A6 C38
"The Case of Gordon Hirabayashi: The case of the American people"
circa 1942
box 2
The American League of California, Inc. subscription form
circa 1942-1945
box 2
Tulean Dispatch Magazine Section
circa 1942-1946
box 2
Pacific Coast Committee on American Principles and Fair Play documents and booklet
January 11, 1943-February 15, 1944
item SpCol E740 .C7
"Cross and the Flag"
May 1943
box 2
Topaz Junior High School diploma
June 25, 1943
box 2
War Relocation Authority documents and booklet
December 20, 1943-April 1945
box 2
Rohwer High School yearbook
1943
box 2
"The Pen: Rohwer Relocation Center 1943"
1943
box 2
"A Balance Sheet on Japanese Evacuation" booklet by Galen M. Fisher
1943
Scope and Contents
Reprinted from The Christian Century of August 18 and 25, and September 1 and 8 1943.
box 2
"Japanese in our Midst" booklet published by the Colorado Council of Churches
1943
box 2
"These are Our Parents" by George Morimitsu reprinted by permission from the October 1943 issue of "Asia and the Americas"
circa 1943
box 2
"The Inside Story of Our Domestic Japanese Problem" booklet by John R. Lechner, M.A., LLD
circa 1943-1944
box 2
Aquila 1944 High School yearbook published by The Associated Students of Tri-State High
1944
box 2
"What about our Japanese Americans?" booklet by Carey McWiliams, American Council, Institute of Pacific Relations
1944
box 2
"Democracy Demands Fair Play for America's Japanese" leaflet published by The American Baptist Home Mission Society
1944-1945
box 2
"WRA Information Digest: For the Use of the WRA Staff"
May-October 1945
Scope and Contents
Includes issues: May 1945, June 1945, July-August 1945, September-October 1945.
box 2
American Friends Service Committee Information Bulletin
June 10, 1945
box 2
"Why the West Coast Opposes the Japanese" booklet published by the Committee on Japanese Legislation Native Sons of the Golden
West
circa 1945
box 2
"Red Cross Rohwer Relocation Center Unit 1945" booklet
1945
box 2
United States Department of Interior War Relocation Authority Minidoka Project Hunt, Idaho document
November 1, 1945
General
Document to all staff members helping to prepare Minidoka's Overall hisotry. Aso included is a Check Sheet Train Departures.
box 2
Campus Echoes 1945 Poston high school yearbook
1945
box 2
Granada Relocation Center - Attention Reports Officer
citca 1945
box 14
"The Japanese Exclusion League Journal"
May 1945
Series Three: Booklets, flyers, pamphlets, and other material published after World War II
circa 1948-April 12, 2004
Language of Material: English.
Scope and Contents
Series Three contains booklets, pamphlets, flyers, and other material created after World War II. Topics include incarceration
camp reunions and pilgrimages, reunion booklets, programs, and documents about Daniel K. Inouye, May Kochiyama, and other
Japanese Americans, and other topics.
box 3
"An Annotated Bibliography of Material on Ethnic Problems in Southern California (Preliminary Draft)" compiled and annotated
by Ruth Riemer
circa 1948
box 3
"From Strawberries to Poker"
April 23, 1950
General
Student research paper for Cr. O.C. Coy History 462 class.
box 4
Robert E. Peary Junior High School yearbook
Summer 1959
box 3
JACL [Japanese American Citizens League] flyer
1968
box 3
"The Story of Mrs. Mary Kochiyama"
1969
box 3
"In Search of Identity: Asians in America" Report of Activities-Asian American Research Project California State College,
Dominguez Hills by Robert M. Bersi, Dean of Educational Services
July 1971
box 3
"Stop the Nihonmachi evictions" pamphlet
circa 1973
box 3
"BAAR: Bay Area Attorneys for Redress" pamphlet
1980
box 3
Gardena Buddhist Temple dedication and memorial service program
August 21, 1982
box 3
"Lodi Nisei Baseball Reunion" program
July 23 and July 24, 1983
box 3
Resolution and speech by Karl G. Yoneda, Communist Party USA
August 11, 1983
box 3
"It had to be so" by Shonin Yamashita
November 1987
Contains:
Revised edition.
box 3
"Bright the Future-A Salute to George Aratani" program
1987
box 3
Smithsonian Institution News Release- "A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans and the U.S. Constitution" Exhibition opens
at American History Museum October 1
September 10, 1987
box 3
"National AJA Veterans Reunion" booklet
June 8-12, 1988
box 3
"Strength and Diversity: Japanese American Women, 1885-1990 Classroom Study Guide Intermediate Level" published by The National
Japanese American Historical Society, Inc.
1990
box 3
Box Elder County Reunion booklets
1990, 1999
box 3
"Honor Duty Country The Hiroshi "Hershey" Miyamura Story" program
June 6-June 7, 1998
box 3
"Patriotism, Valor and Honor-A Tribute to Senator Daniel K. Inouye 60th Anniversary Banquet" program
April 6, 2003
box 3
"Beyond Faith-A Collaboration of the Nikkei Interfaith Fellowship and the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center"
booklet
Fall 2005
box 3
"Celebrating the Life of Yuri Kochiyama" program
August 3, 2014
box 4
"Manzanar All-Camp Reunion" booklet
September 1-September 1984
box 4
"Heart Mountain Dedication Class of '47" booklet
June 21, 1986
box 4
"Japanese Community Health, Inc. Second Annual Recognition Dinner for World War II Camp Doctors and Nurses" booklet
October 6, 1990
box 4
"Heart Mountain High School Class of '44 - 50th Reunion" booklet
September 10, 1994
box 4
"45th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage" booklet
April 24, 2014
box 4
"50th Year Remembrance Japanese American Internment"
February 15, 1982
box 4
"Keep it going Pass it on - Poetry inspired by the Manzanar Pilgrimage" booklet published by the Manzanar Committee
2004
box 4
Incarceration camp related pamphlets
May 2004
box 3
"Japan Night given by New York Japanese American Committee for Japan Relief, Inc."
March 2, 1948
item SpCol D769.8.A6 K62
"Concentration camps, USA: It has happened here, it could happen again--to you!"
circa 1960
item SpCol D769.8.A6 A58 1946
"Wartime Exile: The Exclusion of the Japanese Americans from the West Coast"
1946
box 4
50th anniversary Phoenix Japanese Free Methodist Church booklet
April 18, 1982
box 4
2015 Day of Remembrance, Children of the Camps program
February 28, 2015
box 4
"Redress! The American Promise"
1986
box 4
"Personal Justice Denied, Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians"
undated
General
Reproduced library copies of "Personal Justice Denied" (December 1982.)
box 4
"The Japanese American Soldier in World War II"
undated
box 4
Japanese Amerian National Musuem booklet: "So as not to be forgotten"
September 1990
Series Four: Periodicals and books
February 1919-2007
Language of Material: English, Japanese.
Arrangement
This series is arranged into four subseries: Books, Magazines, Directories, and Other Periodicals.
Scope and Contents
Series Four contains books, magazines, directories, and other periodicals related to Japanese Americans, incarceration camps,
and World War II.
Subseries One: Books
1934-2007
Language of Material: English, Japanese.
Scope and Contents
This subseries contains books arranged in alphabetical order by title.
box 5
Beyond Prejudice-A Story of the Church and Japanese Americans by Toru Matsumoto
1946
box 5
Bridge of Hope: The Road Traveled by Japanese-Americans by Japanese Executive Women's League
2007
box 5
Camp II, Block 211 Daily Life in an Internment Camp by Jack Matsuoka, Introduction by Senator Daniel Inouye
June 1974
box 5
I Remember Manzanar by John M. Gorman
1967
box 5
Images of America Sawtelle West Los Angeles's Japantown by Jack Fuimoto, Ph.D., the Japanese Institute of Sawtell, and the Japanese American Historical Society of Southern California
2007
box 5
Manzanar-The Evacuation and Relocation of Persons of Japanese Ancestry during World War II: A Historical Study of the Manzanar
War Relocation Center Historic Resource Study/Special Study
1996
Contains:
Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.
box 5
The Nisei-A Survey of Their Educational Vocational and Social Problems by the Nisei Survey Committee Keisen Girls' School
1939
box 6
Nisei Odyssey- The Camp Years
undated
box 6
Plant Preserve Protect- A Publication of the Professional Gardeners' Federation of Northern California
2004
box 6
Tenshi no sono by Toyohiko Kagawa
1940
Language of Material: Japanese, English.
Subseries Two: Magazines
June 1942-December 1952; October 1993
Language of Material: English, Japanese.
Scope and Contents
This subseries contains magazines such as Life Magazine and Scene, the Pictorial Magazine.
Arrangement
Magazines are arranged in alphabetical order.
box 7
"Colliers"
June 20, 1942
Contains:
Vol. 109, No. 25
box 7
"Ken-The Insider's World"
May 19, 1938
box 7
"Liberty"
February 7, 1942
box 7
"Life" magazine
December 22, 1941; March 9, 1942; March 20, 1944
Contains:
Vol. 11, No. 25; Vol. 12, No. 10; Vol. 16, No. 12
box 7
"Scene: The Pictorial Magazine"
September 1950, March-August 1951, May 1952, October 1952, December 1952; August 1953; August 1955
Language of Material: English and Japanese.
box 7
"Arizona Highways"
October 1993
General
Volume 69, Number 10
Subseries Three: Directories
1939-1959
Language of Material: English, Japanese.
Scope and Contents
This subseries contains directories arranged by the title of the directory.
box 8
"The New Japanese Americans News 1959 Yearbook"
1959
Language of Material: English, Japanese.
box 9
"So. Cal. Japanese telephone and business. Nanka Nihonjin denwacho: The So. Cal. Japanese telephone and business"
1949
box 8
"The Yearbook and Directory 1939-1940" compiled by Japan California Daily News
1939-1940
Language of Material: English, Japanese.
box 9
Japanese directory of Pasadena
1956
Subseries Four: Other periodicals
February 1919-1988
Language of Material: English.
Scope and Contents
This subseries contains a comic book, newspaper clippings, and other periodicals.
Arrangement
This subseries is arranged in alaphetical order by title.
box 11
"Cane, Committee Against Nihonmachi Eviction"
April 1975
box 11
"The Cane Newsletter, Committee Against Nohonmachi Eviction"
September-October 1978
Scope and Contents
Contains, Vol. 6, no. 5.
box 10
Green Hornet comic book
July 1944
box 10
"Growth of Japanese Children born in American and in Japan" by Leslie Spier
1929
Contains:
Vol. 3, No. 1, Pp 1-30
box 10
"The Interpreter"
November 1929
box 10
"Iva Toguri (d'Aquino): Victium of a Legend" published by The National Committee for Iva Toguri Japanese American Citizens
League
September 1975-May 1976
Contains:
First and second edition
box 10
"The Japanese Student"
February 1919
box 10
"The Journal of the Shaw Historical Library"
Fall 1987
box 14
Los Angeles Times
March 6, 1942
General
Issue number LXI CC of the Los Angeles Times.
box 11
"One Year of Struggle, "United, Together, We'll Never be Defeated!"
Spring 1973-Spring 1974
box 10
"New Dawn - J. Town Collective"
January 1972; March 1972; May 1972; April 1975;
Scope and Contents
Contains vol. 1, no. 4, 6, 8; Vol. IV no. 8;
box 10
Newspaper clippings
April 1945; 1988
Contains:
Newspaper articles from the Los Angeles Times, Arizona Daily Star, and The Daily Californian.
box 10
"The Nihomachi Sentinel"
Fall 1980
Scope and Contents
Contains Vol. 2, no. 3.
box 10
"Transactions of the Commonwealth Club of California-Land Tenancy in California"
1922
Contains:
Vol. 17, No. 10
box 14
"Taishu: Japanese American Newspaper"
July 1973
box 14
"The Weekly: Seattle's Newsmagazine"
October 11, 1978
Scope and Contents
Includes article titled: "'Relocation' Camps on Our Conscience: The Case for $3-billion in reparations to Japanese American
citizens."
box 11
"San Jose Mercury News - Arts"
November 20, 1994
box 11
"San Fe Reporter: Santa Fe's Independent News Weekly" Vol. 17, no. 3
July 10-16, 1991
Series Five: Correspondence
September 24, 1942-June 11, 1945
Language of Material: English, Japanese.
Scope and Contents
This series contains letters and postcards from different senders. It also includes propaganda envelopes.
box 11
Letter to Harry Stacy from S. Murakami
April 3, 1944
box 11
Postcard and letters from Thelma to Mrs. K. Kawakami
April 3-June 11, 1945
box 11
Postcards
1942-1945
General
Contains three postcards from different senders.
box 11
Empty propaganda envelopes
circa 1942-1944
box 11
Handmade holiday and greeting card from the Poston incarceration camp
circa 1942-1945
box 11
Invitation to the members of the Police Department at the Santa Anita Temporary Assembly Center to Chief R. Peterson and Department
July 16, 1942
box 11
Letters to Virginia B. Lowers from Thomas A. Reeves, W.W. [Escherich], and Masaru Teshiba
July 4, 1945-March 1, 1946
General
Three letters addressed to Virginia B. Lowers, a former high school teacher at University High School in Los Angeles, California.
The letter from Masaru Teshiba contains information regarding his experiences as an incarceree mostly while at Tule Lake Segregation
Center, the letter from Thomas A. Reeves details his combat experiences, and the letter from W.W. [Escherich] describes events
during his trips to Maui, Tientsin China, and Okinawa.
box 11
Letters to Kikuko Noda and Mizuko Noda from Kiyoko Matsuura and Yoshihiko Matsuura
September 5, 1944; January 1, 1945; April 30, 1949
Language of Material: Japanese.
General
Three letters written from Kiyoko Matsuura (nee Noda) and her son, Yoshihiko, to family members in Lima, Peru updating them
on life in the Crystal City incarceration camp as well as inquiring about her family members' well-being. All three letters
are in Japanese.
Letter 1: Yoshihiko Matsuura to Kikuko Noda, May 20, 1944
In this letter, Yoshihiko, Kiyoko's son, is writing to his grandmother, Kikuko, in Lima, Peru. He includes recent updates
in his day-to-day life, such as performing in a play, marching in the camp's marching band, and attending an event put together
by the Boy Scouts of America to celebrate the birthday of the Emperor Showa (April 29th).
Letter 2: Kiyoko Matsuura to Mizuko Noda, September 5, 1944
In this letter, Kiyoko writes to her sister, Mizuko, who is living in Lima, Peru. Kiyoko tells Mizuko to thank their father
for the money he gave her and tells her sister that she is anxiously waiting for a ship to take her to Japan, but she is worried
about how her newborn daughter, Kuniko, will fare on the long journey. She also gives her condolences regarding an uncle who
has passed away and inquires about her sister's lunch routines and new house.
Letter 3: Kiyoko Matsuura to Kikuko Noda, January 26, 1945
In this letter, Kiyoko writes to her mother, Kikuko. Kiyoko thanks her mother for the gifts she received for herself, which
included some yarn, for her baby, which included a kimono, baby sweater, and a baby rattle, and for the rest of her family.
She wishes her mother a happy New Year and tells her about how they had o-toso, a spiced sake traditionally consumed on New
Year's Day. The letter also indicates that Kiyoko was living in the camp with her husband, Saburo Matsuura, her baby, Kuniko,
her daughter, Atsuko, and her two sons, Yoshihiko and Mitsuki.
box 11
Letter from Henry Shimohara to Harry Stacy
December 8, 1943
Series Six: Photographs
circa 1900-1952
Language of Material: English.
Scope and Contents
Series Six includes albums, photo collections, and single photographs.
Processing Information
Some albums, including the Japanese Americans in Ethiopia photograph album, were disassembled for preservation purposes. Digital
surrogates were created before they were disassembled.
box 12
Japanese American photograph albums
circa 1907-1940
General
Includes two photo albums featuring a Japanese American family in Japan and the United States. The first album contains 146
photographs of Japan and the United States. The second album contains 259 photos, with some images taken in Los Angeles and
San Francisco.
box 16
1950's Japan photo album
circa 1950-1959
General
Photograph album with images of mostly Japan in the 1950s.
box 13, box 18
Single photographs and photograph albums
circa 1900-1952
General
Includes individual photographs, photograph collections, and albums related to Japanese Americans, incarceration, and other
events in Los Angeles. The albums or photograph collections include Kamiyama Photo Collection, Charlene Photo Collection,
Lillian Kitagawa Family in Gila River Camp photographs, Japanese American Family in Ethiopia album, Japanese American parade
photographs, and C. Iwagoshi Collection.
box 17
Family photograph album
circa 1900-1940
Series Seven: Oversized materials and realia
May 15, 1942; September 20, 1942
Language of Material: English.
Scope and Contents
Series Seven contains oversized material and realia, such as posters, paintings, oversized photographs, and items related
to Japanese Americans.
box 14
"Notice from the Headquarters Western Defense Command and Fourth Army Civilian Exclusion Order No. 81" poster
May 15, 1942
box 14
Camp laundry room painting
September 20, 1942
box 14
Redondo Union High School photographs
1939; undated
Scope and Contents
Two photographs from Redondo Union High School. One photograph is a graduation photograph from 1939.
box 15
Baby doll, two wooden sushi molds, and plates in a wooden box
circa 1940-1960
box 14
Oversized photographs pre and post World War II
circa 1942-1980
General
Oversized photographs of Japanese Americans being forceably removed and in an incarceration camp. Also included are photographs
of the cemetery and Irieto most likely at the Manzanar incarceration camp.
box 14
Japanese American man and woman on cardboard
undated
box 14
Wedding photograph of Mr. and Mrs. George Iwakashi
November 8, 1947
box 14
Ansel Adams calendar 1987
1987
