Descriptive Summary
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Biography
Scope and Content of Collection
Related Materials
Descriptive Summary
Title: Harvey Itano Personal Correspondence and Memorabilia
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0755
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, California, 92093-0175
Languages:
English
Physical Description:
2.8 Linear feet
(3 archives boxes, 1 records carton, 1 card file, 3 oversize folders and 1 art bin item)
Date (inclusive): 1937 - 2010 (bulk 1941-1945)
Abstract: Personal papers and memorabilia of Harvey Itano, American biochemist and pioneer in the study of sickle cell anemia hematology.
During World War II, Itano, along with his parents and siblings were sent to an internment camp; of particular interest in
the collection are letters written to and from Itano during his internment.
Creator:
Itano, Harvey A.
Publication Rights
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Preferred Citation
Harvey Itano Personal Correspondence and Memorabilia, MSS 755. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquisition Information
Acquired 2013.
Biography
Harvey Akio Itano was born on November 3, 1920, in Sacramento, California, the eldest son of Masao and Sumako (Nakahara) Itano.
Itano attended University of California, Berkeley, and graduated in 1942 with highest honors in chemistry. Due to President
Roosevelt's anti-Japanese campaign following Pearl Harbor, Itano with his family was sent to the desolate Tule Lake camp.
While in the camp, Itano kept applying to medical schools throughout the country. With assistance from the National Japanese
American Student Relocation Council, Itano was released from the camp to attend St. Louis School of Medicine. In 1945, Itano
received his M.D. and continued Ph.D. studies at the California Institute of Technology in biochemistry where he studied and
worked with Linus Pauling.
Itano is known for his pioneering work with sickle cell anemia disease, the topic assigned to him as a Ph.D. thesis topic
by Linus Pauling. Sickle cell anemia disease is a hereditary disease commonly found among people of African descent. Itano
tried several different physical and chemical methods to distinguish normal hemoglobin from sickle cell hemoglobin and finally
he was able to demonstrate the difference by using electrophoresis. At that time, electrophoresis was a new technique that
allowed researchers to separate molecules according to their electrical charge and Itano found a slight difference in electrophoretic
mobility between normal and sickle cell hemoglobins. That led to understanding that patients with sickle cell anemia have
a different type of hemoglobin than healthy individuals and thus a cause of a disease was traced to a molecule. Later, this
inspired Vernon Ingram's seminal discovery of a single amino acid difference between normal and sickle cell hemoglobin and
allowed him to explain a hemoglobin abnormality by an alteration in genes. After completing the project, Itano continued to
work in the field of molecular medicine and published extensively about genetic and molecular basis of other blood pathologies
and hereditary diseases.
Itano was awarded Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry (1954) and Martin Luther King Jr. Medical Achievement Award (1972)
for his pioneering work on sickle cell anemia disease. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (1979), American
Academy of Arts and Sciences (1998), American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biochemistry Society (London),
Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, and Alpha Omega Alpha.
Itano passed away in La Jolla, California in 2010.
Scope and Content of Collection
Personal papers and memorabilia of Harvey Itano, American biochemist and pioneer in the study of sickle cell anemia hematology.
During World War II, Itano, along with his parents and siblings were sent to an internment camp; of particular interest in
the collection are letters written to and from Itano during his internment.
Arranged in three series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) MEMORABILIA, and 3) REALIA.
Related Materials
Harvey Itano Papers, MSS 226. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Itano, Harvey A. -- Archives
Itano, Harvey A. -- Correspondence
Japanese Americans -- Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945
Tule Lake Relocation Center
World War, 1939-1945 -- Concentration camps -- California