Guide to the Japanese-American Family Photograph Album MC313

Language of Material: English

Contributing Institution: University of California, Davis Library, Dept. of Special Collections

Title: Japanese-American Family Photograph Album

Identifier/Call Number: MC313

Physical Description: 1 volume 160 photographs and photographic greeting cards, ranging from 1.5 x 1 inches to 8 x 10 inches. Quarto.

Date (inclusive): 1939-1956

Abstract: Family album of photographs capturing the lives of an un-identified Japanese-American family before and after the World War II internment period, with at least one image identified from Tule Lake Relocation Center.

Physical Location: Researchers should contact Archives and Special Collections to request collections, as many are stored offsite.

Vernacular photographs capturing the lives of an un-identified Japanese-American family before and after the World War II internment period, with at least one image identified from Tule Lake Relocation Center. The album consists of the traditional range of subjects and activities recorded in family photograph albums: baby pictures; families on the front stoops of houses and at dinner; children at home, on tricycles, and at school; people in yards and gardens; holiday pictures; and more. In one image, a young Japanese-American male is shown in a military uniform. Many of the photographs are annotated – sometimes in English and just as often in Japanese. In fact, a small percentage of the photographs likely feature family and friends back in Japan.The present album is enhanced by a handful of photographically-illustrated Christmas cards from family friends. These families are variously identified as "The Shiotsu Family" (three cards), "The Bob Kuriyama Family," and the Tanakas. The families identify themselves through their annotations. There is also a photo-illustrated remembrance card for Sgt. Jimmie Mayemura, who was killed in the Korean War on November 8, 1951.The most affecting image in the album, of which there are two copies here, shows a Japanese-American family, apparently comprised of a grandfather, a young husband and wife, and their toddler daughter. The verso of one copy of the photograph reads: "Tule Lake, May 7, 1945 Kiyoko at 19 months. Taken on my birthday. Faye." The bottom of the verso is stamped in red by the War Relocation Authority: "W.R.A. BUS. ADV." The verso of the second copy reads simply: "May 7, 1945. Kiyoko at 19 months." The same girl, Kiyoko, appears in a second photo dated 1946 in Chicago, identifying her as one of two "cousins."

[Description provided by William Reese]

Collection is open for research.

Liz Phillips created this finding aid with information supplied by William Reese.

Purchased from William Reese, 2020.

[Identification of item], Japanese-American Family Photograph Album, MC313, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University of California, Davis.

All applicable copyrights for the collection are protected under chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code. Requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California as the owner of the physical items. It is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.