Finding aid for the Afton Dill Nance Papers, 1942-1981
Marlon Romero
Japanese American National Museum
© 2009
100 North Central Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone: (213) 830-5615
Email: collections@janm.org
URL: http://www.janm.org/
Japanese American National Museum. All rights reserved.
Finding aid of the Afton Dill Nance Papers
Collection number: 2001.175
Japanese American National MuseumLos Angeles, California
- Processed by:
- Marlon Romero
- Encoded by:
- Yoko Shimojo
© 2009 Japanese American National Museum. All rights reserved.
Title: Afton Dill Nance papers
Dates: 1942-1981
Bulk Dates: 1942-1947
Collection number: 2001.175
Creator:
Nance, Afton 1901-1986
Collection Size:
1 linear feet
Repository:
Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Los Angeles, California 90012
Abstract: This is a collection of roughly 265-300 letters written by Japanese American students who were incarcerated in American concentration
camps, including Heart Mountain, Wyoming and Poston, Arizona during World War II and all addressed to their pre-war teacher,
Ms. Afton Dill Nance. Also included in this collection are pictures of Ms. Nance and her students, probably taken in the late
1970s to early 1980s. Ms. Nance taught English and Social Studies at Malaga Cove School in Palos Verdes, California shortly
before the war. The student letter writers range from 12 to 15 years of age and most of the letters are written by Paul Kusuda
from 1942-47. The letters range in topic from saying goodbye as one student informs Ms. Nance of her family's intent to repatriate
back to Japan to a disillusioned teenage boy who talks of the recent Manzanar riots to teenage girls talking of their leisure
activities and studies in camp, and resettlement outside of the camps.
Physical location: Japanese American National Museum
100 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012
By appointment only.
Please Contact the Collections Management and Access Unit by email (collections@janm.org) or telephone (213-830-5615).
All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in this collection must be submitted to the Hirasaki
National Resource Center at the Japanese American National Museum (collections@janm.org).
[Identification of item], Afton Dill Nance papers. 2001.175, Japanese American National Museum. Los Angeles, CA.
This finding aid was created as part of a project funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
The project started in 2007. Project Director was Yoko Shimojo and Project Archivist was Marlon Romero.
Biography / Administrative History
Ms. Afton Dill Nance was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho on December 8, 1901. She spent her childhood living on her family's ranch
and with her grandmother in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She graduated from Long Beach High School and studied at Mills College,
receiving her graduate degree in education from the University of California, Los Angeles. Shortly before the war, Ms. Nance
taught 3rd through 8th grade in Manhattan Beach and Palos Verdes and also served as principal of an elementary school in Palos
Verdes (possibly Malaga Cove, but could also be Miraleste School). During World War II, Ms. Nance was actively involved in
the Friends of the American Way, an organization working in conjunction with the Friends Service Committee to protest the
evacuation of Japanese Americans.
Through the guidance of Dr. Helen Heffernan, Chief of Elementary Education for the California State Department of Education,
Ms. Nance attended a conference on Intercultural Education at the University of Chicago where she met the first African American
faculty member at U Chicago, Dr. Allison Davis, an experience which she remarked, profoundly affected her. In 1948, Ms. Nance
accepted a position as curriculum consultant at the California State Department of Elementary Education and remained there
until her retirement 18 years later. Her notable accomplishments include her spearheading a project that helped Mexican American
immigrant children in their adjustment to American schools. For instance, she organized meetings among established parents
and recently immigrated families, creating a dialogue necessary for building networks to foster self-esteem and confidence
among immigrant children. On September 16, 1978, a redwood tree in Humbolt County, California was dedicated in her honor--a
gift of the Association of Childhood Education International. Her two college aged godchildren were present, Phyllis and Robert
Naruse, children of a former student as well as a recent grandchild of another student named in her honor, Tata Afton Hirose.
Ms. Nance passed away in 1986 from pneumonia.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection contains only two series: Photographs and Correspondences.
Series 1
The first series contains only two photographs of Ms. Nance and her students. Dates unknown.
Series 2
This series is the bulk of the collection. It contains correspondences and documents. Documents are not in chronological
order, rather, the original accession order is maintained. Some correspondences have objects enclosed such as ribbon from
"Starr League Truck and Field boy, Rowland School, March 14, 1942, Class "A" Boys Fourth Place".
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Nance, Afton Dill
Japanese Americans
Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945.
World War II
Wyoming
Arizona
California
20th century
Poston Relocation Center (Ariz.)
Heart Mountain Relocation Center (Wyo.)
Box 1-2
Box 1-2
Series 2 Correspondences and documents
Series Scope and Content Summary
This series is the bulk of the collection. It contains correspondences and documents. Documents are not in chronological
order, rather, the original accession order is maintained. Some correspondences have objects enclosed such as ribbon from
"Starr League Truck and Field boy, Rowland School, March 14, 1942, Class "A" Boys Fourth Place".