Finding Aid for the Walnut Grove Japanese Methodist Church Records, 1930-1956

Processed by Eiichiro Azuma; machine-readable finding aid created by Genie Guerard
UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
Manuscripts Division
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/
© 2001
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Note

Area, Interdisciplinary, and Ethnic Studies--Asian American Studies History--California History--Sacramento Area History Geographical (By Place)--California--Sacramento Area Religion

Finding Aid for the Walnut Grove Japanese Methodist Church Records, 1930-1956

Collection number: 298

UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections

Manuscripts Division



Los Angeles, CA

Contact Information

  • Manuscripts Division
  • UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
  • Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
  • Box 951575
  • Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
  • Telephone: 310/825-4988 (10:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m., Pacific Time)
  • Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
  • URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/
Processed by:
Eiichiro Azuma - Asian American Studies Center, April 1992
Encoded by:
Genie Guerard
Text converted and initial container list EAD tagging by:
Apex Data Services
Online finding aid edited by:
Amy Shung-Gee Wong, November 2000
Funding:
This online finding aid has been funded in part by a grant from the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).
© 2001 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Walnut Grove Japanese Methodist Church Records,
Date (inclusive): 1930-1956
Collection number: 298
Creator: Walnut Grove Japanese Methodist Church
Extent: 11 boxes (5.5 linear ft.)
Repository: University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Abstract: The Walnut Grove Japanese Methodist Church was the only Japanese Christian institution in the Sacramento Delta region. Established in 1915, the church played a key role in the religious life of the Japanese immigrant community. For the American-born Nisei generation, it conducted a Sunday school from its inception, and during the 1930s it organized the Epworth League and Friendship Club. During the wartime internment years, it was closed, but reopened in 1945 as former residents of Walnut Grove began to return to the Delta region. In October 1991 the church was closed permanently because of declining membership. The collection consists of various minutes, donation records, account books, weekly bulletins, and other miscellaneous documents, most of which postdate 1933. Includes many postwar newsletters issued by other Japanese American Christian churches, and the Kingdom of God Weekly ( Kami no Kuni Shimbun), a Christian weekly newspaper published in Japan.
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Language: English.

Administrative Information

Restrictions on Use and Reproduction

Copyright to portions of this collection has been assigned to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. The library can grant permission to publish for materials to which it holds the copyright. All requests for permission to publish or quote must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian, Department of Special Collections.] Credit shall be given as follows: © The Regents of the University of California on behalf of the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections.

Restrictions on Access

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.

Additional Physical Form Available

A copy of the original version of this online finding aid is available at the UCLA Department of Special Collections for in-house consultation and may be obtained for a fee. Please contact:
  • Public Services Division
  • UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
  • Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
  • Box 951575
  • Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
  • Telephone: 310/825-4988 (10:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m., Pacific Time)
  • Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu

Provenance/Source of Acquisition

Gift of Mark Nakagawa, 1992.

Funding

This online finding aid has been funded in part by a grant from the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Walnut Grove Japanese Methodist Church Records (Collection 298). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

UCLA Catalog Record ID

UCLA Catalog Record ID: 4233951 

History

The Walnut Grove Japanese Methodist Church was the only Japanese Christian institution in the Sacramento Delta region; established in 1915, the church played a key role in the religious life of the Japanese immigrant community; for the American-born Nisei generation, it conducted a Sunday school from its inception, and during the 1930s it organized the Epworth League and Friendship Club; in 1915, and again in 1933, the church was destroyed by fire; during the wartime internment years, it was closed, but reopened in 1945 as former residents of Walnut Grove began to return to the Delta region; in October 1991 the church was closed permanently because of declining membership.

Scope and Content

Collection consists of various minutes, donation records, account books, weekly bulletins, and other miscellaneous documents, most of which postdate the 1933 fire. Includes many postwar newsletters issued by other Japanese American Christian churches, and the Kingdom of God Weekly ( Kami no Kuni Shimbun), a Christian weekly newspaper published in Japan.

Organization and Arrangement

Arranged in the following series:
  1. Minutes and financial records (Boxes 1-5).
  2. Miscellaneous records, including correspondence from other Japanese Christian churches (Box 5).
  3. Walnut Grove Japanese Methodist Church Weekly Bulletin, 1930-42 (Boxes 6-7).
  4. Postwar Japanese American Christian Newsletters, 1953-56 (Boxes 8-9).
  5. Kingdom of God Weekly ( Kami no Kuni Shimbun) (Boxes 10-11).

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Walnut Grove Japanese Methodist Church--Archives.
Protestant churches--California, Northern--Archival resources.
Japanese Americans--California, Northern--Archival resources.

Related Material

Title: Japanese American Research Project Collection of Material about Japanese in the United States .
Identifier/Call Number: (Collection 2010).
Available at the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.
Title: Japanese American Research Project- Fading Footsteps of the Issei .
Identifier/Call Number: (Collection 2010).
Available at the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.

Box  [1-5]

Walnut Grove Japanese Methodist Church Records

Box 1, Folder 1

Shiki-kai [Board of Trustees] minutes, December 1934-June 1940.

Box 1, Folder 2

Shiki-kai [Board of Trustees] minutes, December 1940-August 1941.

Box 1, Folder 3

Shinwa-kai [church mutual financing association record, September 1941-May 1942.

Box 1, Folder 4

Fujin-kai [women's club] minutes, January 1939-March 1942.

Box 1, Folder 5

Various church records, July 1933-October 1934.

Box 2, Folder 1

Friendship Club minutes, January 1932-April 1942.

Box 2, Folder 2

Friendship Club account books, January 1932-April 1940 and January 1941-May 1942.

Physical Description: 2 items.
Box 2, Folder 3

Epworth League minutes, January 1934-October 1937.

Box 2, Folder 4

Epworth League account book, March-December 1938.

Box 3, Folder 1

Sunday school teachers' meeting minutes, August 1940-February 1942.

Box 3, Folder 2

Sunday school students' registers.

Physical Description: 2 items.
Box 3, Folder 3

Sunday school account book, January 1929-September 1937.

Box 3, Folder 4

Sunday school account book, October 1937-May 1942.

Box 4, Folder 1

Church financial records, January 1920-September 1930 and November 1930-January 1931.

Physical Description: 2 items.
Box 4, Folder 2

Church financial record, October 1930-December 1932.

Box 4, Folder 3

Church financial record, November 1934-January 1941.

Box 4, Folder 4

Church financial record, September 1944-November 1945.

Box 4, Folder 5

Church rebuilding committee minutes, April 1934-September 1935.

Box 4, Folder 6

New church building donation records.

Physical Description: 3 notebooks.
Box 5, Folder 1

Christmas donation records, 1933-1934 & 1937-1939.

Physical Description: 2 notebooks.
Box 5, Folder 2

Easter offering record, 1935-1941.

Box 5, Folder 3

Record of baptism.

Box 5, Folder 4

Record pertaining to the Reverend William Acton Memorial, 1929-1932.

Box 5, Folder 5

Records of funeral for Reverend Suizu Nobumasa, August 1939.

Physical Description: 2 items.
Box 5, Folder 6

Record of missionary trip, November 1941-February 1942.

Box 5, Folder 7

Alameda Japanese Methodist Church record, October 1931-February 1932.

Box 5, Folder 8

Miscellaneous correspondence from other Japanese Christian churches.

Box  [6-7]

Walnut Grove Japanese Methodist Church Weekly Bulletin, 1930-1942

Box 6, Folder 1

October 24, 1930-September 20, 1931.

Box 6, Folder 2

September 20, 1931-September 13, 1932.

Box 6, Folder 3

September 20, 1932-September 05, 1933.

Box 6, Folder 4

September 07, 1933-December 26, 1934.

Box 6, Folder 5

1935.

Box 6, Folder 6

1936.

Box 7, Folder 1

1937.

Box 7, Folder 2

1938.

Box 7, Folder 3

1939.

Box 7, Folder 4

1940.

Box 7, Folder 5

July 19, 1940-May 04, 1942.

Box  [8-9]

Postwar Japanese American Christian Newsletters, 1953-1956

Box 8, Folder 1

Walnut Grove Japanese Methodist Church.

Box 8, Folder 2

Sacramento Japanese Methodist Church.

Box 8, Folder 3

Florin Japanese Methodist Church.

Box 8, Folder 4

Loomis Japanese Methodist Church.

Box 8, Folder 5

Pine Methodist Church (San Francisco).

Box 8, Folder 6

West Tenth Methodist Church (Oakland).

Box 8, Folder 7

Buena Vista Methodist Church (Alameda).

Box 8, Folder 8

Page Mill Methodist Church (Palo Alto).

Box 8, Folder 9

Grace Methodist Church (Livingston).

Box 8, Folder 10

Fresno Japanese Methodist Church.

Box 8, Folder 11

Nisei Methodist Church (Oxnard).

Box 8, Folder 12

Centenary Methodist Church (Los Angeles).

Box 8, Folder 13

West Los Angeles Community Methodist Church.

Box 9, Folder 1

Seattle Japanese Methodist Church [or Blaine Memorial Methodist Church].

Box 9, Folder 2

Grant Street Methodist Church (Spokane, Washington).

Box 9, Folder 3

Ontario Methodist Church (Ontario, Oregon).

Box 9, Folder 4

California Street Methodist Church (Denver, Colorado).

Box 9, Folder 5

Chicago Japanese Methodist Church.

Box 9, Folder 6

United Church of Christ, Japanese American (New York).

Box 9, Folder 7

Miscellaneous newsletters.

Box  [10-11]

The Kingdom of God Weekly [ Kami no Kuni Shimbun], 1933-1940 (A Christian Weekly Newspaper published in Japan)

Box 10, Folder 1

1933.

Box 10, Folder 2

1934.

Box 10, Folder 3

1935.

Box 10, Folder 4

1936.

Box 11, Folder 1

1937.

Box 11, Folder 2

1938.

Box 11, Folder 3

1939.

Box 11, Folder 4

1940.