ABE, George (1912-2003)  (full-text)
O. H. 1763
Interviewer:                Marsha Bode
Date:                          February 20, 1984
Status:                        Not transcribed
Tape length:                2 hrs. 30 min.

A Pasadena, California Nisei raised in Seal Beach, California discusses Japanese—American families residing on the Hellman and Bixby ranches with special attention to their farmers’ association; prewar truck gardening and produce marketing; internment at Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona.

AGER, Earl F. (ca. 1913- ) 
O. H. 1348
Interviewer:                Sherry Turner
Date:                          August 27, 1973
Status:                        Completed 1976, 9 pp., index
Tape length:                20 min.

A Tulelake, California businessman recounts his dealings with and attitude toward the nearby Tule Lake War Relocation/Segregation Center.

AIGNER, Albert E. (ca. 1910-   ) 
O. H. 1397
Interviewer:                David J. Bertagnoli and Arthur A. Hansen
Date:                          December 20, 1973
Status:                        Completed 1974, 16 pp., index, photo
Tape length:                40 min.

A Lone Pine, California native and longtime employee of a trucking company which serviced the nearby Manzanar War Relocation Center recollects wartime impressions of the camp, personal and community reaction, local economic impact, attitudes toward Director Ralph P. Merritt, necessity of evacuation, and the treatment of Native Americans by Lone Pine residents.

AIGNER, Norvil 0. (ca. 1905-  )
O. H. 1396
Interviewer:  David J. Bertagnoli and Arthur A. Hansen
Date: December 20, 1973
Status: Completed 1977, 15 pp., index, photo
Tape length: 30 min.

A longtime Lone Pine, California resident and manager of a trucking company focuses on the firm’s employment of six internees to unload train shipments of materials for the nearby Manzanar War Relocation Center, the camp’s establishment and administration, the camp’s impact on local economy and opinion, the Manzanar Riot, the internee—town relationship, and the propriety of evacuation.

AKIYAMA, Kiyomi Henry (1888—  )  
O. H. 1751
Interviewer:  Arthur A. Hansen and Yasko Gamo
Date: June 10, 29, and July 27, 1982
Status: Transcribed, 150 pp. (Japanese and English)
Tape length: 6 hrs. (Japanese and English)

Pioneer Issei leader of the Japanese—American community in Orange County, California recalls early life in Nagano prefecture, Japan; immigration to the United States; arrival in Orange County in 1907; early farming experiences with elaboration on development of the Japanese colony in south Orange County. Comments on prominent personalities in the Japanese—American local community; development of the largest goldfish farm west of the Mississippi River; wartime evacuation to Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona; postwar social and civic activities including his 1954 naturalization.

ANDERSON, Hugh Harris (1912— )
O. H. 1473*
Interviewer:                Arthur A. Hansen
Date:                          February 8, 1975
Status:                        Edited/approved, 107 pp.
Tape length:                4 hrs.

A native of Pasadena, a graduate of Stanford, an employee of the California State Board of Equalization, and business manager for a cooperative at Poe ton War Relocation Center in Arizona discusses life at Poston with emphasis on the cooperative; the guayule project at Manazanar and his involvement; activities of Friends of the American Way, and other organizations and individuals assisting the Japanese Americans during World War II; the return of Esther Takae to Pasadena City College; activities of Herbert V. Nicholson; postwar relocation problems of Japanese Americans; and filing of claims for losses. Shares his thoughts on reasons for evacuation, Commonwealth Club, and Manchester Boddy.

ANONYMOUS (1915— )
O. H. 11
Interviewer:                Richard D. Curtiss
Date:                          March 4, 1966
Status:                        Completed 1976, 23 pp.
Tape length:                50 min.

With father detained by Federal Bureau of Investigation, one brother in the Army, and other brothers relocated inland during voluntary evacuation period, this Nisei interviewee was caught in the mass evacuation. Describes Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona, resettlement out of camp, and hostility toward former internees upon return to California.
 

ANONYMOUS (1929—  ) 
O. H. 1331
Interviewer: John Wiedmann
Date:  December 1, 1973
Statue: Completed 1977, 21 pp., index
Tape length:  45 min.

Nisei describes childhood in Fresno, California area, gives schoolboy impressions of Fresno Assembly Center, Jerome War Relocation Center in Arkansas and Gila War Relocation Center in Arizona. Notes his current feelings about evacuation.

ANONYMOUS (ca. 1920— ) 
O. H. 1344
Interviewer: David J. Bertagnoli
Date:  July 14, 1973
Status: Completed 1976, 13 pp., index
Tape length:  20 min.

A matron whose husband worked on internal security force at both Manzanar and Tule Lake War Relocation Centers in California recalls experiences, including reference to Manzanar Riot.

BAKER, Lillian (ca. 1920—  ) 
O. H. 1474
Interviewer: Arthur A. Hansen
Date:  June 10, 1976
Status:  Edited, 69 pp.
Tape length:  2 hrs. 40 min.

Organizer of Americans for Historical Accuracy opposes use of the term “concentrat ion camp.” Some biographical information is given.

BELL, Rollin 0. (ca. 1925—   ) 
O. H. 1346
Interviewer:  David J. Bertagnoli
Date: July 15, 1973
Status:  Completed 1976, 12 pp., index, photo
Tape length: 20 min.

An Inyo County, California highway patrolman recalls prewar Japanese Americans in Owens Valley, public response to Manzanar War Relocation Center, camp conditions, internee—administration relations, camp internal security, evacuation policy, and personal attitude toward commemorative plaque placed at Manzanar site in 1973.

BOTZUM, Clara Osborne (1894—  )  
O. H. 1605
Interviewer:                Phyllis Jutagir
Date:                          April 8, 1978
Status:                        Transcribed, 12 pp.
Tape length:                20 min.

A former member of the Arizona legislature discusses her life in the Parker, Arizona area since 1902 and reaction of the local community to the neighboring Poston War Relocation Center.

BRANSON, Donald H. (ca. 1910—  )  
O. H. 1402
Interviewer: David J. Bertagnoli and Arthur A. Hansen
Date: December 20, 1973
Status: Completed 1977, 15 pp., index, photo
Tape length: 35 min.

An Owens Valley, California resident since 1919 relates experiences as foreman of the plumbing crew at Manzanar War Relocation Center. Commentary on economic impact of camp, attitude of local citizens, conditions of Manzanar, treatment of internees, and evacuation decision.

BRIERLY, A. A. (1884—  ) 
O. H. 1378
Interviewer:  David J. Bertagnoli and Arthur A. Hansen
Date:  December 6, 1973
Status:  Completed 1976, 16 pp., index, photo
Tape length:  30 min.
  See also A.  A. Brierly,   O. H.. 1575, Environmental Studies

Lifetime resident and civic leader in Owens Valley, California discusses sociopolitical composition of area and response to Manzanar War Relocation Center: economic impact on the valley, views about internment policy, rumors about the camp director, and opinion concerning the 1973 Manzanar plaque.

BROWN, Robert L. (1908—  ) 
O. H. 1375
Interviewer:  Arthur A. Hansen
Date: December 13, 1973; February 20, 1974
Status:  Completed 1976, 65 pp., index
Tape length: 3 hrs. 30 min.

Former Reports Officer and Assistant Project Director of Manzanar War Relocation Center discusses experiences as Inyo County, California teacher in the 1930s; prewar job as Executive Secretary for Inyo—Mono Association; social, political, and economic makeup of prewar Owens Valley, California communities; and formation and development of Manzanar. Special attention to public relations work for camp, biographies of prominent administrative and internee personalities, origination and growth of Manzanar Free Press, and causes and consequences of Manzanar Riot.

CAMPBELL, Arline (ca. 1910— ) 
O. H. 134
Interviewer:   Sherry Turner
Date:   August 26, 1973
Status:  Completed 1976, 14 pp., index
Tape length: 30 min.

Postmistress of Tule Lake War Relocation/Segregation Center discusses personal experiences there.

CAMPBELL, Ned (1905—  ) 
O. H. 1343
Interviewer:  Arthur A. Hansen
Date: August 15, 1974
Status: Completed 1976, 36 pp., index
Tape length: 2 hrs. 30 min.

Experiences as Assistant Project Director at Manzanar War Relocation Center, California with particular reference to Manzanar Riot. Prewar background; recruitment by War Relocation Authority; profiles of administrators, staff, and evacuee leaders; resignation from WRA; and evacuation policy.

CHAMNESS, Lee, Jr. (1932— ) 
O. H. 78
Interviewer: John Sprout
Date: November 25, 1968
Status: Completed 1976, 24 pp., index
Tape length:  60 min.

Describes participation of father as coordinator of Civil Defense in Huntington Beach, California in assisting with the Federal Bureau of Investigation roundup of “potentially dangerous” enemy aliens. Discussion of family’s produce market and expertise of Japanese—American truck farmers.

CHUMAN, Frank (1917— )
O. H. 1475a
Interviewer:                Arthur A. Hansen
Date:                          January 6 and 13, 1975
Status:                        Edited, 136 pp.
Tape length:                4 hrs.

A Nisei gives prewar biographical information; recounts internment at Manzanar War Relocation Center, California; Nisei and Sansei viewpoints on education.

CHUMAN, Frank (1917—   ) 
O. H. l475b
Interviewer:                Carol J. Bielmeier
Date:                          May 20, 1975
Status:                        Final typed, 32 pp., index
Tape length:                1 hr. 30 min.

A Nisei lawyer—author discusses legal cases involving constitutional rights of Japanese Americans after World War II. Discusses psychology of decision makers and the implications of their rulings for posterity.

CRAGEN, Dorothy C. (ca. 1910—  ) 
O. H. 1347
Interviewer:                David J. Bertagnoli
Date:                          July 14, 1973
Status:                        Completed 1976, 12 pp., index
Tape length:                25 min.

Former superintendent of Inyo County, California schools discusses refusal of the Inyo County Board of Education to administer schools at Manzanar War Relocation -Center; teaching and administration of camp schools; evacuation; local attitudes, particularly the incident of a Japanese—American soldier in Lone Pine, California; and 1973 Manzanar plaque wording.

CUSHMAN, Joyce (ca. 1925—  )
O. H. 1350
Interviewer:                Sherry Turner
Date:                          August 27, 1973
Status:                        Completed 1976, 9 pp., index
Tape length:                15 min.

Impressions of a young woman living in town near Tule Lake War Relocation/Segregation Center while fiancé served overseas with United States Army. 

DICK, Ellen (ca. 1920—  )
O. H. 1601
Interviewer:                Mariko Yamashita
Date:                          April 8, 1978
Status:                        Edited, 9 pp.
Tape length:                20 min.

Schoolteacher and longtime resident of Parker, Arizona discusses impact of nearby Poston War Relocation Center on community life; describes Indian life in area.

DOCKUM, Richard S. (ca. 1908—  ) 
O. H. 1612
Interviewer:                Paul F. Clark and Mollie M. Pressler
Date:                          March 18, 1977
Status:                        Completed 1980, 26 pp., index
Tape length:                60 min.

A civil engineer and United States Army reserve officer who was called to active duty during World War II and served as camp adjutant in Army internment camp at Lordsburg, New Mexico, recounts camp impressions, postwar Army experiences, and return to civilian life in New Mexico.

DOHI, Abraham (1923— )  
O. H. 1477
Interviewer:                Duane Bradford
Date:                          August 11, 1976
Status:                        Final typed, 35 pp.
Tape length:                60 min.

Minister of Wintersburg Presbyterian Church in Garden Grove, California addresses prewar family background in San Luis Obispo County, California and wartime experience of evacuation; emphasis on church happenings and the cultural relationship of the church to the Japanese—American community.

DREW, Elodie M. (1903— ) 
O. H. 1389
Interviewer:                David J. Bertagnoli
Date:                          December 6, 1973
Status:                        Completed 1977, 12 pp., index, photos
Tape length:                20 min.

A descendant of a pioneer Owens Valley, California family and an employee of the Eastern California Museum located at Independence, California relates experiences relative to Manzanar War Relocation Center, personal and community reaction to internment policy and camp, effect on postwar attitudes in area toward minority groups, and meetings in recent years with former internees visiting museum.

EMBREY, Sue Kunitomi (1923—  ) 
O. H. 1366a
Interviewer:                Arthur A. Hansen and David A. Hacker
Date:                          August 24, 1973
Status:                        Completed 1978, 42 pp.
Tape length:                2 hrs. 30 min.
Bound as one volume, O. H.. 1366a and O. H.. l366b, 93 pp., index, photos

Nisei co-chairperson of Manzanar Committee and former editor of Manzanar Free Press discusses parental background in Okayama, Japan; family business activities in Los Angeles; prewar Los Angeles Japanese—American community; Pearl Harbor; Hawaii evacuation; and Manzanar War Relocation Center. Commentary on internee subculture, factions, personalities, administrator profiles, role of camp newspaper, and Manzanar Riot.

EMBREY, Sue Kunitomi (1923—  ) 
O. H. l366b
Interviewer:                Arthur A. Hansen and David J. Bertagnoli
Date:                          November 15, 1973
Status:                        Completed 1978, 43 pp.
Tape length:                3 hrs.
Bound as one volume, O. H.. l366a and O. H.. 1366b, 93 pp., index, photos

Wartime resettlement to Madison, Wisconsin and Chicago, Illinois; postwar experiences as a Los Angeles city employee; problems of mixed marriage; an in—depth history of Manzanar Committee and its successful struggle to place a controversial commemorative plaque on Manzanar site in 1973.

ENDO, Aiko Tanimachi (1925— )
O. H.. 1750
Interviewer:                Marsha Bode
Date:                          November 15 and December 1, 1983
Status:                        Not transcribed
Tape length:                5 hrs. 30 min.

Nisei woman, born and raised in Seal Beach, California discusses prewar recollections of Orange County, California with special attention to the Japanese—American families residing on the Hellman and Bixby ranches and the farmers’ association formed by them; World War II evacuation to Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona; and notes postwar experiences and impressions.

ENDO, Mitsuye (1922— ) 
O. H. 1478
Interviewer:                Carol J. Bielmeier
Date:                          January 9, 1976
Status:                        Transcribed/closed, 9 pp.
Tape length:                30 min.

Nisei discusses Ex Parte Endo case handled by James Purcell in which the Supreme Court decided that Japanese—American citizens could not be detained in relocation camps.

FITZGERALD, Marie Lee (1898—  )  
O. H. 160
Interviewer:                Judy Thames
Date:                          April 8, 1978
Status:                        Transcribed, 41 pp.
Tape length:                2 hrs.

Longtime Parker, Arizona resident discusses the general development of the area and her reactions to the Poston War Relocation Center.

FUJII, George (1914— ) 
O. H. 1479|
Interviewer:                Ronald C. Larson
Date:                          August 31, 1976
Status:                        Transcribed, 67 pp.
Tape length:                1 hr. 45 min.

Kibei details family background, childhood in Japan; return to the United States; prewar life in Anaheim, California; reaction to Pearl Harbor; and evacuation to Poston War Relocation Center, Arizona where he was employed initially as a translator. Comments on the November 1942 strike, his role in camp as police commissioner, councilman, and judge; the making of the school; the camouflage net factory; his being jailed for resisting the draft, the ensuing trial, and his work as camp mortician until the camp was closed; the family’s return to California after the war and his feelings on these experiences.

FUJIYAMA, Margie M. (1927—  ) 
O. H. 1383
Interviewer:                Susan Fowler
Date:                          January 11 and 12, 1973
Status:                        Completed 1977, 15 pp., index
Tape length:                50 min.

Sansei secretary employed at California State University, Fullerton recollects farm life in prewar Sacramento area; camp life at Pinedale Assembly Center, California and Poston War Relocation Center, Arizona; educational and employment conditions in camp; resettlement in St. Louis, Missouri; personal and community consequences of internment.

FUKASAWA, George T. (1910— ) 
O. H. 1336
Interviewer:                Arthur A. Hansen
Date:                          August 12, 1974
Status:                        Completed 1976, 62 pp., index, photos
Tape length:                3 hrs.

Nisei photography instructor at California State University, Fullerton examines prewar Ventura County, California Japanese— American community, intelligence activities in post—Pearl Harbor roundup of Issei leaders in Los Angeles, evacuation role of Japanese American Citizens League, personal role as evacuee policeman relative to Manzanar Riot, Manzanar War Relocation Center factions, personalities, and internment policy.

FUQUA, J. C. (1894— ) 
O. H. 1609
Interviewer:                Fred D. Lazzelle, Jr.
Date:                          April 8, 1978
Status:                        Edited, 25 pp.
Tape length:                20 min.

Longtime resident and former justice of the peace in Parker, Arizona describes the building of Poston War Relocation Center, reaction of the community to the camp, and thoughts on the Japanese—American experience.

FUQUA, Ruth (1895—  ) 
O. H. 1602
Interviewer:                Timothy B. Baird
Date:                          April 8, 1978
Status:                        Final typed, 20 pp.
Tape length:                45 min.

Resident of Parker, Arizona describes family store during World War II, construction of Poston War Relocation Center, personal and community reactions to the camp, and its closing.

FURUTA, Yukiko (ca. 1892—  )
O. H. 1752
Interviewer:                Arthur A. Hansen and Yasko Gamo
Date:                          June 17 and July 6, 1982
Status:                        Transcribed, 130 pp. (Japanese and English)
Tape length:                6 hrs. (Japanese and English)

Pioneer Issei woman of Orange County, California recollects her childhood and youth in Hiroshima, Japan; marriage and immigration to the United States in 1912; husband’s experiences as a farmer in Orange County and as a charter leader of the Wintersburg Presbyterian Church congregation; makeup of the Japanese—American community and ethnic composition of prewar Orange County; discrimination against and within the prewar Japanese—American community in Orange County; impact of Pearl Harbor on self, family, and community; husband’s internment by the Department of Justice and her evacuation to the Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona; and postwar experiences of family.

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