Manuscripts

Camp Amache/Granada War Relocation Center

Description: Materials related to the Granada War Relocation Center, also known as Camp Amache, and the experiences of the Shigekuni family and other incarcerated residents. Includes newsletters and brochures, historical reports, photographs, and other materials related to the camp, as well as documentation of reunions, an interview with Tom Shigekuni, and publications about other internment camps for Japanese Americans.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1940s-2018
Call number: mssShigekuni
Provenance: Gift of Vicki Wong, August 2023.
Restrictions: Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.; RESTRICTED: Box 4: Amache Co-op Souvenir album is fragile and only available with curatorial approval.

Thomas and Ruth Shigekuni papers

Manuscripts

Correspondence, photographs, documents, and other materials related to Thomas and Ruth Shigekuni, first generation Japanese Americans living in the western United States. The collection documents significant events and themes of the 20th century including the Japanese American incarceration during World War II, military service in the Korean War, the growth of the agricultural industry in Southern California, and the lives and communities of Japanese Americans. Considerable material related to the Granada War Relocation Center, also known as Camp Amache, documents the experiences of the Shigekuni family and other incarcerated residents, and includes newsletters and brochures, historical reports, photographs, reunions, interviews, and publications. There is also correspondence, photographs, and other documents related to Thomas and Ruth Shigekuni and their families, particularly Thomas Shigekuni's parents and siblings, and his education and military service. The collection also includes business records related to Centrose Nursery, the family business located in the Compton area of Los Angeles, and documentation of Thomas and Ruth Shigekuni's involvement with professional, community, and religious organizations such as the California State Board of Food and Agriculture, the Church of Christ, and the Japanese American Citizens League.

mssShigekuni

Image not available

Church of Christ

Manuscripts

mssShigekuni

Image not available

History

Manuscripts

Materials related to incarcerated residents' experiences at Amache and the development of the historic site, including newsletters and brochures, historical reports, Amache High School handbooks, correspondence, and development plans. Also includes Thomas Shigekuni's Densho project video interview and transcript.

mssShigekuni

Image not available

War Relocation Authority: Proposed Curriculum procedures for Japanese Relocation Centers

Manuscripts

The collection contains correspondence, 12 photographs, bulletins, memoranda, and other printed materials assembled by Edythe N. Backus related to the Colorado River Relocation Center at Poston, AZ. Also included are copies of The Poston chronicle and Poston High and Junior High School annuals, newspapers, and bulletins. The 141 pieces of correspondence are primarily by Japanese-Americans as they reintegrated to American society outside the center. The collection also includes watercolor drawings of camp scenes by Kastsumi Natagawa and H. Yoshizumi.

mssCoRivRe

Image not available

Drawing of Block 30, Camp 1, Poston Arizona Relocation Center

Manuscripts

mssCoRivRe

Image not available

Panoramic photograph of the War Relocation Center in Manzanar, California

Visual Materials

A panoramic photograph of the Japanese American incarceration camp at Manzanar, California, known as the War Relocation Center. The image was taken from a tower along the camp boundary, and shows rows of military-style bunkers, dirt roads, and surrounding desert, with the Sierra Nevada Mountains prominent in the background; no people appear in the photograph. The print is titled and credited in the lower left corner, part of which says: "Copyrighted by Manzanar Cooperative Enterprises, Inc." This was a prisoner-run co-op established in 1943 with the War Relocation Authority. Cameras were not allowed to be used by prisoners, so a cooperative photo studio was established to centralize these services. The studio, run by Toyo Miyatake, performed all work for the school annuals and for WRA administrators. It is likely this image was printed by Toyo Miyatake while he was imprisoned there. It is not signed by him, but Archie Miyatake (Toyo's son), stated in a later interview that panoramic photographs were most often stamped with Manzanar Cooperative and that Toyo signed only smaller size prints.

photPAN 154

Camp Amache/Granada War Relocation Center

Opening Hours

Admission Info and Tickets

You might also be interested in

Thomas and Ruth Shigekuni papers

Church of Christ

History

War Relocation Authority: Proposed Curriculum procedures for Japanese Relocation Centers

Drawing of Block 30, Camp 1, Poston Arizona Relocation Center

Panoramic photograph of the War Relocation Center in Manzanar, California