Mollie Wilson Murphy papers, 1942-1945

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Summary

Creators:
Murphy, Mollie Wilson, 1923-
Abstract:
Mollie Wilson Murphy was an African-American woman who lived in Boyle Heights during World War II. She had many Japanese-American friends who were forced into concentration camps during the war. This collection comprises of the correspondences between Mollie and her friends in camp. The Mollie Wilson Papers include correspondence, school photographs, and miscellaneous photos in Boyle Heights of Mollie and friends before the war, during and after camp. There are also mimeographs, and newspaper clippings.
Extent:
0.50 linear feet
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Mollie Wilson Murphy papers. 2000.378, Japanese American National Museum. Los Angeles, CA.

Background

Scope and content:

These letters provide the opportunity to explore the incarceration experience from a non-Japanese perspective and reveals how Nisei teenagers represented their experiences to their non-Japanese American peers. Mollie’s relationship with a number of these individuals continued well past World War II and into the present. For additional resources, refer to the Japanese American National Museum’s Boyle Heights Oral History Project located in the museum’s Hirasaki National Resource Center.Most recently, Mollie Wilson Murphy along with Mary (Murakami) Nishi and Sandie (Saito) Okada, participated in a collaborative interview for the Japanese American National Museum’s Boyle Heights Oral History Project in 2002.

Biographical / historical:

Mollie Murphy grew up on Boulder Street between Evergreen and Sloat in Boyle Heights. Her brother Atoy graduated from Roosevelt in the late 1930s and Mollie graduated in summer 1943. The two of them had many close Japanese American friends and it seems that their street was very heterogeneous. Mollie wrote in a correspondence, "As a child, I vividly remember that on my street alone there were ten different ethnic families residing harmoniously together. My mother learned to cook from Jewish people, because she had not been taught by her own mother. It often amazed me how my mother could communicate with Mrs. Kokoris or Mrs. Akahoshi, because neither of them could speak English and my mother couldn't speak Greek nor Japanese! It goes to show, that when it comes to mutual problems, you don't always need words to express your thoughts." Throughout the war, Mollie corresponded with a number of her Japanese American girlfriends. Their correspondences extend the duration of the World War II exclusion, from the assembly centers (Santa Anita and Pomona) to the camps (Amache, Heart Mountain, Manzanar, Gila River, and Poston) to relocation.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Mollie Wilson Murphy, 2000.
Processing information:

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 Cris Paschild. Project Archivists were Yoko Shimojo and Marlon Romero.

Arrangement:

Letters have been broken down based on sender.

Series 1 : Letters

Series 2: Photographs

Series 3: Documents

Physical location:
Japanese American National Museum 100 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

By appointment only. Please Contact the Collections Management and Access Unit by email (collections@janm.org) or telephone (213-830-5615).

Terms of access:

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).

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Mollie Wilson Murphy papers. 2000.378, Japanese American National Museum. Los Angeles, CA.

Location of this collection:
Collections Management & Access Unit
100 North Central Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012, US
Contact:
213-625-0414
collections@janm.org
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