Finding Aid for the Charles Kikuchi papers, 1941-1988
Processed by UCLA Library Special Collections staff; additions processed by Dydia DeLyser, January 1989 and Dan Luckenbill,
January 1998; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
Funding: Finding aid and digital representations of archival material
funded in part by a grant from the Library Services and Technology
Act (LSTA).
UCLA Library Special Collections
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/
© 2000
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Charles Kikuchi papers
Date (inclusive): 1941-1988
Collection number: 1259
Creator:
Kikuchi, Charles
Extent:
58 boxes (29 linear ft.)
4 oversize boxes
Abstract: Charles Kikuchi (1917- ) worked for the California State Employment Service, surveying Nisei occupations. He was recruited
by Berkeley sociologist Dorothy Swaine Thomas for the Japanese Evacuation and Relocation Study (JERS). He began to keep a
diary and completed field surveys at the Tanforan Assembly Center in Northern California and at the Gila River Relocation
Center in Arizona and in 1943 chronicled camp resident settlement in Chicago. He was drafted into the United States Army just
before the bombing of Hiroshima. The collection consists of Charles Kikuchi's diaries, correspondence, and related printed
material about Japanese Americans and their relocation during World War II. Many diaries include clippings and programs related
to the career of Kikuchi's wife, Yuriko Amemiya, a professional dancer and a member of Martha Graham's dance group.
Language: Finding aid is written in
English.
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections
for paging information.
Administrative Information
Restrictions on Access
Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library
Special Collections for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UC Regents. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the
creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright
owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
- Gift of Charles Kikuchi, 1981-83.
- Gift of Yuriko Kikuchi, 1991.
- Gift of Warren Tsuneishi, 1981.
- Gift of Arthur Hansen, 1989.
Funding
Finding aid and digital representations of archival material
funded in part by a grant from the Library Services and Technology
Act (LSTA).
Digital Representations Available
Digital image files of the journal of Charles Kikuchi were made from the originals by UCLA's Office of Instructional Development
Photographic Services using a Fuji FinePix S1-Pro digital camera with a maximum resolution of 3,040 x 2,016 pixels. The camera
was equipped with a Micro-Nikkor flat field lens. Images of the individual pages of the journal were captured as uncompressed
24-bit RGB TIFF files. These archival images were used to create JPEG user images to the specifications of the MoAII viewer.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Charles Kikuchi papers (Collection Number 1259). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young
Research Library, UCLA.
Biography/History
Kikuchi was born in 1917 in the San Francisco Bay Area; his father was an Issei barbershop owner; he was placed in an orphanage
when he was 8 years old; in 1934 he headed for San Francisco; BA, San Francisco State College, 1939; anonymously published
an autobiographical essay, A Young American with a Japanese Face, in Louis Adamic's anthology titled,
From Many Lands (1939); worked for the California State Employment Service, surveying Nisei occupations; attended School of Social Welfare,
University of California, Berkeley, and received certificate in social work in 1942; recruited by Berkeley sociologist Dorothy
Swaine Thomas for the Japanese Evacuation and Relocation Study (JERS); Kikuchi began to keep a diary and completed field surveys
at the Tanforan Assembly Center in Northern California and at the Gila River Relocation Center in Arizona; began chronicling
camp resident settlement in Chicago, 1943; he was drafted into the United States Army just before the bombing of Hiroshima;
received master's degree in social work, New York University (NYU), 1947; worked as a social worker with the Veterans Administration,
New York; married Yuriko Amemiya, a professional dancer, in 1946; died September 25, 1988.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of Charles Kikuchi's diaries, correspondence, and related printed material about Japanese Americans and
their relocation during World War II. Includes 63 volumes of Kikuchi's original diaries, May 1942-June 1948. Copy diaries
span the years 1941-79. Also includes materials related to Kikuchi's work and surveys for the Japanese Evacuation and Relocation
Study (JERS) and his study of Japanese American relocation to Chicago, Illinois. Contains various War Relocation Authority
(WRA) publications, National Defense Migration reports, various issues of the Gila News Courier, and related publications.
Many diaries include clippings and programs related to the career of Kikuchi's wife, Yuriko, a professional dancer and a member
of Martha Graham's dance group.
Organization and Arrangement
Arranged in the following series:
- Original diaries (Boxes 1-10).
- Copy diaries (Boxes 11-44).
- Loose items from diaries (Box 56).
- Correspondence and writings (Boxes 45, 57-60, 62).
- Japanese Evacuation and Relocation Study (JERS) (Boxes 46-49, 54).
- Pacific Coast Committee on American Principles and Fair Play (Box 54).
- Photographs and biographical data (Box 54).
- Printed material (Boxes 50-53, 62).
- Relocation center news publications (Box 55).
- Reports (Box 61).
- Proclamation documents (Box 61).
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Kikuchi, Charles--Archives.
Yuriko, 1920- .
Tanforan Assembly Center (San Bruno, Calif.)
Gila River Relocation Center.
Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945--Archival resources.
Genres and Forms of Material
Diaries.
Related Material
Container List
Original Diaries
Note
Volume [#] = number assigned by the Department of Special Collections
Volume 7
September 1-30, 1942.
Physical Description: (pages 91-346)
Volume 8
October 1-26, 1942.
Physical Description: (pages 1-225)
Volume 9
October 27-November 3, 1942.
Physical Description: (pages 1-121)
Volume 10
November 4-9, 1942.
Physical Description: (pages 1-121)
Volume 11
November 10-17, 1942.
Physical Description: (pages 1-93)
Volume 12
November 17-25, 1942.
Physical Description: (pages 1-121)
Volume 13
November 25-December 2, 1942.
Physical Description: (pages 1-120)
Volume 14
December 3-9, 1942.
Physical Description: (pages 1-121)
Box 3, Volumes 15-23
December 1942-February 1943.
Volume 15
December 10-18, 1942.
Physical Description: (pages 1-118)
Volume 16
December 20-29, 1942.
Physical Description: (pages 1-119)
Volume 17
December 30-January 5, 1942.
Physical Description: (pages 1-121)
Volume 18
January 6-15, 1942.
Physical Description: (pages 1-121)
Volume 19
January 16-20, 1942.
Physical Description: (pages 1-121)
Volume 20
January 21-26, 1942.
Physical Description: (pages 1-118)
Volume 21
January 27-February 2, 1943.
Physical Description: (pages 1-123)
Volume 22
February 2-9, 1943.
Physical Description: (pages 1-120)
Volume 23
February 10-15, 1943.
Physical Description: (pages 1-121)
Volume 24
February 16-23, 1942.
Physical Description: (pages 1-121)
Volume 25
February 24-27, 1943.
Physical Description: (pages 1-120)
Volume 26
February 28-March 7, 1943.
Physical Description: (pages 1-121)
Volume 27
March 9-16, 1943.
Physical Description: (pages 1-121)
Volume 28
March 16-21, 1943.
Physical Description: (pages 1-120)
Volume 29
March 22-29, 1943.
Physical Description: (pages 1-120)
Volume 30
March 29-April 6, 1943.
Physical Description: (pages 1-118)
Volume 31
April 7-18, 1943.
Physical Description: (pages 1-120)
Oversize Box 5, Volumes 32-39
Box 6, Volumes 40-46
September 1943-January 1944.
Box 9, Volumes [59]-[63]
September 19, 1946-June 19, 1948.
Box 10
Indexes to diaries. 1941-1947.
Box 11, Volumes 1-3
December 1941-November 1942.
Box 12, Volumes 4-6
November 1942-March 1943.
Box 13, Volumes 7-9
April 1943-December 1943.
Oversize Box 28, Volumes 52-54
Oversize Box 41, Volumes 90-92
December 1976-September 1977.
Box 42, Volumes 93-95
October 1977-September 1978.
Loose Items from Diaries [Additions, 1989, 1998]
Note
Loose items from diaries have been foldered. Original box, volume and page numbers of these items are listed below.
Box 56, Folder 1
Box 8, vol.[55]: p. 0(6), 1, 58(2), 207, 232, 262, 270-27/(3).
Box 56, Folder 2
Box 8, vol.[55]: p. 276-277, 291, 293, 309, 314, 320, 327, 341, 361, 372-373, 373, 393(2), 395, 399, 437(6), 453(2), 457.
Box 56, Folder 3
Box 11, vol.1: attached to Charles Kikuchi's letter of December 20, 1941.
Box 56, Folder 4
Box 11, vol.1: attached to end of vol.[1].
Box 56, Folder 5
Box 11, vol.2: p. 376, 547, 551, 567(2), 586.
Box 56, Folder 7
Box 12, vol.6: p. 2244, 2303.
Box 56, Folder 9
Box 13, vol.9: p. 3512, 3554(7).
Box 56, Folder 10
Box 14, vol.10: p. 3624(2).
Box 56, Folder 12
Box 17, vol.19: p. 8032-8033, 8058-8059, 8074.
Box 56, Folder 13
Box 17, vol.20: Attached to the end of vol.[20].
Box 56, Folder 14
Box 17, vol.21: p. 79(2), 321.
Box 56, Folder 15
Box 18, vol.22: p. 1272(2), 1307(7).
Box 56, Folder 16
Box 18, vol.22: attached to the end of vol.[22].
Box 56, Folder 17
Box 18, vol.23: p. 1691(5), 1727, 1764.
Box 56, Folder 18
Box 18, vol.23: sample of Yuriko's credits: 1944-1946.
Box 56, Folder 20
Box 18, vol.24: Attached to Charles Kikuchi's diary (1947) inside of the cover page.
Box 56, Folder 21
Box 18, vol.24: attachment to program, Martha Graham Dance Company.
Box 56, Folder 22
Box 19, vol.27: attachment to program, Martha Graham Dance Company.
Box 56, Folder 24
Box 20, vol.29: attached to diary. January 6, 1949; attached to diary. January 28, 1949; red card inserted June 19, 1949.
Box 56, Folder 25
Box 20, vol.30: attached to letter from Yuriko. February 7, 1950; Martha Graham Dance Company route sheet attached to letter from Charlie. March 20, 1950; attached to diary. May 12, 1950; letters from Bobby.
Correspondence & Writings
Box 45
Correspondence & miscellaneous writings.
Boxes 57-60
Correspondence, etc. Early 1980s.
Note
[Additions, 1989, 1991]
Oversize Box 62, Folder 4
Copies of letters.
Physical Description: [half legal size document box]
Note
[Additions, 1989, 1991]
Japanese Evacuation and Relocation Study (JERS)
Box 46
Chicago case studies of evacuation and relocation, vols.1-14.
Box 47
Chicago case studies of evacuation and relocation, vols.16-32.
Box 48
Chicago case studies of evacuation and relocation, vols.33-46.
Box 49
Chicago case studies of evacuation and relocation, vols.48-50.
Note
[
Volume 47 is UNAVAILABLE.]
Box 54
Case histories taken by Mr. Kikuchi of the following Japanese Americans in the Chicago area.
Note
Papers donated per Warren Tsuneishi.
Scope and Content Note
- 5. Iwagami, Ichiro
- 10. Sawamoto, Chutaro
- 35. Ikenaka, Ike
- 37. Saruwatari, Akira
- 49. Saruwatari, Masako
Pacific Coast Committee on American Principles and Fair Play
Box 54
Records including minutes and correspondence, of the Pacific Coast Committee on American Principles and Fair Play (of Galen
M. Fisher. 1941-45, as sometime secretary of the Committee).
Note
Papers donated by Warren Tsuneishi given to him by Kikuchi.
Photographs and Biographical Data [Additions, 1989]
Box 54
10 prints made from originals retained by Mrs. Charles Kikuchi, of Charles Kikuchi. ca. 1938-1944, and accompanying biographical information.
Note
Papers donated by Professor Arthur Hansen.
Boxes 50-51
Government publications relating to the Japanese.
Box 53
Various publications by Japanese Americans, mostly copies of
Trek [Utah Relocation Center newspaper].
Oversize Box 62, Folder 3
Newsprint items: newsletters, clippings.
Physical Description: [half legal size document box]
Oversize Box 62, Folder 4
Theater program. 1988.
Physical Description: [half legal size document box]
Relocation Center News Publications [Additions, 1989, 1998]
Box 55, Folder 1
Totalizer - Tanforan Assembly Center, California, vol.I nos.2-9. May 23-July 11, 1942.
Box 55, Folder 2
Totalizer - Tanforan Assembly Center, California, vol.I, nos.11-18. July 18-September 5, 1942.
Box 55, Folder 3
Totalizer - Tanforan Assembly Center, California, vol.I no.19. September 12, 1942.
Physical Description: 6 copies.
Box 55, Folder 4
Desert Sentinel, vol.II. October 22, 1943.
Physical Description: 1 item.
Box 55, Folder 5
Relocator News Week, vol.I nos.2-3, 5 and 11. October 14-December 23, 1943.
Box 55, Folder 6
Gila Coop News - Rivers, Arizona, vol.I nos. 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 18 and 19. July 20-October 26, 1943.
Box 55, Folder 7
Gila News Courier - Rivers, Arizona, vol.I nos.1-34. September 12-December 29, 1942.
Box 55, Folder 8
Gila News Courier - Rivers, Arizona, vol.II nos.1-29. January 1-March 9, 1943.
Box 55, Folder 9
Gila News Courier - Rivers, Arizona, vol.II nos.30-53 and 55-59. March 11-May 18, 1943.
Box 55, Folder 10
Gila News Courier - Rivers, Arizona, vol.II nos.60-62, 64-80, 83-84, 86-87, 89-90, 92-98 and 100. May 20-August 21, 1943.
Box 55, Folder 11
Gila News Courier - Rivers, Arizona, vol.III nos.1-5, 8-11, 13-16 and 18-37. August 24-November 16, 1943.
Box 55, Folder 12
Gila News Courier - Rivers, Arizona, vol.III nos.40-50, 52-70, 72-76 and 95. November 23-March 30, 1944.
Box 61, Folder 1
Bob Spencer Gila reports, vol.1. 1942-43.
Physical Description: Fragile carbons in large binder.
Note
Kikuchi copy.
Box 61, Folder 2
Gila report - Ivers, Arizona, vol.2. April 1943.
Physical Description: Fragile carbons and mimeograph sheets in large binder.
Oversize Box 62, Folder 1
Letter, copies of proclamation documents
Physical Description: [half legal size document box]
Oversize Box 62, Folder 2
Copies of proclamation documents, etc.
Physical Description: [half legal size document box]
