Stanley Hayami papers, 1934-1946, bulk 1944-1945

Collection context

Summary

Creators:
Koide, Grace and Hayami, Stanley Kunio, 1925-1945
Abstract:
This collection contains correspondence from Stanley Hayami and Sach Hayami, personal items and documents belonging to Stanley Hayami, ephemera, photographs of soldiers, artifacts, drawings, and newspapers.
Extent:
1.50 linear feet
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Stanley Hayami papers. 2010.4, Japanese American National Museum. Los Angeles, CA.

Background

Scope and content:

Documents include letters from Stanley to his sister, letters from Sach to her family in Heart Mountain, camp newspapers and newsletters, personal items belonging to Stanley (1945 diary, certificate of baptism, application for life insurance, report cards), items of Stanley’s clothing, photographs of soldiers, and drawings by Stanley. These materials pick up where his high school diary ends (95.226) and portray his time with the 442nd Infantry Regiment leading up to his death in 1945.

Biographical / historical:

Stanley Kunio Hayami was born December on 23, 1925 in Los Angeles to Naicho and Asano Hayami. Stanley had an older brother named Frank, an older sister named Sachiko (“Sach”), and a younger brother named Walter (“Walt”). At one point Sach began goign by Grace. The Hayami family owned and operated a nursey in San Gabriel until the passage of Executive Order 9066. The Hayamis left their home in San Gabriel to live in Los Angeles for one month before transferring to the Pomona Assembly Center and then moving to Heart Mountain in August 1942.

Stanley attended high school during his time in Heart Mountain. During the summer of 1943 he worked at the poster shop with odds and ends. One project was to assist with the creation of a scrapbook for the Sentinel papers. In August 1943 Frank left for New York and Sach for Chicago. Frank worked as a busboy while waiting for his defense clearance and Sach left to attend the Chicago Academy for the Arts. She originally secured a position working for a doctor’s family but was fired and found work with another family. During this time Walter also worked at the poster shop with Stanley.

Stanley began writing about the army in his diary as soon as he turned 18. He registered with the draft board the day after his birthday. Sach moved from Chicago to New York after struggling to maintain work in January 1944, the same month that Stanley received his questionnaire from the Selective Services. In February 1944 Stanley was elected the art editor of the school annual, Tempo.

In May 1944 Stanley left Heart Mountain for his physical exam in Denver and then graduated high school 2 weeks later. Stanley would be inducted into the army shortly after. In the meantime, he went to Hardin, Montana with friends to thin sugar beets from May 24 to June 18. Stanley returned to Heart Mountain briefly and left for basic training in Fort Blanding, Florida on August 22, 1944. Frank had entered the army a few months beforehand. Stanley’s parents and younger brother, Walt, remained in Heart Mountain. Stanley left for France as a part of the 442nd Regiment, 2nd Battalion, Company E. He was briefly hospitalized after contracting the measles and later joined his battalion in Southern France. His unit departed for Italy in March 1945, where Stanley would be killed in action while trying to save another soldier. Stanley was posthumously awarded a purple heart for his bravery in Italy.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Grace S. Koide, 2010.
Custodial history:

The collection was held by Grace Koide (née Sachiko Hayami) until being donated to the Japanese American National Museum.

Processing information:

Originally processed by JoAnn Hamamura in March 2015 with later processing by Lauren Zuchowski in April 2016.

Arrangement:

The collection is organized into the following series: Series 1. Photographs, undated Series 2. Drawings Series 3. Newspapers and Newsletters Series 4. Ephemera Series 5. Letters, 1941-1945 Series 6. Personal Documents Series 7. Artifacts

Physical location:
Japanese American National Museum. 100 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles, California 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 Collections Management and Access Unit at the Japanese American National Museum (collections@janm.org).

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Stanley Hayami papers. 2010.4, 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