Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Hara family papers, 1942-1991
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Hara family
- Title
- Hara family papers
- Dates
- 1942-1991 (inclusive)19421991
- Quantity
- 0.23 cubic feet (1 box)
- Collection Number
- 5917 (Accession No. 5917-001)
- Summary
- Materials related to the Hara family and their experience as Japanese-Americans being incarcerated during World War II in Washington and Idaho
- Repository
-
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu - Access Restrictions
Open to all users.
- Languages
- English
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Iwao Hara and Mae (Kanazawa) Hara were natives of Seattle, Washington. Mae's family owned the Jackson Fish & Oyster Company, and Iwao's family operated a small merchantile business. Both Iwao and Mae graduated from Garfield High School. Iwao graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Accounting and established a small bookkeeping and accounting business before the war.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Mae's grandfather Kanazawa was among the Japanese picked up by the FBI and detained at the Department of Justice camp in Missoula, Montana. Iwao and Mae were interned along with other Japanese-Americans from the Seattle region, first at Camp Harmony in Puyallup, WA, and later transported to the Minidoka relocation camp in Jerome, ID. Iwao established a Consumer's Cooperative in the camp, and Mae was appointed the Director of Music for the camp, and developed a camp music program. The Haras left Minidoka in the spring of 1943 with assistance from the American Friends Society, and eventually settled in Madison, Wisconsin. Iwao died in 1975, and Mae in 2005.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
War Relocation Authority and other government publications and pamphlets related to the incarceration of Japanese during World War II. Includes a few carbon copies of letters relating to incarceration issues, a folder of clippings, and a copy of the Souvenir Edition of the Camp Harmony newsletter (August 14, 1942) on "Minidoka Previewed." Also a mimeograph copy of a memoir by George L. Townsend, entitled "Service with the War Relocation Authority, 1942-46" (49 pp., n.d.), describing his work first at Tule Lake, then at Minidoka, and eventually back in Seattle, assisting with the resettlement of evacuees.This memoir includes letters from Townsend to Mae Hara, dated 1978-79, laid in.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 1/1 | Clippings | 1940s |
| 1/2 | Camp Harmony Newsletter, Souvenir Edition | 1942 |
| 1/3 | Correspondence | 1940s |
| 1/4 | "Ten Days in Japan" | undated |
| 1/5 | Legal and government documents | 1940s |
| 1/6 | Relocation and incarceration publiations | 1940s |
| 1/7 | "Nisei in Uniform" and "Outcasts! The Story of America's Treatment of Her Japanese-American Minority" | 1940s |
| 1/8 | "Nisei in the War against Japan" | 1945 |
| 1/9 | "Myths and Facts about the Japanese Americans" | 1945 |
| 1/10 | "Service with the War Relocation Authority 1942-46" by George L. Townsend, with letters from Townsend to Mae Hara | undated |
| 1/11 | Redress documents and clippings | 1981 |
| 1/12 | Publications on Japanese incarceration and redress | 1981, 1991, undated |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)--Specimens
- Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945
- Reparations for historical injustices--United States
Corporate Names
- United States. War Relocation Authority
Family Names
- Hara family
Form or Genre Terms
- Personal correspondence
Other Creators
-
Personal Names
- Hara, Mae, (creator)
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)
