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Kawanishi Family papers, 1937 - 2008
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Kawanishi family
- Title
- Kawanishi Family papers
- Dates
- 1937 - 2008 (inclusive)19372008
- Quantity
- .84 cubic feet (2 boxes)
- Collection Number
- 6184 (Accession No. 6184-001)
- Summary
- Materials related to the internment and incarceration of the Kawanishi family
- 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
-
No restrictions on access.
- Languages
- English
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
As with many families of Japanese ancestry, the Kawanishi family, including Harry Teikichi Kawanishi (Father), Fusa Kawanishi (Mother), Toshiyuki Kawanishi (Brother), Irene Yoshiko Kawanishi (Sister), and Alice Masako Kawanishi (Sister), were illegally incarcerated in American concentration camps as a result of Executive Order 9066, authorized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II. In March 1942, Harry Kawanishi was fired from his position at Seattle's Rhododendron Hotel due to his Japanese ancestry. In May 1942, Mrs. Fusa Kawanishi was forced to sell her beauty parlor. That same month, the Kawanishis were forcibly removed to a temporary detention center located at the Puyallup Fair Grounds, euphemistically known as Camp Harmony. They remained at the temporary detention center until August 1942 when they were sent to the Minidoka incarceration camp in Hunt, Idaho. In June 1943, Alice Masako Kawanishi was contracted to work for the War Relocation Authority office in South Dakota, the same office which had incarcerated her family. Over the next three years, Alice was transferred to various locations across the US including Grand Junction, Colorado, Boston, Massachusetts, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her father, Harry, was contacted to work at the Phyllis Brown Studio in Minneapolis while her mother, sister, and brother remained at the incarceration camp in Minidoka. In March of 1946, following the close of World War II, Executive Order 9066 lapsed. The Kawanishi family along with more than 110,000 individuals of Japanese heritage were released from illegal imprisonment. Alice Kawanishi eventually returned to Seattle in February 1946. In 1949, Irene Yoshiko Kawanishi married Sumio Sakaguchi, who was also illegally detained at "Camp Harmony" in Puyallup and Minidoka. In 1988, the US government passed S. 1009, the Redress and Reparations Bill, which offered a formal apology and monetary compensation to Japanese Americans and their descendants incarcerated throughout the war.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The Kawanishi family papers contain materials related to the internment/incarceration of the family during World War II. Materials in the collection include correspondence, official letters and forms, ephemera, and news clippings related to the Kawanishi family's incarceration, Japanese Americans, World War II, and the Redress Movement. Collection also contains a small selection of materials related to Nobushiro William Kato, Sumio Sakaguchi, Yoshiko Sakata, Haibeye Matsui, Kiyoshi Toyooka, and Kenjiro Nomura.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Restrictions on Use
Creator's copyrights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates |
---|---|---|
Box/Folder | ||
1/1-3 | Correspondence and Official Records | 1937-1987 |
1/4 | Hunt High School (Minidoka Incarceration Camp) Yearbook | 1943 |
1/5 | Ephemera | 1942-2008 |
1/6-13 | News Articles and Clippings | 1943-2008 |
Box | ||
2 | Greasewood Button and Wooden Pieces carved by Teikichi Kawanishi while in Minidoka Incarceration Camp | 1943-1945? |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Japanese Americans--Civil rights
- Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945
- Japanese Americans--Reparations
- Japanese Americans--Washington (State)--Seattle
- Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)
- Reparations for historical injustices--United States
- World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--United States
Family Names
- Kawanishi family--Archives