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Uheiji Charles Akita digital photograph collection, 1930-1950
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Ushio, Ruby Akita
- Title
- Uheiji Charles Akita digital photograph collection
- Dates
- 1930-1950 (inclusive)19301950
- Quantity
- 9 digital images
- Collection Number
- P1178
- Summary
- Charles Uheiji Akita (1881-1962) was a Japanese immigrant who settled in Utah in the early twentieth century. The Uheiji Charles Akita digital photograph collection contains scans of black-and-white photographs depicting the Japanese American community in Salt Lake City and images of Akita and his family on their farm in the 1930s and 1940s.
- Repository
-
University of Utah Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, UT
84112-0860
Telephone: 8015818863
special@library.utah.edu - Access Restrictions
-
Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.
- Languages
- English
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Charles Uheiji Akita (1881-1962) was a Japanese immigrant who settled in Utah in the early twentieth century. Akita immigrated to the United States in 1905 and initially worked on a dairy farm in the Pacific Northwest; soon after, he began working for the railroad and moved to Utah. In 1915, Akita returned to Japan to marry Sakaye Oka (1895-1936); they returned to Utah in 1916. Together, the couple had five children: Ruby Mitsuko, Frank Kenji, Sam Hideo, Joe, and Nobuko.
In the 1910s, Akita began working in farming on ten acres of land that he leased on 2559 South Third East in Salt Lake City, Utah. Though they grew many crops, the Akitas specialized in growing celery. Akita was involved with the Salt Lake County Japanese Garden Growers Association. As their sons grew into adults, the family expanded their farming operations, leasing additional land for the Charles and Sakaye's sons to work on. However, when the United States entered World War II, Charles and Sakaye's son Joe Akita was drafted to serve in the United States Army. After the war, their eldest son purchased a farm of his own in Riverton, while the other two left the farming business. With his children moving on from the family business, Charles Uheiji Akita gave up the lease on his farm by 1950 and worked as a landscaper. Charles Uheiji Akita died at the age of 81 in 1962. (Source: "Ruby Ushio," Interviews with Japanese Americans in Utah, 1984, https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6vd8g6x).
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The Uheiji Charles Akita digital photograph collection contains 9 scans of black-and-white photographs depicting Charles Uheiji Akita and his family and group portraits of the Japanese American community in Salt Lake City, Utah, between approximately 1930 and 1950.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Restrictions on Use
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.
Permission to publish material from the Uheiji Charles Akita digital photograph collection must be obtained from the Special Collections Manuscript Curator.
Preferred Citation
Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Arrangement
Arranged by subject.
Acquisition Information
Donated by Janet Thomas in 2007.
Processing Note
Processed by Special Collections staff. Click here to read a statement on harmful language in library records.
Related Materials
This collection forms part of the Mitsugi M. Kasai Memorial Japanese American Archive.
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
| Container(s) | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Box | Folder | |
| 1 | 1 | Joe Akita in Uniform, Group portraits at Church and in Japantown
|
| 1 | 2 | Uheiji (Charles) Akita with his grandson, Mitsuo Ushio, the son of his daughter Ruby. 1940
|
| 1 | 3 | Salt Lake County Japanese Garden Growers Association
|
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Japanese American soldiers--Utah--Salt Lake City--20th century--Photographs
- Japanese Americans--Utah--Photographs
- Japanese Americans--Utah--Salt Lake City--20th century--Photographs
Personal Names
- Akita, Charles Uheiji, 1881-1962--Family--Photographs
- Akita, Charles Uheiji, 1881-1962--Photographs
Corporate Names
- Salt Lake County Japanese Garden Growers Association--Photographs
Geographical Names
- Japantown (Salt Lake City, Utah)--Photographs
- Salt Lake City (Utah)
Form or Genre Terms
- Electronic reproductions
- Photographs
- Portraits
- digital images
