Showers of Blessing: Community United Methodist Church, Ontario, Oregon, 1945-1995, Fifty Years of Faith.

MTGMss837.xml Guide to the Henry K. Hashitani Papers circa 1904-2019 (bulk 1904-1949) Hashitani (Henry K.) Papers Finding aid prepared by Donna McCrea, Kellyn Younggren and Kristin Gates Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula © 2013

Missoula, MT 59812 406-243-2053 http://www.lib.umt.edu/asc library.archives@umontana.edu

Finding aid encoded by Donna McCrea 2013 Finding aid written in English. 2015 Photographs added to collection and collection title revised. 2021 Letters added to collection and title revised. University of Montana, Mansfield Library, Archives and Special Collections

The University of Montana—Missoula Missoula, MT 59812 406-243-2053 http://www.lib.umt.edu/asc library.archives@umontana.edu

Mss 837 Hashitani, Henry K. (Henry Katsuji) ca. 1885-1952 Henry K. Hashitani Papers circa 1904-2019(bulk 1904-1949) 2.0 linear feet and 7 electronic files 2.25 megabytes of digital material Diaries, photographs, and letters of Henry K. Hashitani, who immigrated to the United States from Japan in 1903, and other family members, including his wife Takako. He worked on the railroad near Missoula, Montana, around 1905 before moving to Emmett, Idaho, where he farmed and supplied vegetables to miners. In 1934, he moved to Nyssa, Oregon, where he continued farming and served as a community leader. The diaries and letters are in Japanese. A translation into English of the earliest diary is included with the collection. A few selected letters are also partially translated into English. Materials are inJapaneseand English Biographical Note

Katsuji Hashitani was born in Japan on August 2, 1885 and lived in Tottoriken. According to the translated portions of his diaries and a biography written by his daughter, Alice, he emigrated from Japan to Seattle, Washington, in 1903, arriving in the United States on the boat Kanagawa Maru on June 3. He adopted the English name of Henry. Along with a friend, Henry Fujii, he found work thinning beets in Billings, Montana. Later they joined a section gang working on the railroad near Missoula, Montana. In the evenings, he took English lessons. After two years, Henry Hashitani moved to Emmett, Idaho, where Fujii joined him. They rented 80 acres, bought a team of horses, wagon and buggy, and supplied vegetables for Emmett and mining cities in the area. At some point Fujii and Hashitani went to Japan for brides. Henry married Takako Yawata (b. July 10, 1889), from the city of Yanago, and returned with her to Seattle. Later, along with their four children, George, Roy, Raymond and Alice, they moved to Scism, Idaho. In 1934, the family moved once again, this time to Oregon, where Hashitani farmed around the area of Nyssa. He was a devout Christian, president of the Japanese men's club, and chairman of the finances for the building of the Ontario (Oregon) Community Methodist Church. Henry Katsuji Hashitani died on August 14, 1952. Takako Hashitani died two months later on October 23, 1952.

Series I of the Henry K. Hashitani Papers consists of four original diaries by Henry Katsuji Hashitani, written in old Japanese and dating from approximately 1904 to 1949. It is expected that these diaries document his thoughts and activities during the years covered. Photocopies of a translation into English of the first portion of the first diary and photocopies of brief biographical sketches written by Hashitani's daughter are also included. In 2019, a full translation of the first diary was given to the Archives and placed in the collection. An article written by Henry Fujii's daughter, Mary Fujii Henshall, chronicles the lives of Hashitani and Fujii in the United States.

Series II contains correspondence between Henry Hashitani and Takako before their marriage, as well as other correspondence between the Hashitanis in the United States and family and friends in Japan. These letters are primarily written in old Japanese, and a select few have been partially translated into both English and modern Japanese.

Series III consists of seven digital photographs of Henry Hashitani and his family. Printed versions of the digital photographs are in Box 1.

This collection is arranged in three series:

Series I: Diaries, 1904-1949, 0.4 linear feet

Series II: Letters, 1912-1950, 1.6 linear feet

Series III: Photographs, 7 electronic files

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana-Missoula.

Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Non-exclusive copyright transferred to The University of Montana.

Henry K. Hashitani Papers, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.

These diaries were held by Hashitani's daughter, Alice, until their donation to the University of Washington in the late 1980s. In 1989, they were returned to the family by UW. Letters were held by the family until their donation in 2019.

Gift of Donna Hashitani Thomas to Archives and Special Collections at the University of Montana in 2013 and 2019. Dave and Lissa Forrey donated a newspaper article in 2013 and seven digital images of Henry Hashitani and his family in 2014.

Because the dates within the diaries are in Japanese, at this time, the description of the diaries does not include a date - this will be updated when a translation of dates is available. A few loose papers from the 4th diary were removed from the diary but retained within the collection. A newspaper article and prints of digital photographs and were added to the collection in 2015. In 2019, the family donated the correspondence and documents that make up Series II, and they were processed in 2021. Because the letters are also written in Japanese, dates for most are not available in English.

Biographical information about Henry Hashitani is featured in the publication Showers of Blessing: Community United Methodist Church, Ontario, Oregon, 1945-1995, Fifty Years of Faith.

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Nishitani, 1918-2010 Alice Yoshiko Hashitani Montana--Social life and customs--20th century Montana--Emigration and immigration Japanese Americans--Montana--Diaries Japanese American--Idaho--Diaries Japanese American--Washington (State)--Diaries Japanese American--Oregon--Diaries Immigrants--United States Farm life--Montana Railroads--Montana--Billings Diaries--Montana--Missoula Agriculture Japanese Americans Montana Oregon Japanese American farmers--United States Series I Diaries 1905-1949 0.4 linear feet

The diaries in this series are arranged chronologically

1/1 Diary 1 1905-1907 7/8 Diary 1 - English Translations

A partial translation of Diary 1 was created in 1987 by Kaxuko Kuramoto. The remainer of the English translation of Diary 1 was created in 2019 by Machiko Yamamoto, Kumi Sakamoto and Yoshi Nanjo.

1987 and 2019 7/9 Diary 1 - Modern Japanese Translation

Translation from old Japanese to Modern Japanese by Koji Ueshima, Kuniko Enomoto and Yoshiko Taniguchi.

1906-1907 1/2 Diary 2 October 1, 1911 - June 14, 1912 7/10 Diary 2 - English Translation 2020 7/11 Diary 2 - Modern Japanese Translation 2020 1/3 Diary 3 1911-1914 7/12 Diary 3 - English Translation 2022 7/13 Diary 3 - Modern Japanese Translation 2022 1/4 Diary 4 date unknown 1/5 Biographies of H. K. Hashitani by Alice Hashitani Nishitani 1996 and undated 1/6 Newspaper article in the Pacific Citizen about H. Hashitani and Henry Fujii by Mary Fujii Henshall December 1971 Series II Letters 1912-1950 1.6 linear feet

Correspondence in Series II was grouped together based on the accompaniment of a corresponding envelope with a visible postmark date. Letters that were previously separated from their envelopes were housed together, and empty envelopes were moved to Box 4.

2 / 1 Correspondence