Willis Carl Nugent was born in 1892. He was ordained to the ministry in the Reformed Church in 1920. He married Pearl Graul in 1920, and the couple sailed to Japan, where they lived until 1930. The couple's four children were all born in Japan. After a brief period of education in the United States, the Nugents returned to Japan. Reverend Nugent worked as an evangelist in the countryside, and Pearl helped to develop kindergartens. In 1940 the Nugents returned to the United States and lived in San Francisco. He continued his ministerial duties in Tanforan, and the family moved to Delta, Utah, to be close to the Federated Church in the Topaz Relocation Center. After Topaz was closed, the Nugent family moved to Illinois before returning to Japan. In retirement they lived in Ohio. Rev. Nugent died in August 1971, and Pearl died in February 1986.
The Willis Carl and Pearl Graul Nugent papers contain biographical information, a sermon, publications, and drawings of the Topaz Relocation Center.
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Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.
Donated by Loretta Saint-Louis in 2009.
Photographs were transferred to the Multimedia Archives of Special Collections (P1584).
Processed by Karen Carver in 2009.
Forms part of the Japanese American Archive.