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Eddie Sato Comic Strip and Camp Harmony Drawings, 1942-1985

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Sato, Eddie, 1923-2005
Title
Eddie Sato Comic Strip and Camp Harmony Drawings
Dates
1942-1985 (inclusive)
Quantity
60 works, comprising drawings, watercolors, and miscellaneous items (3 boxes)
Collection Number
PH1653
Summary
Original pen and ink and watercolor drawings by a Japanese-American artist
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

Selected images can be viewed on the Libraries' Digital Collections website. Permission of Visual Materials Curator required to view originals. Contact Special Collections for more information.

Request at UW

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

Eddie Sato was a Japanese-American artist who grew up in Seattle. In 1942, at age 19, Sato was incarcerated with other Seattle Japanese Americans at the Puyallup Assembly Center, called "Camp Harmony," in Puyallup, Washington. Sato served as a staff artist for the Camp Harmony newspaper, sketching scenes of everyday life at the camp. After his later transfer to the Minidoka relocation Center in Minidoka, Idaho, he began to publish cartoons in The Minidoka Irrigator starring a young boy named “Dokie.” Dokie’s name was chosen through a contest organized by the editors of the Irrigator and derived from that of the incarcerations center. The series ran until May 1943, when Sato enrolled in the US army and left Minidoka.

Sato subsequently fought in the U.S. Army's 442nd Battalion (also known as the 442nd Regimental Combat Team), a highly decorated, all-Nisei unit that took part in the Allied invasion of Italy. Immediately following this demobilization in 1945, Sato began producing cartoons once again, creating new characters and adventures in several narrative strips. As far as can be determined, none of these cartoon strips were published, although Sato produced a few Dokie cartoons for The Northwest Times, “[t]he only all-English Neisei newspaper in the Pacific Northwest,” beginning in March 1947. Dokie re-introduces himself to readers in a front-page article of the March 7, 1947 issue, entitled “Yes, Dokie Has Returned from the Wars. He Surely Misses Camp Life.” Sato later worked as a commercial artist in Chicago. Digitized issues of The Northwest Times can be found through the Library of Congress here.

In later life Sato worked as a commercial artist in Chicago and was involved in efforts to gain recognition for those incarcerated during WWII.

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Historical Background

In 1942, in response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor the previous December, over 100,000 Japanese Americans (more than 70% of whom were American citizens) were removed from their homes and incarcerated in camps. These residents of Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, and Alaska were sent to local temporary assembly centers and then to remote incarceration camps where many spent the rest of the war. Life at the camps was strictly regulated, with roll calls and curfews, and camp residents lost basic civil rights such as the right to religious freedom, the right to assemble, and the right to privacy. In April 1942, Seattle’s Japanese community began to be shipped to Camp Harmony, the temporary assembly center in Puyallup. Within a week, more than 2,500 Seattle Japanese Americans had been transported to Puyallup; by the end of May, over 7,000 people were living at Camp Harmony. After four months, the residents of Camp Harmony were transported to the Minidoka Relocation Center in southern Idaho, where many spent the duration of the war.

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Content Description

The collection comprises watercolors, charcoal sketches, original cartoon strips, and mixed media works produced by Eddie Sato. The watercolor and charcoal sketches related to Sato’s time at Camp Harmony and the Minidoka Relocation Center. The original cartoon strips represent unpublished pen and ink designs, none of which correspond to those published in The Northwest Times. The mixed media works are either commercial in subject or related to the incarceration of Japanese Americans.

For further background on the Minidoka Relocation Center, see the Densho encyclopedia entry here.

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Use of the Collection

Alternative Forms Available

View the digital version of the collection

Restrictions on Use

Creator's copyrights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged in 3 series.

  • Cartoon Works, 1946-47
  • Camp Harmony Works, 1942
  • Poster Mockups and Miscellaneous Works, 1943-1985

Acquisition Information

Donor: Doris Sato, September 9, 2011.

Processing Note

Processed by Grant G. Mandarino, 2022.

Related Materials

Eddie Sato Camp Harmony Sketchbook and Drawings, Digital Collections, PH Coll 664

Camp Harmony Newsletter Souvenir Edition (drawings by Sato)

Camp Harmony Newsletter (May-August, 1942)

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Detailed Description of the Collection

 

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Subject Terms

  • Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)


2022 (Last modified: 5/12/2023)

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