[Letters]: Sigma Chapter of Kappa Phi University of California

Small black paper folder measuring 9" x 11½". Contains eight typed letters, two typed schedules, newspaper clippings, and a handwritten title page for a sorority notebook. All items near fine or better. A small collection of retained letters to an Asian-American student, Aiko Takita, at the University of California, Berkeley between 1948 and 1949. The letters and information pertain to Takita joining and working with various organizations including Alpha Mu Gamma, a National Foreign Language Honorary Society; the University Young Women’s Christian Association; and the Sigma Chapter of Kappa Phi. Additionally included is a folder with a handwritten title page reading "Publicity Kappa Phi Spring ‘49 Aiko Takita Chairman," followed by blank pages presumably meant to be used for Takita’s notes. Takita’s daily schedule is also seen here which includes her various organization meetings along with her classes and time spent studying at libraries. This archive, although modest, is interesting due to the fact that Takita and her family were interred only a few years earlier during World War II. Takita, her sister and her mother were sent to the Tanforan Assembly Center in San Bruno, California before being sent to the Topaz War Relocation Center in Millard County, Utah. The two sisters were apparently active in music, education, and Protestant religious activities at the camps. Two years later Takita took those interests back to California and continued her pursuit of education, both academic and religious, at University of California, Berkeley. An interesting collection of ephemera following a young Asian-American’s time at the University of California just after World War II.…