About this Item
1943-1950s. A large archive documenting the teenage and early adult life of Japanese-American man Yutaka Tanaka, who spent several years interned at Canal Camp, Gila War Relocation Center in Arizona. This archive begins with Tanaka's 7th Grade class photograph at Canal Camp, documents his complete high school career through four yearbooks--his first being from Canal Camp (Rivulet 1945) and the final three from a typical American public high school after his release--plus various ephemera including several documents, 7 original Canal Camp class photos, and finally, the photo album of Tanaka's wedding. Contents overall Near Fine with light wear and toning and occasional soiling; items have been preserved with great care. Includes the following: - Rivulet 1945, the final yearbook of Canal High School, the school created to educate young inmates, with numerous signatures and inscriptions written to Tanaka from classmates and teachers. Some classmates have signed next to their printed portraits in text, but for the many who wrote messages to Tanaka on preliminary or terminal sheets, their tiny portraits, likely taken from silver gelatin prints of class photos, have been carefully clipped and glued in next to their inscriptions. White covers partially colored in with red and blue paint, gutter tears to first leaf, interior staples rusted. -Seven small original class photographs from Canal Camp, ID'd as the following: "1943 Canal Elem. School 7th Grade," trimmed short but inscribed to Yutaka on the rear by a Mrs. Domoto, perhaps his 7th grade teacher; "1944 Canal Elem. School Gila Relocation Center 8th Grade": Four images ID'd as the 1945 Gila Relocation Center Canal High School Freshman Class showing unique groups of students; and one 1944 photograph not ID'd but signed by roughly 18 of those pictured in a large group shot. -Canal Camp map, folded and annotated with numbers and dates, perhaps unrelated. - Echo 1946, 1947, and 1948. Three yearbooks from Sanger Union High School, which Tanaka attended after his family was released from internment. The first yearbook features just six inscriptions on the first few pages, while the second, in which Tanaka makes an appearance on the track team, has dozens. "Here's to a swell little guy with a big personality," writes one friend, "our all-American track star." The final yearbook is also heavily inscribed, and Tanaka is now a track manager, indicating an apparently successful return to normal life. A newspaper clipping with photographs of graduates is laid into the 1948 yearbook. Also cards and ephemera relating to the June 1948 commencement ceremony, Tanaka's diploma, and invitations to high school reunions fifty years later. - Two 1950 draft documents--Tanaka was found not acceptable for induction. - A reproduction of a photograph of the Tanaka family in the 1920s, and a circa 1950s photo of a large gathering. - A white leatherette photo album of Tanaka's wedding in the 1950s. This is the only item with significant soiling, limited to the inside of the front cover and verso of the first few pages. A sweeping glimpse of the internment and postwar education and life of one young man. The most poignant item is the 1945 yearbook, which opens with a foreword praising former students who served in the military. The first and last few pages are covered with inscriptions, most of which convey generic best wishes, though one friend opens with "It's been a long time since we met -- I learned some bad things and a few good things but it was fun." The yearbook is filled with photographs of students smiling and squinting in the bright Arizona sun, as well as teacher pictures and individual studio portraits of graduates. Canal High School had a Student Council, a newspaper called "Hi-Tide," a handbook called "Bear Trails," a band, a cheerleading squad, and various associations and sports teams. Apart from the fact that every student is Japanese, there is little to distinguish Rivulet 1945 from any oth.
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