Claire B. Sprague Collection

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  Letter from Kazuye Abe to Claire D. Sprauge, June 8, 1942

  Kazuye Abe

  Dear Mrs. Sprague,

  Hello! I do not know what to wright [write], but soon we may have to move away from the Stockton fair ground.

  Every week day I am going to school now. [We] have arithmetic, spelling, Language art, and other things. Its very fun and they [ ] give us some history or geography. I hope you are fine. We are doing well here now. [We] eat ham and eggs at breakfast at dinner cabbage, hash, hamberger [hamburger] corn beaf [beef]. And many vegetabes [vegetables]. I guess I’m getting kind of fat now. We had a Stockton and Lodi graudution [graduation] on Friday June 5 at the grand stand. It was very interesting. Good-bye.

  Always,

  Kazuye Abe

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  Letter from Emiko Hayashi to Claire D. Sprauge, June 6, 1942

  Emiko Hayashi

  June 6, 1942

  Dear Mrs. Sprague,

  I’m sorry I didn’t write to you sooner. In Manzanar it is very nice except a little hot and dusty. I was sick for one day after we had our typhoid shot. On Tuesday we are going to have our second one. I bet you were very busy Friday. I bet the boys and girls were all happy because it will be summer vacation. Out here we have no school. All we do is eat, play, and sleep. My mother said I am getting too lazy. On the way to Manzanar we past [passed] through Turlock. I saw [Puthie] and [Ayoko]. Lots of Japanese people were waiting for the train. Dorthy [Dorothy] [Sakuri] said you were going to visit Turlock. I wish you can come to Manzanar, so I can meet you but Manzanar is a little too far because it took us sixteen hours to reach here. Well it’s late now. Write when you have time.

  Yours till [still],

  Emiko Hayashi

  Blk. 30 Barrack 1

  Unit 1

  Manzanar

  [Rec.] Center

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  Postcard from Mrs. H. Itaya to Claire D. Sprauge, May 25, 1942

  H. Itaya

  Dear Mrs. Sprague,

  I have received your card. There is a reception room at second gate east on [Charter] Way. We will be there at your appointed time.

  Yours truly,

  Mrs. H. Itaya 1942

  Black 4 Barr. [barrack] 58

  [ID] #55 Unit A

  Mrs. Claire Sprague

  1444 N. Baker St., [street]

  Stockton, Calif. [California]

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  Postcard from Mrs. H. Itaya to Claire D. Sprauge,May 28, 1942

  H. Itaya

  May 28, 1942

  Dear Mrs. Sprague,

  Thank you very much for the shower caps and Ray’s studies. I hope you will be visiting us soon again so I can pay you for everything.

  Sincerely,

  Mrs. H. Itaya

  Mrs. H. Itaya

  4-58-A

  Stockton Asians Center

  Mrs. Claire Sprague

  1444 N. [North] Baker St., [street]

  Stockton, Calif. [California]

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  Letter from Ray Itaya to Claire D. Sprauge, June 5, 1942

  Ray Itaya

  June 5, ‘42 [1942]

  Dear Mrs. Sprague,

  Hello! Thanks for the nice workbook. There isn't nothing going on but today [but] [the] graduates of Stockton High and Lodi High graduated. I enclose our newspaper and the program paper of the high school. Well I’ll close now.

  Sincerely,

  Ray Itaya

  P.S. I’ll write more next time.

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  Letter from Ray Itaya to Claire D. Sprauge, May 18, 1942

  Ray Itaya

  May 18, 1942

  Dear Mrs. Sprague,

  Hello! I received your letter today. How’s everything? They’re making the reception room now so I'll let you know when it's going to open. My mother said to send me some homework cause [because] there isn't any school out here, all I do is play and write letters. Well I'll close now.

  Sincerely,

  Ray Itaya

  P.S. I [I’ll] write more next time.

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  Letter from Dorothy Sakuri to Claire D. Sprague, May 29, 1942

  Dorothy Sakuri

  May 29, 1942

  Dearest Mrs. Sprague,

  How are you? Fine I hope We are all fine here in Manzanar. We reached here about 8:30 A.M. this morning. We came up to a little turn near here in a train. The rest of the way we came by buss. We had a nice trip up to here. We came right by Turlock. Camp and all of the Japanese people in Turlock camp were standing on the fence with their hats, handkerchiefs, and flags. When we went by they all waved to us. Some girls and boys said they saw Ayoko [Fujimoto] and some other girls. Over here we are surrounded by hills. The hills are all desert and one side in the top of the hill there is snow. The mountains are very pretty. Coming here the [Yorimotos] family and our family had a car all to ourselves. 9That is in the train.) We had plenty of room on the train. We came through a desert and we saw many cactus plants and rabbits on the desert. We live near the [Watanabe’s], [Yamasaki’s], Yamamoto’s], [Hatanaka’s], and many other French camp people. It is very sandy here. And there are no gates. But there is a certain line that we can’t go by. Outside of that line is all desert. If we go out of that line they will say, “halt.” If you don’t stop they shoot at you. We didn’t eat at the mess hall today. We bought some food from home so we ate that. But I will tell you what I eat as soon as I eat at the Mess Hall. The weather here is very hot. And yet the wind blows. The houses are very good. We had a little stove in ours. I think there is a little stove in every house. The stove is to keep warm. I sure miss my pet dogs and things. I hope they are all fine. I did not get any [nouns] but I will try and send you some next time. Well, I’ll close now.

  Your sixth grade student,

  Dorothy Sakurai

  P.S. My address is

  Block 27 Bldg. 8 Apt. [apartment] 1

  Manzanar Reception Center

  Manzanar, California

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  Letter from Dorothy Sakuri to Claire D. Sprauge, June 5, 1942

  Dorothy Sakuri

  June 5, 1942

  Dear Mrs. Sprague,

  I received you letter yesterday and sure was happy to hear from you. I am use to here now but I still would like to go home to French Camp better. This is really a nice place though. The weather here is very hot. But French Camp is hotter. The other day a boy saw a scorpion and hollered so Yuriko [Yonemoto] and my brother, sister, and [Tome] [Yonemoto], my father and I went to see it. It is yellow. It had scissors and on the tip of his tail he has a large stinger. If he stings they say you’ll die in about 3 hours. It has many legs and a long tail. If you touch him or bother him he sticks up his tail and points his stinger at you then chose you. There are many snakes here too. I saw two gopher snakes already. I just got my typhoid small pox shot last Tues. [Tuesday]. My arm ached like everything but it is okay now. We have to go get two more typhoid shots. After I get my shots my arm just hangs like I was trying to lift a ton of iron. Please excuse my writing for I have to sit and write on the bed because we didn’t bring any tables or chairs. The water here is very soft. Everything gets clean right away. But the soap is hard to get off. I will try and draw you and the class a picture tonight and send it as soon as possible. Well, I'll close now.

  Your sixth grade pupil,

  Dorothy Sakurai

  P.S. Please tell the class “hello” for me. Thank you.

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  "Jimmie, who was sent to a Japanese Relocation Center", n.d. [1942]

  Claire D. Sprague

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  Letter by Claire D. Sprague about evacuated students and theirs families, April 1942

  Claire D. Sprague

  April 1942

  We will have to move away to the Japanese camp they all say. Still I will always do my part by buying defense stamps with all my heart” by Fujino Yoshida. Here Fujino Yoshida symbolizes the spirit of the California Japanese child as his final assignment before leaving French Camp Grammar School, which is located in the heart of the fertile San Joaquin Valley. 12 yr. [year] old Fujino Yoshida is but one of 80 young Japanese from this school who [have been] were evacuated from their homes and sent to Assembly Centers during the [past few weeks] W.W. II [World War] period. Lonesome for their school mates and friends at French Camp, these young [ ] [have] poured out letter after letter telling of happy moments and sad ones. As their teacher for several years I had come to know and understand them. Though these letters may seem a little strange to others, to me they represented all the emotions of the American born Japanese child. “We had a nice trip up here to Manzinar [Manzanar],” writes Dorothy Sakurai, “We came right by Turlock camp and all our Japanese friends from French Camp were standing on the fence waving their hats, hands, and flags as we went by.” She continues, “Over here we are surrounded by hills. The hills are all desert and on one side of the top of the hill there is snow. The mountains are very pretty.” Haru Tanaka who went to the Turlock Assembly Center with her parents and 9 brothers and sisters wrote “I am lonesome without those puppies and if you know where our place is you can go see our puppies.” She wrote again. “We had three little kittens too-I wonder how big they are now- Maybe the little ducks are hatched by now.” However, Haru isn't too lonesome because she wrote, “The Watanabe’s, Yamasaki’s, and Yonemoto’s and many other French Camp families are here for our neighbors at Turlock. In a later letter Dorothy Sakurai describes the camp at Manzinar [Manzanar]. “It is very sandy here and there are no gates, but there is a certain line that you cannot go by. Outside that line is the desert. The weather here is very hot, but the wind blows. The houses are very good. We have a little stove in ours. I think there is a little stove in every house. The stove is to keep warm.” California’s entire Japanese population was housed in these Assembly Centers, constructed on Fair Grounds and Race Tracks and other places throughout of the state. These places provided temporary homes for the Japanese until arrangements could be made to move them to other central and western states. Camps were operated on a summer camp basis-canteens were in operation. They used coupon books to [buy] make their purchases. They lived in barracks and ate in a giant mess hall. After the first few days they amended the meal time check off system so that each family had its own number. This assured the family group that they would not be separated and was much easier on the tongues of those in charge. Each person had an individual bed (somewhat of a novelty to the children of the large Japanese families). The beds and equipment caused enthusiastic response from the Japanese boys who write repeatedly that they were sleeping on army cots with army blankets just like the soldiers!! However! The biggest hit of the camp was the shower. [Marjorie] sheepishly reported that she spent most of the first afternoon under the shower and left no hot water for the rest of the camp. A few had difficulty getting accostomed [accustomed] to the shower bath but all were impressed by it. [Family oriental style of bathing in the large tub had been the vogue for these farm families]. Upon my visit to the Stockton Assembly Center, Mrs. Harry Itaya requested that I send her some shower bath caps. She related that her 5 small children had their hair continuously wet from going back and back and back to the showers. The Itaya family is a representative group of evacuees. Harry, about 35was a moderately prosperous truck gardener. His vegetable route, with deliveries starting when some people were on their way to bed, covered many of Stockton’s major stores. Harry, who was progressive and used latest farming methods brought his children up in American traditions. Mrs. Itaya, although shy, was a member of the [Parent] Teacher Group at French Camp [] Thru her efforts enough wool was purchased by the Japanese people to knit some 180 squares for afgans [afghans] for the jr. [junior] Red Cross. This was done as a school project which was almost halted when the war knitting craze caused a shortage of knitting needles. Creative Japanese, however converted chop sticks into knitting needles and the project continued. 12 yr. [year] old Ray Itaya had been my pupil for 2 yrs. [years]. He too might be taken as representative of the Japanese child in the community, clean, honest, and industrious. During war time, the American children in French Camp school deserved the highest praise for their [tolerance] love [during war time-of] for their Japanese class mates. [Today] They are spent all their spare time in the fields, doing their part in an attempt to salvage [this year’s] the crops. Oddly enough, they have been [using] a used a small part of their earnings to send candy and gum etc. to their Japanese class mates at Assembly Centers- Yes! All this [could only] happened in America! (Mrs. Claire Sprague 1444 N. [North] Baker Stockton Calif. [California]. This is a letter written by Mrs. Claire Sprague a teacher at French Camp School. 1942

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  "Letter of the Week", Saturday Evening Post August 15, 1942

  Claire D. Sprague

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  "Fairground takes on air of miniature city," Stockton Record May 13, 1942

  Stockton Daily Evening Record

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  Letter from Yoshi Sugiyama to Claire D. Sprauge, June 5, 1942

  Yoshi Sugiyama

  Manzanar, Reception Center

  June 5, 1942

  Dear Mrs. Sprague,

  How are you? I hope you are fine. This camp is very good. The weather is fine too. Some time it is very windy. They have two store here. One store is a dry good store. They got clothes and shoes, school supplies here. One is a food store. They got candy, cracker, ice cream, orange, soda water, cookies, and cigarettes. They say they make three thousand and fifty dollar a day here. I got lots of friends here too. We make lots of airplane models. We are serounded [surrounded] with mountains. I fill [feel] good here because when I look at the Mount Witiny [Whitney]. They say they are going to make a swimming pool here. We can stay up as late as we want and wake up as early as you want. We didn’t have to get a stove because we all got a oil heater. We get three army blankets or each person. We eat from 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM o'clock in the morning 12:00 PM-1:00 PM in afternoon and 5:00 PM-6:00 in night and on Sunday we eat 8:00 AM-9:00. I took my small pox and first typhoid shot. I have to take the second on June 9. We eat mush, toast and milk and bacon [ ] [ ] morning. In afternoon we eat salad, lettuce, and meat and many other things. At night we eat rice, stew, lemonade and fish. We have lots of good things to eat. I think they, we are luckier than the other camps I think. We get nice beds. They are single beds with hay matress [mattress]. They say they are shipping furnitchure [furniture] here. We take showers every day. [They] right close to everyone. We don't have to walk far to the kitchen. The houses is very nice. They got six windows. Dorothy live in the same building only the different apartment. The apartment are like this. They are all same. All the French camp people live near together.

  Yours very very truly,

  Yoshi Sugiyama

  P.S. Write to me soon and tell all my friends “hello”!

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  Letter from Motomu Takata to Claire D. Sprauge, May 20, 1942

  Motomu Takata

  Turlock Assembly Center

  Block A Barracks 5 Unit 11

  Turlock, California

  May 20, 1942

  Dear Mrs. Sprague,

  I am very sorry I did not write sooner. I was very bust making benches and tables and shelves. We were vaccinated 3 times too so I couldn’t move my arm. It took about 1 1/2 weeks to get [the 3 shots] well. They treat us very good here. It is dull to because there is nothing to do. The big boys and girls and the men get jobs. They get paid about 5 to 20 dollars a month. It depends on the kind of work. One of my brothers has a job as a butcher and the other has a job as a workman. My father works on a one acre garden which was made by the French Camp farmers. It is very hot. I am sweating like it is raining. It rains once in a while and is windy to [too] sometimes. [Is] [Takashi] [Sato] and Roy Yonemoto still coming to school. If they are tell them to send me a letter. My adress [address] is Turlock Assembly Center, Block A Barrack 5 Unit 11 or Room 11. Well I will have to close now.

  Sincerely,

  Motomu Takata

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  Letter from Haru Tanaka to Claire D. Sprauge, July 11, 1942

  Haru Tanaka

  Turlock Assembly Center

  Block A, Barrack 4, Dept. [department] 18

  Turlock, California

  Dear Mrs. Sprague,

  I was glad to receive the nice letter you wrote. I don’t know what the visiting hours are now so when I find out I’ll tell you next time. Gee! Don’t you think it's very far from Stockton to this Turlock camp. I hope you could come to see us though. It’s a very long trip. At morning when I wake up and change my clothes we go to eat. Now-a-days we have tickets to go and eat. After we come home my sisters and I make the beds and clean up the rooms. We have two rooms. After that I play with my neighbor or do anything. Sometimes we used to go in the emty [empty] barracks and read library books. It is nice and quiet in the emty [empty] barracks. Yesterday the walnut grove people came in so I don’t think we could go in the emty [empty] barracks anymore. Eleven thirty we eat our noon lunch. After that sometimes I study my spelling or read my book. I don’t have anything else to do. Gee I feel like learning songs now but I didn’t bring my music book so I couldn’t learn now. I have only a spelling book and a library book to study. Sometimes we go up the grand stand and play up there. Under the grand stand the little childrens study. Last week my sisters and my mother were very busy making shelves and closets. My father made the tables and chairs. Altogether my father made four tables and six inside benches and four outdoor chairs. I’m still lonesome without those puppies yet. If you know where our place used to be you could go and see our puppies. We had three little kittens too. I wonder how big they are now. Maybe the little ducks hatched by now. Well I’ll have to close now.

  Good Bye

  Haru Tanaka

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  Letter from Haru Tanaka to Claire D. Sprauge, n.d. [1942]

  Haru Tanaka

  Turlock Ass. [Assembly] Center

  A-4-17, 18

  Turlock, Calif. [California]

  Dear Mrs. Sprague,

  Did you go to vacation yet? I know we couldn’t. We have to move pretty soon. About the end of this month. How is the summer weather over there? Ours is in the morning it is cold, and later on it becomes so hot I just hate to wake up in the morning. It’s so cold. Every Friday night there’s a vaudeville show and this Friday it was the last one here because we have to be moving out. The L.A. [Los Angeles] and Walnut grove people are going out first because they came about the last. We have to move out about the last. I’m having kind of fun here. We go to school, but school isn't very fun. I’m real homesick. I wished that the war didn’t start. I want to see my Bingo and Bobby. I bet our prunes are all ripe. Last week my sister cut her appendisides [appendicitis] and I was so lonesome. She had to go to Modesto to cut it. She’s in their Hospital now. So long. Over

  Yours truly

  Haru Tanaka

  P.S. Not having very much a fine time. Boo, hoo, I want to go home.

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  Dorothy Sakurai, 1942

  unknown

  Back of photograph: Dorothy Sakurai Center Mrs. Claire Sprague's Class French Camp School 1942

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  [Feruka] Watanabe, n.d. [1942]

  unknown

  Back of photograph: This was taken at French Camp School [Feruka] Watanabe now at Manzanar Japanese Assembly Center

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  James Shinmoto, 1942

  unknown

  Back of photograph: James Shinmoto now at Turlock Assembly Center 11 yrs [years] old 1942 for Mrs. Claire Sprague his teacher at French Camp School

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  Ray Itaya, 1942

  unknown

  Back of photograph: Ray Itaya oldest of 5 children. Family now in Stockton Assembly Center 12 yrs [years] old 6th grade French Camp School 1942

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  Yoshi Sugiyama, 1942

  unknown

  Back of photograph: Yoshi Sugiyama Evacuated from Alameda to Stockton now at Manzinar [Mananzar] 11 yrs [years] old for Mrs. Claire Sprague his teacher at French Camp School 1942

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  Letter from T. Watanabe to Claire D. Sprauge, June 6, 1942

  T. Watanabe

  Blk. 27 Bldg. [building] 6 Apt. [Apartment] 4

  Manzanar Reception Center

  Manzanar, Calif. [California]

  June 6, 1942

  Dear teacher,

  How are you? I am fine. How was the graduation? I am sorry I didn’t write soon. I do not have anything to do. Over here is a nice place but I wish I were at home. You said you wanted the nouns and meals mentioned so I will write and tell. I didn’t find lots of [nouns]. [They] were as followed: 1. A big long diary form. 2. sagbrush [sagebrush] and cactus which was very big. 3. Train on a long bridge under which grows apricot trees. 4. The [Mojave] Desert. I wrote the meals of one day, too. Breakfast- bread-ham-apples. Dinner-lettuce- [buts] with vinegar-noodles with soup. There was meat and onions in the soup. Supper-rice-still with meat and onions and carrots spinach. Out here people have dogs, bicycles, sewing machines (portable), and big trunks, etc. And we could go to any block we wish to go to. Out here there are 4 family’s in a building and 6 windows to 1 family. There are [8] library’s but not enough books. It is not fun here though. The boys play baseball and the girls just wander around and talk. I tried to write to you many times but I always seem to be making a mistake on a clean paper but this time I succeeded in writing without any mistakes. I hope everyone got into the 7th grade. It sure is hot here. I hope you excuse me for not writing soon.

  Teruko Wantanabe

  P.S. Hope you understand my writing.

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  Fujino Yoshida Biography, n.d. [1942]

  Fujino Yoshida

  Fujino

  My Biography

  My name is Fujino Yoshida. I was born at Stockton in 1931.My grandfather dies in July and I was born the next month, August 15. I did not get to see my grandfather. But I have a grandmother living with us now. She is 61 years old and her name is Tara. She is the mother of my father. My father is 37 or 38 years old and his name is Shokuro. My mother is the same age as my father and her name is Tsuneyo. When I was 2 or 3 years old my ear was very bad. I was sent to a hospital in Stockton. The doctor said I must stay in the hospital and operate my ear. So I stayed in around half a year. Then around 9 years old I cut my tonsils. At that time I was still living in the same house even now. When I grow up I want to sing in the record.

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  Fujino Yoshida Poem "Moving Away", April 22, 1942

  Fujino Yoshida

  1942

  Moving Away

  Created by Fujino Yoshida

  6th grade, French Camp School-Apr. [April] 22, 1942

  We will have to move away,

  To the Japanese camp they all say,

  Still I will always do my part,

  By buying defense stamps with all my heart.

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  Letter from Fujino Yoshida to Claire D. Sprauge, May 15, 1942

  Fujino Yoshida

  May 15, 1942

  Dear Mrs. Sprague,

  I received your postcard few days ago but I wasn’t able to write because I got a shock [shot] in my arm that day and it sure hurted. I’m sorry I didn’t answer your postcard. It was my 2nd shock. I’ll have to do it again next week. When I received your postcard I was very glad to hear from you. It is very lonely out here because my classmates aren't here. I’m also lonely because you aren't here, too. Are you still trying to do the dance? Well I’ll stop now.

  Goodbye.

  Truly yours

  Fujino Yoshida

  Blk. 17. Brk. 6-Unit 5

  Turlock Assembly Center

  Turlock, Calif. [California]

  P.S. Will you please give these letters to the person that its addressed to.