Shirt With Embroidered Signatures of 46 Japanese American Internees

Item image 1 of 2.

Seller: Langdon Manor Books, Houston, TX, U.S.A.Langdon Manor Books

5-star seller

AbeBooks seller since December 2, 2014

Association member: ABAAESATXBAIOBAILAB

View this seller's items

Condition: Used

£ 1,521.04

£ 3.69 shipping 
Ships within U.S.A.

Quantity: 1 available

Add to basket
Free 30-day returns

Item description from seller

[Poston Interment Camp, Arizona]:[circa 1944-1945]. Cotton shirt measuring 20" from tip of collar to waist, and 16" from shoulder to shoulder. Good: stained and lacking buttons. This is a button down shirt with the embroidered signatures of 46 Japanese Americans we believe were interned at the Poston War Relocation Center. Poston was the largest of the Japanese-American internment camps with a peak population of over 17,000, most of whom were from Southern California. Built by Del Webb of retirement community fame, it was on built on the land of the Colorado River Reservation when the government took control of 71,000 acres. The "227 " embroidered on the back just below the collar is an homage to the first group of Japanese Americans that were forced to evacuate, on six days notice: the 227 residents of Bainbridge Island in Washington state. The island actually held 276 Japanese Americans and those who were away during the expulsion were not allowed to return. Our attribution of place and date is based on the two full names embroidered on the shirt. The first, Yukiye Kanagawa, was born in 1921. There is no mention of a Yukiye Kanagawa in the National Archives records of entry into the camps, but Poston's final accountability roster from November 1945 shows Yukiye with both her maiden and married names. Her maiden name was Nakamura, and though there are two Yukiye Nakamuras listed as internees in the entry records, the other was born in 1939. Yukiye, from Reedly, California, was first interned at Poston, August 4, 1942 and was married to Robert Kiyoshi Kanagawa on February 4, 1944—hence our date attribution (they were both released February 8, 1945.) The other full name we read as "Helen Murata" but nobody by that name appears in any internment record we could locate. There was, however, a Helen Murato interned at Poston as well, the final letter of her name could have easily been subject to a transcription error in the records of the time. We are aware of another shirt containing embroidered signatures of internees from Tule Lake, held by Sacramento State University, but have been unable to locate any others. An exceptional artifact of internment with a palpable presence.

Seller Inventory # 2915

Bibliographic details

Title
Shirt With Embroidered Signatures of 46 Japanese American Internees
Seller catalogs
American Internment Camps, Japanese Americans, Textiles

Langdon Manor Books

Houston, TX, U.S.A.

5-star seller

AbeBooks seller since December 2, 2014

Association member:

Shipping rates within U.S.A.

Item5 to 14 business days3 to 6 business days
First item£ 3.69£ 7.38
Delivery times are set by sellers and vary by carrier and location. Orders passing through Customs may face delays and buyers are responsible for any associated duties or fees. Sellers may contact you regarding additional charges to cover any increased costs to ship your items.

Payment methods

  • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • American Express
  • Apple Pay
  • Google Pay

Store description

You may notice that despite the name of our business, you won't find a lot of books here. While we do sell some printed matter, we specialize in selling original source materials that tell compelling American stories. Our principal abandoned a reasonably successful law career to do this full time because life is too short not jump out of bed excited to start a work day. Our slogan, “The Extraordinary History of the Every Day”, matches our approach to the trade: we seek to preserve the exceptional stories of everyday people. Most of these folks probably had no idea that their actions were anything other than ordinary. As you look through our website and catalogs you'll find a wealth of compelling narratives. Also note that we don't limit ourselves to those lost to history as our work has enhanced many a wiki page. Considering our present inventory, you might also think we only buy and sell material related to underrepresented social groups and social movements. That's because of the response we receive from customers for this type of material and we would do nearly anything to avoid practicing law again. Truth be told, we get excited about preserving all sorts of interesting stories so the more you would educate us about your collecting interests, wants and what gets you excited, the more likely we'd recognize this material as something we should bring to market. So please feel free to reach out and tell us what you collect. Also, if you have items that you think may be of interest to us, please do not hesitate to write or call.

Specialty

Out of print, collectible books and ephemera

Association member

  • Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America
  • The Ephemera Society of America
  • Texas Booksellers Association
  • Independent Online Booksellers Association
  • International League of Antiquarian Booksellers
Members of these associations are committed to maintaining the highest standards. They vouch for the authenticity of all items offered for sale. They provide expert and detailed descriptions, disclose all significant defects and/or restorations, provide clear and accurate pricing, and operate with fairness and honesty during the purchase experience.

Seller's business information

Langdon Manor Books, LLC

212 W. 24th Street
Houston, TX U.S.A. 77008