Finding Aids > UC Los Angeles > Special Collections, Young Research Library

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Descriptive Summary

Title:
Kango Takamura Paintings, 1942-1945

Collection number:
433

Creator:
Takamura, Kango, 1895-1990

Extent:
1 box (.5 linear ft.)
2 oversize boxes

Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.

Los Angeles, California 90095-1575

Abstract:
Kango Takamura (1895-1994) was an photo retoucher for RKO Studios in Los Angeles when Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese Imperial Navy. He was detained by the FBI in 1942 after offering to sell a motion-picture camera to a visiting Japanese general. He was interned at Santa Fe, New Mexico for several months and then moved to a camp at Manzanar, California, where he joined his wife, daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter. He remained at Manzanar with his family until 1945. While at Manzanar, Takamura depicted his surroundings in drawings and watercolors. He also worked as a camp sign-maker at Santa Fe and as curator for a small museum at Manzanar. After the war, he returned to Hollywood and worked at RKO Studios for another twenty-five years before retiring. The collection consists of 77 watercolor paintings produced during World War II while Kango Takamura was detained at the Santa Fe Internment Camp, New Mexico, and the Manzanar Internment Camp, California. Also included are paper mounts and one photographic reproduction of a painting.

Physical location:
Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.

Language:
English.

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