Skip to main content

Fred S. Farr correspondence and photographs

 Collection
Identifier: MS-685

Scope and Contents

The collection contains seven letters to Farr from Japanese American friends from California incarcerated during World War II. Most of the letters are from Eiko Fujii, beginning shortly after her arrival at Santa Anita Assembly Center in 1942, continuing through her transfer to Denson, Arkansas, at Jerome incarceration camp, and ending after she left the camps and held a teaching position the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The letters discuss daily life in the camps and her family's physical, psychological, and emotional adjustment to life there; as well as references to Farr's personal and professional life. Includes an undated piece of ephemera containing a printed message to Japanese Americans from the Reedley Committee on National Security and Fair Play, and a copy of the Japanese American Citizens League Reporter newspaper, of Salt Lake City, Utah, v. 1 no. 11, Nov. 1945. Collection also contains six photographic prints, one photographic postcard, and 25 black and white negatives from unknown photographers. The photographs document the forced relocation of Japanese Americans by train to an unidentified incarceration camp, agricultural work performed at a camp, and recreational activities (swimming).

Dates

  • 1942-1945

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Because of the assembled nature of this collection, copyright status varies across the collection. Copyright is assumed to be held by the original creator of individual items in the collection. Unpublished works are expected to pass into the public domain 120 years after their creation; works published before 1923 have entered the public domain. The California Historical Society (CHS) is not authorized to grant permission to publish or reproduce materials from this collection. For more information, please contact rights@calhist.org.

Biographical sketch

Fred S. Farr was a Democratic California State Senator from 1955 to 1966, and served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1960. Farr worked in private law practice in San Francisco from 1937 to 1942. During World War II, he worked with the Farm Security Administration and later at the United States War Shipping Administration. He served as commissioner for the California State Coastal Commission from 1972-1979, and as president of the California Historical Society from 1974-1976.

Extent

2 folders

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Fred S. Farr was a Democratic California State Senator from 1955 to 1966, and worked with the Farm Security Administration during World War II. The collection contains seven letters to Farr from Japanese American friends from California incarcerated at assembly centers and incarceration camps during World War II, as well as six photographic prints and 25 black and white negatives showing forced relocation of Japanese Americans by train to an unidentified incarceration camp, agricultural work performed at a camp, and recreational activities (swimming).

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Fred S. Farr, 1970.

Existence and Location of Copies

Entire collection has been digitized and is available online through the California Historical Society Digital Library, as well as through the CSU Japanese American Digitization Project at https://csujad.com.

Separated Materials

Photographs have been separated from the collection and shelved as MSP 685.

General

Previously titled: Fred S. Farr papers, 1942-1945. Correspondence and photographs were then separated into two collections: MS 685 previously titled Fred S. Farr correspondence and miscellany relating to Japanese-American evacuation, and MSP 685 previously titled Photographs from the Fred S. Farr correspondence and miscellany relating to Japanese American evacuation. In January 2022 the record for MSP 685 was merged with this one, retitled Fred S. Farr correspondence and photographs.

General

Material from this collection was digitized as part of the CSU Japanese American Digitization project. https://csujad.com/

Title
Finding aid to the Fred S. Farr correspondence and photographs, 1942-1945
Status
Completed
Author
Finding aid encoded by Al Bersch in 2021, using description from existing catalog records.
Date
January 2022
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English

Repository Details

Part of the California Historical Society Repository

Contact:
678 Mission Street
San Francisco CA 94105