The Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall collection of Miné Okubo papers measure 1.4 linear feet and date from circa 1940 to 2001. Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall were long-time friends with and patrons of Okubo from the late 1950s until her death. The collection contains letters, writings, and sketches by Okubo. Among the printed materials is a copy of the 1944 special edition of Fortune magazine which was sympathetic to Japanese Americans interned during World War II and for which Okubo was hired to illustrate. Also found are scattered documents relating to Hall and Leeper.
Scope and Contents:
The Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall collection of Miné Okubo papers measure 1.4 linear feet and date from circa 1940 to 2001. Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall were long-time friends with and patrons of Okubo from the late 1950s until her death. The collection contains letters, writings, and sketches by Okubo. Among the printed materials is a copy of the 1944 special edition of Fortune magazine which was sympathetic to Japanese Americans interned during World War II and for which Okubo was hired to illustrate. Also found are scattered documents relating to Hall and Leeper.
Biographical materials consist of Roy Leeper's medical licenses. The bulk of the collection is comprised of Miné Okubo's letters, many of which are illustrated, to Hall and Leeper discussing her health, career, their purchase of her artwork, and mutual friends. Other correspondents include Howard Hamilton and Doris and Harry Tono. Writings and notes by Okubo inlcude a statement about the pricing of her artwork and a list of artwork. Leeper and Hall's personal business records concern the purchase and loan of Okubo's artwork for exhibitions.
Printed materials include a 1944 edition of Fortune magazine devoted to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. The issue includes reproductions of Okubo's illustrations of life in the World War II internment camp in Topaz, Utah. Photographs include snapshots of Okubo at an exhibition with her art and of works of art. Sketches and drawings depict mostly cats and flowers.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series.
Missing Title
Series 1: Biographical Material, 1942-1994 (1 folder; Box 1)
Series 2: Correspondence, 1957-2001 (0.8 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 3: Writings and Notes, circa 1940-circa 1970 (3 folders; Box 1)
Series 4: Personal Business Records, 1957-1998 (0.1 linear feet; Box 1)
Series 5: Printed Material, 1944-2000 (0.3 linear feet; Boxes 1-3)
Series 6: Photographs, circa 1940-circa 1990s (3 folders; Box 1)
Series 7: Artwork, 1960s-1997 (0.1 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)
Biographical / Historical:
Miné Okubo (1912-2001) was a Japanese American painter, illustrator, and author. She is known for her book Citizen 13600in which she described her experience at the Topaz War Relocation Camp in Utah through prose and drawings.
Born in Riverside, California in 1912, Okubo began her arts education at Riverside Junior College and transferred to the University of California, Berkeley where she completed her BA and MA in Fine Arts (where she first met Roy Leeper). In 1938, she received an award to travel and study under Fernand Léger in Paris. When World War II began in Europe, she moved back to California and worked under the Federal Arts Project. She produced some solo murals and also assisted Diego Rivera on his Treasure Island mural Pan American Unity, (1940).
In April of 1942, Miné Okubo and one of her brothers were sent to the Tanforan Assembly Center under Executive Order 9066, which forcibly interned over 100,000 Japanese and Japanese-American citizens living on the West Coast of the United States. Six months later, they were sent to the Topaz War Relocation Camp in Topaz, Utah. There, Okubo taught art in the camp's school and often sketched camp life. She was art editor for the camp newsletter Trek, a supplement to the Topaz Times.
In 1944, Fortune magazine published a sympathetic special edition on the Japanese and Japanese American internment during World War II. The magazine hired Okubo to illustrate two of the articles. She was permitted to leave the camp and move to New York City, where she remained for the rest of her life, working as a painter and illustrator. She wrote and illustrated a book about her experiences in the Topaz confinement camp, Citizen 13600, which won the American Book Award in 1984. Miné Okubo died in 2001.
Medical doctor Roy Leeper befriended Miné Okubo while they were both students at the University of California. Later, he and his partner dentist Gaylord Hall were reintroduced to Okubo and her artwork by a mutual friend. They began a life-long relationship with Okuba, both as friends and collectors.
Related Materials:
Riverside City College in Riverside, California also holds the Miné Okubo papers.
Provenance:
Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall donated the collection of Miné Okubo papers in 2001.
Restrictions:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Occupation:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Illustrators -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
Authors -- New York (State) -- New York Search this
The Lynn Schmidt interviews with Isamu Noguchi and Tom Nakashima measure 0.9 linear feet and date from 1980 to 1990. The collection consists of recorded interviews with Isamu Noguchi that were conducted 9 July and 5 August 1980 in his studio (now the Noguchi Museum), in Long Island City, N.Y.; as well as interviews with Tom Nakashima, conducted 31 July 1989 to 10 March 1990.
Scope and Contents:
The Lynn Schmidt interviews with Isamu Noguchi and Tom Nakashima measure 0.9 linear feet and date from 1980 to 1990. The collection consists of recorded interviews with Isamu Noguchi that were conducted 9 July and 5 August, 1980, in his studio (now the Noguchi Museum), in Long Island City, N.Y.; as well as interviews with Tom Nakashima, conducted 31 July 1989 to 10 March 1990. Schmidt, a former employee of the United States Information Agency, was assigned to interview Noguchi and write an article about him for the agency. The interviews with Tom Nakashima were completed as part of an exhibition in conjunction with the Washington Project for the Arts, which Schmidt curated. The catalog from this exhibition is also in the collection. Also found here is a radio interview with Nakashima on WPFW, Federal Communications Commission, Washington, D.C.
Arrangement:
To the small size of this collection the interviews are arranged as one series.
Series 1: Recorded Interviews and Printed Material, 1980-1990 (Box 1-2; .9 linear feet)
Biographical / Historical:
Lynn Schmidt (1949- ) is an artist, author, and curator based in Washington, D.C. Schmidt was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and worked for the U.S. information Agency. Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) was a Japanese American sculptor based in Long Island City, New York. Tom Nakashima (1941- ) is a Japanese American artist based in Washington, D.C.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Lynn Schmidt in 2006.
Restrictions:
This collection is open for research. Access to original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital and audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies. Contact References Services for more information.
Rights:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Lynn Schmidt interviews with Isamu Noguchi and Tom Nakashima, 1980-1990. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
The processing of this collection received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care and Preservation Fund, administered by the National Collections Program and the Smithsonian Collections Advisory Committee.
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