Letter from W. S. Hislop, Associate Construction Superintendent, Gila River Project, War Relocation Authority, April 23, 1945

A letter from W. S. Hislop, Associate Construction Superintendent, Gila River Project, War Relocation Authority, United States Department of the Interior. It appears that the shipment from Tom Nakashima in Reno Nevada has arrived at the Gila River incarceration camp and been inspected. The letter certifies that the shipment contains mechanic hand tools which belong to Fumio Fred Takano.
The Takano Family Papers contains materials from members of the Takano and Meguro family who reside in Los Angeles, California, including Issei immigrants Itsuhei and Tomoye Takano, Kumaji and Tsuruno Meguro, and their Nisei children, Fumio Fred and Yoneko (Meguro) Takano, Ruth Yoshiko Meguro, and Leo Ryoichi Meguro. The papers covers from prewar through post-war, including the period of forced evacuation and incarceration during World War II, the Korean war, and the redress movement in the 1980s. The papers consists of correspondence, photographs, camp newspapers, yearbooks, and other documents. Noted are photographs depicting the Japanese American community in Colorado in the 1930s, including photos of Japanese Young People’s Christian members; and schoolchildren and staff of a Japanese school and public schools. There are also documents regarding a real estate property in Los Angeles, California, which Fumio Fred Takano purchased in 1938, and his legal documents and letters present his efforts to protect the property during the war with the support of his non-Japanese American friend. Also included are letters depicting his struggles to be granted the indefinite leave permit from the Gila River incarceration camp in Arizona, as a consequence of his answers to “loyalty questionnaire” questions 27 and 28. In addition, the Issei parents’ letters detail their experiences during the war from an Issei point of view, describing the trip from the Pomona Assembly Center to the Heart Mountain camp in Wyoming, incarceration life, and their return from the camp to California.