Ruth and Elyse Yamauchi Oral History
Scope and Contents
The interview provides information and personal observations about Ruth Yamauchi's experiences as an incarceree at the Central Utah Relocation Center (Topaz), a concentration camp, during World War II. Ruth's daughter, Elyse M. Yamauchi assisted with the interview and provided additional information.
Dates
- 2006
Creator
- Yamauchi, Ruth Y.,1915- (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright is retained by the author of the items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Biographical / Historical
Ruth Y. Honda was born on June 26, 1915 in Los Angeles, Calif. Her father, Yuzo Honda came to the U.S. in 1907 from Yamagata, Japan. A Methodist minister later arranged for Ruth's mother to come to the U.S. to marry her father. Yuzo Honda worked in agriculture in Imperial Valley, Calif and he eventually became the supervisor of Mexican immigrant workers. The Honda family had 7 children. After high school, Ruth Honda went to Union College and then to UC Berkeley for 2 years where she studied nursing. When she left college, she found a job working with Mikimoto Pearls. At the outbreak of WWII, Ruth and her husband, Hiroshi Mervin Yamauchi (1912-1990), were incarcerated at the Central Utah Relocation Center (Topaz), an American concentration camp in Topaz, Utah. Their son was born in 1943 while they were still incarcerated. Hiroshi and Ruth Yamauchi eventually left the concentration camp for Hiroshi to work with military intelligence at the University of Colorado and then moved to Ann Arbor, Mich to teach Japanese to the U.S. Army.
Extent
3 sound discs (CD)
Language of Materials
English
Other Finding Aids
Typed transcript of discs available.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift;Yamauchi family;2014.
General
Interview sponsored by the Front Range Research Association, Denver, Colo.
Linking Entry Complexity Note
Forms part of the 10th Mountain Division Resource Center Collection.
- Central Utah Relocation Center -- History.
- Japanese Americans -- Colorado -- Interviews. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Japanese Americans -- Utah -- Forced removal and internment, 1942-1945 -- Interviews Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Oral histories (document genres) Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Topaz (Utah) -- History. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Transcripts Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Concentration camps -- Utah -- Interviews Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Yamauchi family -- Interviews.
- Yamauchi, Elyse M., 1951-2011 -- Interviews.
- Yamauchi, Ruth Y., 1915- -- Interviews.
- Title
- Finding Aid for the Ruth and Elyse Yamauchi oral history,2006 March 9
- Author
- Finding Aid prepared from MARC data.
- Description rules
- Rda
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Denver Public Library, Western History and Genealogy Repository
