American Historical Ephemera and Photography

Approximately 29 items, spanning 1935-1955, highlighted by World War II ephemera including Asakawa's visor hat officer cap with eagle badge and his personal identification tags. Identification tags indicate his name "Geo. Asakawa," Army Serial Number, and the contact information for his mother who was detained at a Poston, Arizona, relocation center, "Mrs. Asakawa / 330-14-G Poston / Ariz." Other WWII ephemera includes a small blade marked "U.S.," a box of "We Salute" Cadie Miracle Metal Polishing Cloths, gold bar insignia (2), a small canister of "Prim Finest Quality Flints," two service manuals, a "Servicemen's Map of the United States and Insignia of the Armed Forces," chevrons (8), and the 442nd patch (4). Designed by Japanese American Sgt. Mitchie Miyamoto, the 442nd patch features a silver hand holding the torch of liberty against a sly of blue, surrounded by a border of silver and red.

Additional items in the collection associated with George Asakawa include the following: an autograph album, 6 1/4 x 4 1/2 in., with leather cover and string tie closure, inscribed "George Asakawa." Album contains more than 80 signatures including students and faculty from the California Institute of Technology. Notable are the signatures of three Noble Prize winners, "Robert A[.] Millikan," "Carl Anderson '27," and "Linus Pauling." -- Asakawa's 1935 yearbook "The Gray Castle," from San Diego High School.

Items in the collection associated with Asakawa's wife, Toshiko Iwashita Asakawa, are also present. These include: a handpainted bird pin, with safety pin closure on verso, possibly a relic from a relocation camp. -- "War Relocation Authority Colorado River Relocation Center Poston, Arizona, 1942-1945." The National Archives National Archives and Records Service General Services Administration. Washington: 1955. Stamped with owner's identification on verso of front cover. -- Metal printing plate bearing the name "Miss Toshiko Iwashita" and housed in an envelope with the same printed name and handstamped date May 10 1944. -- Stamp and ink pad.

Provenance: The Estate of Toshiko Asakawa.

Born and raised in San Diego, George Asakawa graduated from the California Institute of Technology in 1939 with a BS in chemical engineering. Advised by a mentor at Caltech that his future prospects as a Japanese American would be better on the East Coast, Asakawa accepted a job in New York with a Japanese company. The outbreak of WWII, and the associated rise in discrimination against Americans of Japanese descent, altered the course of Asakawa's life significantly. Asakawa was drafted in 1941, but his Japanese heritage and past experience with a Japanese company brought him under suspicion which prevented him from being activated for combat and sent overseas. While Asakawa was transferred through a series of military bases, his mother was forcibly detained at a Poston, Arizona "relocation" camp. Asakawa's "dog tags" which bear the address of the Poston camp are a tangible reminder not just of his service to the U.S. Army, but of the injustice perpetrated against his family. After the war, Asakawa came to Yellow Springs, Ohio, with his wife Toshiko (also a previous detainee at Poston), joining his family which had been sponsored to the village by the Yellow Springs Society of Friends. He would spend the remainder of his life there, becoming a successful businessman, engineer, inventor, and philanthropist. Asakawa died in Yellow Springs, Ohio, in 2012.