Oregon Historical Society Completes Extensive IMLS Grant Project To Translate Yasui Family Papers (Photo) -09/20/24
Portland, OR — The Oregon Historical Society (OHS) has completed work on an LSTA Competitive Grant to translate a large selection of the Japanese material in the Yasui family papers, a manuscript collection preserved in OHS’s research library. This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the State Library of Oregon.
Dating from 1873 to 2023 and crossing five generations, the Yasui family papers consists of over 20 linear feet of personal correspondence, original family documents and diaries, research files and historical writings, advocacy records, and photographs — about one-fifth of which is written in pre–World War II Japanese that is no longer widely spoken or written. Homer Yasui donated the family papers to the Oregon Historical Society in late 2022, and OHS recognized the historical value of this collection and the need to translate the content before it became inaccessible to researchers.
OHS also cares for the Yasui Brothers business records, a large manuscript collection also donated by Homer Yasui in 1991. Together, the Yasui collections document the experiences and contributions of Hood River businessman and noted community leader Masuo Yasui, Homer’s father, and his family during the first four decades of the twentieth century — a history that is underrepresented among archives.
The Yasui family papers provide a rare window into Japanese American history prior to World War II, including Masuo’s experiences as a 16-year-old arriving in the United States in 1903 and his desires to make something of his life by settling in Oregon. The collection also documents family life and community relations in Hood River and the effects of World War II–era forced removal and incarceration of those of Japanese ancestry, including second-generation (Nisei) family members’ activism and advocacy work from the 1940s through today.
The grant work to translate and digitize the accounts of first-generation (Issei) members of the Yasui family makes their experiences accessible for the first time, and widely discoverable to anyone with internet access. This access will help improve and deepen understanding of the broader history of the Japanese American community in Oregon. Researchers can also access objects that Homer Yasui donated to OHS’s museum collection online through the OHS Museum Collection Portal.
“Collaboration was a critical element for this project,” said OHS Deputy Library Director for Collections Dana Miller. “Our success was built on the work of a small team of expert translation consultants led by Yoko Gulde. That connection was facilitated by an earlier project partnership with the Japanese American Museum of Oregon and has also allowed us to foster important relationships with the Japanese American community.”
Researchers from across the country have already visited OHS to use both collections. OHS has also used the primary resources translated during the grant in popular professional development workshops and a document-based question unit for grades 6–12 titled, “Hood River Nikkei in the 1920s.” OHS has also published two entries, “Letter from Masuo Yasui to Taiitsuro Yasui and Renichi Fujimoto, December 12, 1907” and “Masuo Yasui’s study notes for U.S. citizenship exam, 1953,” on the Oregon History Project, one of OHS’s four digital history projects that provides historical context on select items from OHS’s museum and research library collections.
Over the coming years, OHS plans to digitize additional English-language documents and photographs from the Yasui family papers, including letters, speeches, and photographs along with meticulous historical research and writing by Homer and other family members. Additionally, an exhibition focused on the Yasui collections at OHS is in development and will open in June 2025.
About the Oregon Historical Society
For more than a century, the Oregon Historical Society has served as the state’s collective memory, preserving a vast collection of objects, photographs, maps, manuscript materials, books, films, and oral histories. Our research library, museum, digital platforms, educational programming, and historical journal make Oregon’s history open and accessible to all. We exist because history is powerful, and because a history as deep and rich as Oregon’s cannot be contained within a single story or point of view.
