Collections

Frank C. Hirahara was an electrical engineer active in the Portland Nikkei community from 1948-54 and took pictures in his spare time as a member of the Portland Photographic Society and the Oregon Camera Club. Frank captured hundreds of photographs of life in Portland’s Japantown and the greater Portland community, including the annual Rose Festival.

Many Japanese Americans from Portland were sent to Minidoka during WWII. This collection consists of photographs, government documents, family letters and artifacts that directly relate to the concentration camp.

Oshu Nippo (Oregon Daily News) was a Japanese newspaper printed in Portland’s Japantown from 1906–1953. Ten special issues issues have been translated into English, including eight New Year’s issues, one Fourth of July/30th anniversary issue, and a special Hotel issue.

The collection consists of correspondence written primarily to Dr. Keizaburo “Kei” Koyama while he was detained at Department of Justice detention facilities. The letters were sent by his friends and family in Portland, other Department of Justice detention facilities and War Relocation Authority concentration camps, and at the Portland Assembly Center and Minidoka Relocation Center. The letters document their feelings about separation, war, and the conditions of the detention facilities and concentration camps.

Rose Niguma was born in Hood River, Oregon, in 1915 and grew up in Portland. During WWII, she was forcibly removed to the Portland Assembly Center and Minidoka concentration camp. After the war, she returned to Portland to become an artist.

This collection consists of 74 videotaped interviews of Oregon-based Issei, Nissei, and others with the purpose of preserving and sharing the story of Nikkei in the Pacific Northwest.