Horita Family Papers

Collection

Identifier: SPC-2021-026

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Horita Family Papers (1940-2010, undated) contains materials documenting the history of the Horita family. This includes records of their incarceration the at Poston (Colorado River) incarceration camp, including forced removal papers and official camp documents, as well as research into the family’s history, including a family tree, family crest, personal identification documents, and education documents. Also included are photographs of family members and trips to Japan, family correspondence, and eight ink-on-paper drawings.

Dates

1940-2010, undated

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Biographical / Historical

Chitoshi “Harry” Horita was born in 1896 in Kutami, Kumamoto, Japan. He married Marue Nakashima (1901-1982) in August of 1923. They had seven children. The Horita family was incarcerated at the Poston (Colorado River) incarceration camp in Parker, Arizona from 1941-1945. Chitoshi and Marue later moved to Los Angeles, where Chitoshi worked as a dry cleaner. The couple, along with their children and grandchildren, visited Japan several times over the course of the next few decades (which they documented in the photo albums contained in this collection) and remained deeply involved with the Japanese American community in the Los Angeles area.

Extent

4 boxes

2.6 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Horita Family Papers (1940-2010, undated) collection contains 2.6 linear feet of documents from the Horita family, a Japanese American family from the Los Angeles area. The collection focuses on married couple Chitoshi “Harry” Horita (1896-1990) and Marue Nakashima Horita (1901-1982) and their extended family and includes records of the family’s incarceration at the Poston (Colorado River) incarceration camp, research into the family’s history, photographs, and correspondence.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into four series:

Documents relating to Poston Incarceration Camp
Family History
Photographs
Correspondence

Related Materials

This collection is part of the California State University Japanese American Digitization Project. For related materials please consult: CSU Japanese American Digitization Project.