By Lee Must
Title: Alice Imamoto Takemoto Papers, 1929-2018, undated
ID: RG 30/474
Primary Creator: Alice Imamoto Takemoto (1926-)
Extent: 1.05 Linear Feet
Arrangement:
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series I. Correspondence, 1929-1993
Series I contains correspondence relating to Alice Imamoto. The bulk of the letters were sent by Alice to her parents, James and Yoshiko Imamoto, during and after her studies at Oberlin College. The letters are primarily written in English with a small amount in Japanese. Alice’s letters to her parents describe her studies and life while in college. One folder contains notes of gratitude sent to young Alice during her time performing concerts in the Norwalk, California, area. It also includes a folder of empty envelopes mailed by Alice and undated notes written by Alice that further contextualize her correspondence.
Series II. Biographical Material, 1942-1997
Series II consists of biographical materials related to the life of Alice Imamoto, as well as her parents and sister. Folders 1 and 2 are restricted.
Series III. Printed Materials, 1936-2003
Series III consists of printed materials, primarily from Alice’s time at Oberlin College. Commencement programs, recital programs, reunion announcements, and other printed materials provide context on Alice’s college activities. Series III also includes two folders of sheet music Alice Imamoto used as a child.
Series IV. Research Materials, undated
Series IV contains research materials that document data or experiences of Japanese American people who were forcibly relocated during World War II. One folder contains a copy of a summary of a master’s thesis on an internment camp written by Mollie M. Pressler. Another folder contains a report sent to Alice Imamoto that documents the number of women detained in San Pedro—where Yoshiko Imamoto was held.
Series V. Photographs, ca.1930-1992
Series V consists of a small collection of photographs of Alice Imamoto and friends from her time at Oberlin College. One photograph depicts Alice as a child at the piano. Others show the Worcester family, with whom Alice lived while in Oberlin. Later photos (1992), show Alice reunited with friends from college, including Margaret Yokota Matsunago (OC ’48).
Date Acquired: 07/13/2018. More info below under Accruals.
Subjects: Forced removal and internment of Japanese Americans (1942-1945), Japanese Americans, World War (1939-1945)
This collection is composed of correspondence, personal belongings, biographical material, and research materials related to the life of Alice Imamoto (’47 Mus. B.) Alice enrolled in the conservatory for piano at the age of 16 in 1943. During her first years at Oberlin, her family, of Japanese descent, were in an internment camp in Arkansas. Her letters to her parents, a considerable portion of the collection, provide a look at life in Oberlin during and after the Second World War, interspersed with commentary on the treatment of Japanese Americans at the time.
The collection is arranged into five records series: I. Correspondence, II. Biographical Material, III. Printed Material, IV. Research Materials, and V. Photographs. Series I is further subdivided into six subseries: 1. Correspondence from Alice Imamoto to Family, subseries 2. Correspondence, Education, 3. Correspondence to Alice Imamoto, 4. Correspondence to Mr. and Mrs. Imamoto, 5. Envelopes (No Letter Associated), and 6. Notes. There are restricted materials in Series II. Series III is subdivided into two subseries: 1. Printed Materials and 2. Sheet Music.
Alice Imamoto Takemoto (1926- )
Alice Setsuko Imamoto was born in Garden Grove, California, in 1926. She is the youngest of four children born to James Zenichi Imamoto (1889-1980) and Yoshiko Iwamasa Imamoto (1897-2003). At age 3, Alice began taking piano lessons; by the age of 6, she was performing concerts for churches in the Norwalk area where her family lived.
During Alice’s youth, James and Yoshiko Imamoto taught at a local Japanese school. After the Pearl Harbor attack, her parents were arrested on unknown grounds in March of 1942. Yoshiko received parole while James was declared a prisoner of war and remained in custody. Alice, her sisters, and her mother were forcibly relocated to an internment camp in Jerome, Arkansas, in October of 1942. After her father’s release from prison, he joined the family there in February of 1943.
In 1943, at the age of 16, Alice enrolled at Oberlin College Conservatory to study piano. She received clearance to leave Jerome to attend school, departing after 10 months in the internment camp in August of 1943. Her older sister, Grace Imamoto Noda (1920-2018), traveled with her, living and working in Oberlin while Alice completed her first year of study.
In June of 1944, Alice’s parents were forcibly relocated for a second time to Rohwer, Arkansas. Alice and Grace traveled from Oberlin to visit them during the summer of 1944; it was their final visit to the camp. After the closure of the internment camp in September of 1945, her parents moved to Washington DC, where they worked in domestic service.
Alice received her bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College in 1947. She then studied piano under Olga Samaroff Stokowski (1880-1948) at the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music for one year before moving to Washington DC in 1948. Alice met her husband Ken Kaname Takemoto (1920-2009) in the same year. They were married in 1951 and had two children, Ruth Takemoto McInroy (1955-) and Paul Howard Takemoto (1957-). Alice taught piano at American University for many years and kept a busy performance schedule.
SOURCES CONSULTED:
“Courage and Compassion: Student Biographies”. Oberlin College. https://www.oberlin.edu/courage-and-compassion-student-biographies.
“Obituary of Yoshi Imamoto.” East Bay Times (Walnut Creek, CA). 2003. https://www.eastbaytimes.com/obituaries/yoshi-imamoto/.
“Olga Lucy Jane Olga Hickenlooper Samaroff”. Find a Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/210038390/olga-samaroff.
Kim, Sojin. “Paul Howard Takemoto and Alice Takemoto: On Resettlement, Revisiting the Past, and Reconnection - Part 1 of 2.” Discover Nikkei. May 22, 2011. https://discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2011/5/22/takemoto/.
Onate, Sebastian. “Obituary of Grace Kyoko Noda”. Davis Enterprise. June 6, 2018. https://www.davisenterprise.com/obituaries/grace-kyoko-noda/article_911017b6-4b52-57b7-9a60-e27cb5a09e91.html.
Student Files. Alice Setsuko Imamoto. RG28. Oberlin College Archives.
Takemoto, Paul Howard. 2012. Nisei Memories: My Parents Talk About the War Years. University of Washington Press.
Forced removal and internment of Japanese Americans (1942-1945)
Japanese Americans
World War (1939-1945)
Repository: Oberlin College Archives
Access Restrictions: No restrictions
Acquisition Source: Alice Imamoto Takemoto
Related Materials:
Student Files, Alice Setsuko Imamoto, RG28, Oberlin College Archives.
Folder, Ruth Asawa Papers, Stanford University Manuscript Division.
Related Publications: Takemoto, Paul Howard. 2012. Nisei Memories: My Parents Talk About the War Years. University of Washington Press.
