Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Item
Title
Oral history interviews with George Iwasaki [Transcript]
Date(s)
- 1992-08-19 - 1992-09-16 (Creation)
Extent
Transcript; 48 pages
Name of creator
Biographical history
George Iwasaki was born in Sumner, Washington, in 1912. His parents had immigrated to the United States from Shiga Prefecture, Japan, and his family became farmers in the Hillsboro, Oregon, area. In 1942, he and Tomiko Natsuhara were married; they later had five children. Also in 1942, the Iwasaki family was among Japanese Americans ordered to the Portland Assembly Center by the U.S. government. The government gave them the option to work as farm labor, and they spent much of World War II working fields near Nyssa, Oregon. After the war, they were able to recover their farm in Hillsboro. In the 1960s, the farm rebranded as Iwasaki Bros. and became one of the leading bedding plant producers in Oregon. George Iwasaki died in 2009.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
Transcript. This oral history interview with George Iwasaki was conducted by Etsu Osaki at the Oregon Buddhist Church in Portland, Oregon, from August 19 to September 16, 1992. The interview was recorded as part of the Japanese American Oral History Project, which was conducted by the Oregon Historical Society to preserve the stories of Japanese Americans in Oregon. The interview was conducted in two sessions. In the first interview session, conducted on August 19, 1992, Iwasaki discusses his family background and early life on a farm in Hillsboro, Oregon. He talks about the Japanese-American community in Oregon and about his education. He then discusses working on the family farm during the Depression, his marriage to Tomiko Natsuhara, and the lead-up to the U.S. government's incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, including making arrangements for the family farmland. He talks about his family's experiences while they were detained at the Portland Assembly Center and about accepting the option to work as fieldworkers in Nyssa, Oregon, including living conditions in the agricultural camp run by the Farm Security Administration. He then discusses returning to Hillsboro after the family's release in 1945. In the second and final interview session, conducted on September 16, 1992, Iwasaki continues discussing the family's return to Hillsboro after their release in 1945, and describes how the family recovered their farmland and restarted their business. He talks about the evolution of the family farming business, now known as Iwasaki Bros., to focus on bedding plants. He also speaks about his involvement in Japanese American community organizations, including the Oregon Buddhist Church. He closes the interview by talking about his children, their families, and their careers.
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Physical access
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Languages of the material
- eng
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Related descriptions
Notes element
Specialized notes
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Rules or conventions
Sources used
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Osaki, Etsu (Contributor)