Life continued in camp dispite the difficulties. Babies were born — mothers got permission to leave the camp and enter hospitals in Tacoma. People died in camp and in hospitals — families received permission to visit sickbeds. And young couples married — honeymoons were spent in the camp.
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“Boy, Girl are 1st Births in Camp.” Camp Harmony News-Letter, May 23, 1942. |
Camp Harmony’s first birth, a 6 lb., 15 oz. boy, was born last Monday, May 18, to Mrs. Amelia Kito of Area A-6-60 at the Pierce County hospital in Tacoma. Mrs. Kito was taken to the Tacoma hospital on the same day her baby was born. The father of the baby is interned at the Texas alien internment camp. The couple have three other children, Sam Jr., 5 years old; Barbara, 3; and John, 10 months old. They are presently under the care of friends and relatives. Mrs. Kito’s former residence was at Petersburg, Alaska. Another baby, a strapping 8 lb., 15 oz. girl, was born last Wednesday to Mr. and Mrs. Kiyoshi Sawa, also of Area A, at the Pierce County hospital. The condition of both mother and baby is reported exceptionally well and Mr. Sawa expects them home a week hence. The father, when asked how the baby would be named, said he is open to all suggestions. He lives at A-2-88. |
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Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection.Museum of History and Industry, Seattle, Washington. |
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“Nisei Couple First Married!” Camp Harmony News-Letter, May 23, 1942. |
Kiyoshi Nagai, 25, D-5-195, and Shizuko Fukumiyo, D-5-196, left for Tacoma and the marriage license bureau at 9:15 a.m. today and upon their return, were expected to be the first Camp Harmony nisei couple to be married. The couple, formerly of National, Washington, were expected back sometime before noon. They were to have moved into their new apartment, D-5-193, so-called “homeymoon quarters”, over the door of which Area Chaplain Shizuo Yamada has discreetly posted “Do Not Disturb” and “Just Married” signs. The required three-day waiting period after issuance of a marriage license was waived by the justice of the peace by whom they were married. A WCCA official accompanied the pair to Tacoma. The bride is the eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hatsugoro Fukumiyo. Mr. Nagai is the third son of Mr. and Mrs. Yasutaro Nagai. They were engaged six months ago at National. |
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“Alaskan Pioneer Dies Here.” Camp Harmony News-Letter, June 12, 1942. |
To many he was just another Japanese evacuee from Alaska. He pioneered in Washington when it was still a territory. He knew the lure of Yukon gold, of the seven seas. He never knew Japan. James Mineno, who died Thursday night at the Camp Harmony hospital in Area D, spent 67 of his 78 years in Alaska and the United States. He left Japan for the first and last time in 1864 at the age of 11 as a mess boy on a ship. When his boat was wrecked in 1880 he had a choice of boarding either a rescue ship for France or the United States. He chose the latter and first set foot on American soil at Boston. In 1886 he came to Washington Territory where he obtained his naturalization papers. In 1890 Mineno headed for Alaska. On April 28 of this year he was evacuated. James Mineno is survived by five sons, four of whom are serving in the United States army. The fifth, Henry, is living with the Foede brothers in Area A. The body of the deceased cremated at Tacoma, is to be shipped to friends in Anchorage, Alaska. Memorial services will be held tomorrow. |
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Attended by evacuee nurses and orderlies, convalescing patients rest in the shade on the lawn behind the center hospital at Puyallup. Photograph in Final report, Japanese evacuation from the West coast, 1942. Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1943, pg. 462. |
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Final Report Japanese Evacuation from the West Coast 1942. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1943. Figure 15, table 24 and 56. |
Maximum number in Puyallup: 7390 on May 25, 1942. Camp open from April 28 to September 12, 1942. Deaths 11 Estimated total number of evacuee families and average size of such families. Puyallup: |
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“Vital Statistics.”Camp Harmony News-Letter, July 10, 1942. |
BIRTHS Mr. & Mrs. Noburu Nakagawa Mr. & Mrs. Kenji Kawaguchi Mr. & Mrs. Masaru Nitta Mr. & Mrs. Katsumi Isomura DEATHS Kobuki, Kotaro, Area A |
