Connecting Santa Barbara’s early 20th-century Japanese-American Community to those interned at Gila River during WWII

Dr. Stacey Camp of Michigan State University (left) and Koji Lau-Ozawa (right) analyzing ceramic artifacts and field notes from the Chapel excavations. Image by Michael Imwalle.

During the month of July 2019, the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation (SBTHP) hosted Stanford PhD Candidate Koji Lau-Ozawa at El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park to conduct research on the previously excavated remains of the early 20^th century Nihonmachi (Japantown) of Santa Barbara. I was lucky enough to assist as Koji’s assistant in this process. The goal of the project was to find as many pre-World War II Nihonmachi related artifacts as possible in order to compare them to findings from Gila River, one of ten official Japanese-American Incarceration Camps used during the war to unconstitutionally incarcerate nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans. 

Photographing artifacts for analysis. Image by Ashlynn Deu Pree.

While Koji came into this project with a plan, having worked in archaeology for 13 years, I, coming from a background in history, had no idea what to expect. Very quickly I was thrown into the world of archaeology with my main goal of the month being to re-catalog as many artifacts as possible, most of which had not been looked at since the 1970s. I learned very quickly what this entailed: picking a bag, finding its catalog number, searching through the catalog, identifying  and dividing artifacts by material type, weighing, re-cataloging, and finally re-bagging the artifacts. I went through this process almost 750 times. On day one I learned the difference between “shard” and “sherd.” By week two I was attempting to identify different types of ceramic sherds, and by week three I no longer needed to ask whether something was porcelain, whiteware, or improved whiteware. 

Hundreds of bags of re-catalogued artifacts. Image by Ashlynn Deu Pree.

Over the course of the month we re-bagged and cataloged thousands of artifacts and by the last week we began analyzing what we had discovered. From various bottle bases with maker’s marks, to so-called “geisha girl” porcelain, we had a lot to choose from. We decided to narrow it down to specific pits identified on hand drawn 1970s maps of the excavation site. I was determined to use as many identification marks as I could to date these pits as accurately as possible. While many of the bottles were harder to identify, two distinct foil milk bottle caps were clearly labeled “Durbiano… Santa Barbara.” We were also able to find an “Old Continental Whiskey” bottle in its entirety. Using this information and City directories from Santa Barbara’s Public Library, we will be able to find exactly when this dairy company existed and whether it corresponded with the Nihonmachi.

1911-1912 Santa Barbara City Directory listing a Japanese Mission at 925 Santa Barbara Street. Image by Ashlynn Deu Pree.

While my work in this project is coming to an end, I am grateful to Koji for the opportunity as a history major graduate to learn so much about archaeology. Thank you as well to Archaeologist Mike Imwalle and SBTHP for having us. We hope that this project can fill what we believe to be a void in our historical record, by providing a better understanding and perspective of the lives of pre-war Japanese American communities and how these lives were affected and changed by incarceration.

Written by Ashlynn Deu Pree

Ashlynn Deu Pree cataloging artifacts from the circa 1970’s Bonilla House excavation. Image by Michael Imwalle.

Koji Lau-Ozawa with Shoyu (soy sauce) bottle from the Chapel site marked “Noda” which is the area in Chiba Prefecture where it’s manufactured and is an early version of Kikkoman. Image by Ashlynn Deu Pree.

SBTHP James Osborne Craig Drawings at Indigo Interiors

Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation is pleased to have loaned three architectural drawings by James Osborne Craig from its permanent collection to the Architectural Rendering exhibit now on display at Indigo Interiors. Two of the historic drawings are of De la Guerra Plaza; projected schemes for the unrealized redesign of the Plaza, and the third rendering is the courtyard of El Paseo, which Craig designed shortly before his death in 1922.  These drawings give context to the work of well-known contemporary architects represented in this dynamic show.

Indigo owners Tom and Genny Cummings invited locally based architects, Brian Cearnal, Jeff Shelton, Mark Shields, Fred Sweeney and Christopher de Rose, to show a selection of drawings from their commissions and projects. The opening reception during Downtown Santa Barbara‘s First Thursday program on September 1 was packed with the participant’s friends and family and many others who appreciate great architecture and its contribution to one’s daily life. The exhibit will run through the end of October.

Mary Louise Days and J.O. Craig drawings. Photo by Rose Thomas.

Indigo owners, Tom and Genny Cummings with architect Jeff Shelton in center. Photo by Rose Thomas.

Architects Brian Cearnal and Fred Sweeney. Photo by Rose Thomas.

 

Sharing Historic Theater Seats with our Neighbors in San Luis Obispo!

by Anne  Petersen

The recreated marquee of the Obispo Theatre at the San Liuis Obispo County History Center. Photo by Anne Petersen.

The History Center for San Luis Obispo County recently installed a new exhibit titled “Once Upon a Time in the West: a History of San Luis Obispo County” about the historic Obispo Theatre, a movie theater that opened in 1928 and was much beloved by the local community until it was lost in a fire in the mid-1970s.

Alhecama Theatre seats in storage. Photo by Anne Petersen

In order to help furnish part of the recreated interior of the theater, Director and Curator Eva Ulz put a call out to area museums and historic sites inquiring about a loan of 1930s-era theater seats.

Mike Imwalle tours Exhibits Committee members John Schutz and Bob Tedone. around the Alhecama Theatre. Photo by Anne Petersen.

The timing was perfect for the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, as we had recently removed theatre seats which had been installed in the 1930s at the Alhecama Theatre and placed them in  storage.  During SBTHP’s restoration of the Alhecama, built in 1925 as the Pueblo Theatre to serve the Santa Barbara School of the Arts,  we learned that the theater had originally been designed as a multipurpose space.   As a result, we removed the later rake seating and restored the original hardwood floors.

Mike Imwalle with members of the SLO History Center’s Exhibits Committee, John Schutz and Bob Tedone trying out the seats. Photo by Anne Petersen.

We were thrilled at the opportunity to lend four of the seats to the History Center to help interpret a theatre in the region from a similar era.  In late January of this year two members of the History Center’s exhibits committee made the trip down to pick up the seats, and Archaeologist Mike Imwalle gave them a tour of the Alhecama.   In early March, SBTHP Board President Terease Chin and myself visited Eva Ulz at the History Center to see the Alhecama seats in the new Obispo Theater display.

Eva Ulz and Terease Chin enjoy the seats installed at the History Center. Photo by Anne Petersen.

SBTHP is proud of this great collaboration with the San Luis Obispo County History Center, and we encourage you to visit our friends there on your next trip north along the coast.  We also hope you’ll join us at an event or program at the Alhecama Theatre, a beautifully restored historic resource in El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park. 

Anne Petersen is the executive director of the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation. 

 

 

 

 

Artist Specializing in Depictions of Early California Visits the Presidio.

by Anne Petersen

SBTHP archaeologist Michael Imwalle presenting a lance point from the collections of El Presidio de Santa Bárbara State Historic Park to David Rickman. Photo by Anne Petersen.

In November 2012 author and illustrator David Rickman paid a visit to El Presidio SHP.  David paints amazingly evocative images of early California, with an emphasis on the dress and equipment of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century residents.  His paintings are based on meticulous research into both the historic record and historical collections.  He has worked frequently for the National Park Service and for California State Parks.  In fact, if you have been to a state or national park interpreting early California history, you have likely seen David’s work.

David Rickman photographing a mid-nineteenth century bit in the collections of the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, donated by Carol Storke. Photo by Anne Petersen.

David’s recent visit was part of the research phase for a new project for California State Parks: a costume guide and manual for California’s Mexican and early American periods which will be used as a tool system-wide through State Parks. David visited collections throughout southern California on this trip, and documented objects at many of them.   At El Presidio SHP, David was most interested in archaeological material uncovered in the Presidio site, of which many highlights are on display in the Documenting Everyday Life exhibit on the Presidio’s Northeast Corner.   Staff Archaeologist Michael Imwalle assisted David with pieces he was interested in, including lance points and spurs, which he photographed for his records.

Although we hope that State Parks or another agency will commission a future publication focusing on California’s Spanish colonial period, which includes the primary interpretive period for El Presidio SHP, the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation will benefit enormously from David’s forthcoming work.  We are committed to interpreting all the layers of history of the Presidio neighborhood, and David’s research will enhance the accuracy of our presentation of material culture.

Anne Petersen is Associate Director for Historical Resources at the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation.

Launching into our 50th Anniversary, and a New Online Collections Website (It’s a Big Day)!

by Anne Petersen

In 2013, the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation will be celebrating its 50^th Anniversary and we want you to be a part of it!   We have several wonderful and creative ways for you to join in our year-long celebration, from drawing mental maps of the Presidio Neighborhood, to sending in photographs and stories, which we are collectively calling the SBTHP Memories Project. For more information and all the tools you need to contribute material to our Memories Project, visit our new 50^th Anniversary webpage .  We also have an amazing slate of community events planned for the anniversary year.  You can keep tabs on all the latest event information through our calendar.

The header for our new Online Collections website, created by Christa Clark Jones.

Today, after one year of preparation, we are also launching a new website to present digital collections from the Presidio Research Center.   The new site, called Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation Collections Online, uses an open-source software designed for small museums and libraries to present their collections on the internet.  We have big plans for Collections Online, including uploading digital images of photographs, objects and audio files, so you can more easily see what kind of treasures are accessible through the Presidio Research Center. Special thanks go to project volunteers Atahan Eryol, a Computer Science intern from UCSB, for programming work to configure the site, and to Dan Petersen, a professional programmer, for hosting the software at no cost to SBTHP and for providing ongoing technical support.

Father Villa’s Band. Courtesy of the Deflina de la Guerra papers, Presidio Research Center.

At the time of launch, we are presenting two wonderful historical image collections.  The first, the papers of Delfina de la Guerra, include beautiful photographs, letters and dried flower keepsakes owned by the last de la Guerra to live in Casa de la Guerra.  Special thanks go to former Presidio Research Center Librarian Torie Quiñonez and Library Volunteer Katherine Lowe (you can see Katherine’s work here and here) for processing and digitizing the collection.  The second collection includes 21 Fiesta photographs from the 1920s and 30s donated to SBTHP by Pearl Chase.  SBTHP’s Higman Intern Stephanie Byrd created this digital collection last summer following a display of the collection during Old Spanish Days Fiesta.

Mental Map of the Presidio Neighborhood by William B. Dewey. Courtesy of the Presidio Research Center.

We  have also created digital collections of all of the incoming donations via the Memories Project, including Presidio Neighborhood Mental Maps, Oral Histories from the Presidio Research Center, and stories and photographs donated by community members like you!

One of the best aspects of the Online Collections site is its interactivity.  At the bottom of each item page there is a space for comments. If you recognize people or places in historic images, please leave a comment and let us know.  Crowd-sourced image projects like this through the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution have resulted in the identification of thousands of photographs via contributions from the public.  We hope it will help SBTHP too! We have also added social media buttons.  If you like an image, or have contributed an image yourself to our site, go ahead and share it on Facebook or Twitter! You can help build interest in and awareness of our collections.

Education Intern Eden Slone with the “Memory Catcher.” Photo by Karen Schultz Anderson.

We hope you enjoy browsing our new online collections website, and find some inspiration for your own contribution to our Memories Project.  We will be collecting memories at all of our public events in 2013 via a “memory catcher” created by Education Department Intern Eden Slone.  You can also submit to the Memories Project via email at 50thanniversary@sbthp.org. We look forward to hearing from all of you during SBTHP’s 50^th Anniversary in 2013!

Anne Petersen is associate director for historical resources at the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation. 

Chinese Characters in the Collections of Jimmy’s Oriental Gardens

by Laina Malm-Levine

Things are moving right along with the collections inventory project at Jimmy’s Oriental Gardens. So far, over one thousand objects have been photographed, cataloged and logged into the database. These objects include plates, woks, martini glasses, silverware, artwork, furniture, and much more. While some of these objects are more utilitarian in nature, for example, the 100+ sets of generic wooden chopsticks, there are several items that tell a more interesting story.

Several objects I’ve come across have beautiful Chinese characters incorporated into their design.  There are over ten thousand characters in the Chinese language, and while I myself do not speak Chinese, I enlisted a friend that works at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art to help with the translation of several of these characters.

I’ve selected four objects found in the collection that include Chinese characters:

Photo by Laina Malm-Levine.

This symbol, which is located on an east-facing window in Jimmy’s bar, means ‘Double Happiness’.  This double character is usually associated with happy couples on their wedding day, however it is also used in many other social customs.

Photo by Laina Malm-Levine.

The following symbols are painted on one of Jimmy’s ceramic teapots. One reads the strokes of these Chinese characters from right to left. The loose translation reads, ‘Beautiful Person As Jade’.

Photo by Laina Malm-Levine

Here we find a top to one of the ceramic teapots. When viewing these characters, one reads them in a diagonal line. Start by looking at the upper left symbol and then lead your eyes to the lower right. These two characters mean ‘Auspicious’. Then you see the lower left symbol and make your eyes travel to the upper right. These two characters mean ‘As You Wish’.

Photo by Laina Malm-Levine

Jimmy’s has many of these brightly colored serving platters. Again, the viewer should read these symbols from right to left. The symbol second from the right means ‘Longevity’. Coupled with the other three, the four symbols together mean ‘10,000 Years of Longevity’ or ‘Limitless Longevity’.

Jimmy’s Oriental Gardens was a cultural and social gathering place for the community for over 50 years. The Chinese characters visible throughout the restaurant and its service items remind us of the significance of the Chung’s family business to Santa Barbara’s New Chinatown.

Laina Malm-Levine is working with SBTHP to evaluate and catalog the objects associated with the Jimmy’s Oriental Gardens property, which SBTHP acquired in 2007. As a result of this project, a core collection will be developed that will aid future researchers and help SBTHP interpret this important local business. At the time of its closing in 2006, Jimmy’s was the last Chinese-run business in Santa Barbara’s “New” Chinatown.

Digitizing the Past: the Delfina de la Guerra Collection

by Katherine Lowe

Librarian Torie Quiñonez holds an object for photographer Lael Wageneck. Photo by Anne Petersen.

In the course of scanning items for the Delfina de la Guerra collection, we discovered that certain formats would not fit or were too delicate to be placed on the scanner bed. What’s a Research Center to do? Call in a photographer, of course!

Photo by Lael Wageneck.

A local photographer, Lael Wageneck, volunteered his time and brought his camera and lighting gear to the Presidio Research Center one afternoon to photograph some of the items in the Delfina collection. Lael says, “I’m a Santa Barbara native who likes photography and history, so helping the Trust was right up my alley and I enjoyed doing it.”

Photo by Lael Wagonek.

Thanks to Lael, we were able to take high-quality photographs of the plant clippings, scrapbooks, and oversized photographs. These photos will become part of the digital collection that we are creating for the Delfina de la Guerra collection.

Thanks, Lael!

Katherine Lowe is a volunteer at the Presidio Research Center. She is an enthusiastic supporter of the hidden treasures lurking in archives.

Collections Highlight: Sign from the Casa de la Guerra Porch

by Nora Kassner

Photo by Mike Imwalle.

In June of 2011, the Santa Barbara Historical Museum donated a wooden sign to SBTHP. Reading “This Side Private,” the sign illuminates the later years of the de la Guerra family’s residency in Casa de la Guerra. A 1912 court case, possibly the reason for the sign, pitted Josepha de la Guerra and her tenant, Miss Burk, against Francisca de la Guerra de Dibblee. The question: whether shoppers coming to Miss Burk’s art store could use the house’s courtyard or whether it belongs solely to family members still living in the Casa. Francisca won the suit, but the case foreshadowed the growing commercial use of Casa de la Guerra.

Facing the East wing of Casa de la Guerra. Photo by Mike Imwalle.

From 1912 until they moved out in 1942, Delphina and Herminia de la Guerra, Pablo de la Guerra’s daughters, stayed in the East wing of the Casa as shops, and eventually the El Paseo complex, sprung up around them. At some point during those thirty years, they put up this sign to keep the public away from their rooms.  Casa de la Guerra’s period as a family residence ended when the sisters moved out. The Historical Museum’s generous donation will help visitors to the Casa explore this critical period in the building’s history.

The sign is currently on display in the East wing of the Casa, where Delphina and Herminia once lived. For more information about Casa de la Guerra, including the hours of operation, click here.

Noras Kassner is a Classics major at Macalester College in Saint Paul, MN.  She interned in the curatorial department at SBTHP during the summer of 2011.