Collection of Photographs Showing the Japanese Methodist Episcopal Church in Oakland over 50 Years [with] Material Documenting Lake Park Methodist Church

[Oakland, California]: Tsuji Studios, unknown others, 1917-1967. Includes:

Photographs:

- 7-1/2 x 9-1/2 inch b&w group photograph outside the church, captioned in the plate in English and dated September 30, 1917. Evidence of construction paper adhesion to verso; clear tape to upper corner; light soiling.

- 6 x 9 inch b&w group photograph, circa 1917, captioned in pencil on the back "Methodist minsters' conference". Tape to verso and one corner; creasing.

- 12 x 20 inch b&w group photograph outside the church, captioned in the plate, "Dedicated Feb. 24, 1918. Two newspaper clippings of ministers of the church are taped to the upper corners; semicircle of loss and tape to foot; tape to remaining corners and verso.

- Two copies of the same 36-3/4 x 7-1/2 inch panorama group portrait by Tsuji Studios, one of which has had a later computer-printed date taped to the bottom edge, "1925". Photographer's blind stamp to corner and ink stamp to verso of both. Heavy dampstaining and damage to left side of one copy and right side of the other, obscuring subjects.

- Framed b&w panorama photograph, approx. 31-3/4 x 7-1/2 inches, a group portrait during an outdoor excursion to the Piedmont hills in 1927 (captioned in the plate in Japanese). Light marginal staining; toning.

- 7-3/4 x 9-1/2 inch b&w group photograph of a farewell gathering for Pastor Arima, 1933 (captioned in the plate in Japanese). Rough patch to lower corner and lower edge, likely from tape removal, slightly affecting image.

- 8-1/2 x 14 inch b&w group photograph, captioned in the plate, "Final Service at the West 10th Methodist Sanctuary. Feb. 5, 1967." Loss and tear to foot, affecting part of caption; tape to verso.

Lake Park Methodist Church material: approx. 4 linear inches of programs, newspapers, photographs, holograph notes, financial records, etc., circa 1946-1972.

Fair to Good overall.

A rare collection of images of members of the Oakland Japanese Methodist Episcopal Church, first at what appears to be a converted home in the city, and later at their larger, more traditional church on West 10th St, with an additional image of an outing to Piedmont. The incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII led to the temporary closure of the church. During this time, one of its halls was used to store the possessions of incarcerees; after the war, it served as a hostel for returning members. In 1967, the church sold the land and moved, at the invitation of Lake Park Methodist Church, to the latter's premises, and in 1968, the two churches formally merged.

Also included are a collection of material documenting Lake Park Methodist Church, the vast majority of it from prior to the merger of the two churches. The post-merger material includes a dual-language newsletter and calendar for October 1972, a folder of financial records from 1969, and two newsletters from November 1968.

An important record of Japanese American religious life in Oakland before, during, and after the collective trauma of WWII incarceration.