Chiura Obata Papers, Correspondence with Roosevelt, Eleanor about Paiting Moonlight Over Topaz, Utah

About the Project

*PLEASE NOTE: This collection contains projects/pages in Japanese and/or Chinese. Please fully transcribe all materials in the language they are originally written in and only include translations if you are able by using [[translation]] and [[/translation]] around the English translated text.* The papers of Japanese-American artist and educator Chiura�bata (1885-1975)�ontain biographical material primarily related to�bata's family's forced relocation from Berkeley to Tanforan detention center and incarceration at the Topaz Relocation center during WWII. Correspondence with family, friends, and colleagues; writings by Chiura�bata�nd others; material related to the art schools�bata�stablished at Tanforan and Topaz; teaching files and professional activities;�iaries, and other documents are included. Help transcribe projects from this collection to learn more about Obata and his impact on the art world.

Chiura Obata (1885-1975) was a Japanese-American artist and educator. Born Zoroku Sato in Okayama prefecture in Japan, Obata showed artistic talent early in life. He joined the artist group Nihon Bijutsuin (the Japan Art Institute) and apprenticed with Tanryo Murata. After immigrating to the U.S. in 1903, Obata worked as a commercial designer and illustrator for newspapers,�ncluding the�ew World�nd the�apanese American, San Francisco's two Japanese newspapers. In 1921 he co-founded the East West Art Society in San Francisco. He had his first exhibition for American audiences in 1928 and began teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1932.�n April of 1942, as a result of Executive Order 9066, Obata�nd his family were forcibly relocated from Berkley to Tanforan detention center. By May, he and fellow artists had established an art school with over 900 students. The school was successful and they were able to hold an exhibition outside of the camp in July. In September of 1942, the Obatas were moved to the Topaz War Relocation center, where Obata�ounded the Topaz Art School. He was reinstated as an instructor at the University of California, Berkeley in 1945, and he continued to exhibit his artwork and went on sketching and painting trips with the Sierra Club. He became a naturalized citizen in 1954.

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Project Progress (details)

15 pages completed

Difficulty

3 out of 5

(details)

About Project Difficulty

Level 1 - BEGINNER

Content: all typed
Language: English
Format: letters, diaries, flyers, pamphlets, and one-page documents
Subject Area Expertise/Special Skills: none required

Level 2

Content: mostly typed, handwritten in print, or otherwise very clearly written/readable
Language: English
Format: memorabilia, advertisements, image captions, telegrams, diaries, letters, notes
Subject Area Expertise/Special Skills: none required

Level 3 - INTERMEDIATE

Content: typed and handwritten materials in cursive or print
Language: English
Format: newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, letters/diaries/notes that may include annotations or margin notes
Subject Area Expertise/Special Skills: experience reading cursive writing may be useful

Level 4

Content: handwritten materials, primarily in cursive or somewhat difficult to read (predominantly from the 19th and 20th centuries) , audio recordings that are relatively easy to hear/decipher, and scientific materials
Language: English and/or other languages that use Roman script but may require the use of diacritics (French, Spanish, German, Italian, etc.)
Format: audio recordings, letters, diaries, notes and other written materials, projects with templated fields and special instructions
Subject Area Expertise/Special Skills: some knowledge of non-English Roman-character/script languages and diacritics may be useful, as well as experience reading cursive handwriting. A general knowledge or familiarity with scientific terminology.

Level 5 - ADVANCED

Content: handwritten materials in cursive (from the 19th century or earlier) or in a non-Roman script language, audio recordings that are difficult to hear or are not in English, specialty materials/projects such as numismatics projects and the Project Phaedra notebooks
Language: foreign languages that use non-Roman characters (Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Greek/Cyrillic, Native American and Indigenous languages, etc.) and English
Format: audio recordings, columned data/tables, manuscripts, letters, diaries, notes, currency sheets, coins
Subject Area Expertise/Special Skills: knowledge of a specific language and access to a keyboard with the characters in that language may be required for certain projects. Experience reading cursive handwriting and familiarity with 19th century (or prior) handwriting and conventions/abbreviations may be useful, as well as knowledge of scientific terminology, astrophysics data, or linguistics.

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