Showing posts with label Japanese. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japanese. Show all posts

Thursday, November 16, 2017

1920 Census Summarized

1920 Census

In 1920, Locke was still included on the Georgiana Township Census records. It was still a small town and so Ryde, Walnut Grove and Locke as well as Isleton were recorded in the census. There are 36 pages for that particular census, however, based on the names listed on the 1920 voting registry listing residents for Locke I was able to cross reference them along with other names of residents I recognized to narrow down the number of pages in the census that reflect Locke. By using that method of research the residents of Locke can be found between pages 18-23 on that particular census.

Right now I am in the process of making a database of all the residents listed in the 1920, 1930 and 1940 census' for Locke. Once I am done I will be making all this information available. Until then, this is a very basic summarized blog post giving you an idea of the make up of Locke during 1920.

According to the stats on the census, there were:

155- Chinese living in Locke in 1920 (this included listed Chinese-Americans and Chinese Immigrants)

121- Caucasians living in Locke in 1920 (this included Americans (born within the U.S.) as well as European Immigrants from: Germany, Portugal, Holland, Switzerland, Scotland, and Russia.

29- Japanese living in Locke in 1920.

3 - Hindu, East Indians living in Locke in 1920.


As always, this is further proof that shows the Locke was comprised of many different groups of people from its beginnings, and was not "Exclusively built by, for and lived in soley by Chinese" as many people will try to have you believe. Look, I have absolutely nothing against the Chinese people of Locke, in fact, I love everyone who lived there and contributed their culture and heritage to this unique little town. Everyone! I just do not like that a lot of  the history of Locke has been forgotten or purposely omitted. I believe that all of Locke's history should be remembered, from the Chinese to the Caucasian residents, the Japanese, the Hindu, the Italians, Portuguese and even the Russians who lived out on Locke Slough (out back behind Locke; near Snodgrass Slough), which was still considered part of Locke and was part of the Locke family estate. These people deserve to be remembered, too. And this town deserves to acknowledge ALL the former residents of this beautiful Delta hideaway.


(Copyright 2017- J'aime Rubio, www.jaimerubiowriter.com)


Thursday, November 9, 2017

Alien Land Law of 1913 - Did Not Apply To Residents of Locke





This blog is meant to be an unbiased look at Locke's history, and I stand by that whole-heartedly. One thing that really bothers me is that certain people who claim to be the "official" ones preserving Locke's history in Locke, have been promoting a very one-sided approach to sharing its history.

In various plaques within the town you will see their mentioning of the Alien Land Law of 1913, and how it discriminated against Chinese in Locke. First and foremost let's make two things clear:

The Alien Land Law of 1913, which is also known as the Webb-Haney Act prohibited ANY aliens from owning property in California. From the beginning, it focused on Japanese immigrants first. It was not specifically against Chinese, but branched out to include all Asians (except Filipinos) and even included East Indians who were not eligible for citizenship.

Still, there was always a way to skirt around the law, which is exactly what happened.

"The intent of the law was to restrict land ownership by Japanese immigrants. However, by assigning ownership of land to second generation children, born in the United States and thus citizens, or by the use of extended leases the law could be evaded."---(http://www.intimeandplace.org/Japanese%20Internment/reading/constitution/alienlandlaw.html)


Back to Locke 

Secondly, the law has never applied to Locke and never will. Why? Because Locke was private property owned by the Locke family long before it became a town, and it remained in the Locke family estate until the last of all the Locke heirs passed away. 

So because no part of Locke was ever for sale when owned by the Locke family, and no part of Locke was offered for sale to any other persons the law could never apply to Chinese residents in Locke. In other words, the Chinese were not refused the opportunity to purchase land in Locke, it was just that no part of Locke was ever for sale when the Locke family owned it.

This was simply private property owned by a family who at one point in time very generously allowed people of all races and ethnic backgrounds to build homes and businesses on their land, and they were considered tenants of said property owners (The Locke family) whose tenants paid rent monthly to their landlords. So you see, the Locke’s never had any intention to sell their land at any point in time so they could never be guilty of withholding property from anyone based on their ethnic background or nationality. So the Alien Land Law of 1913 cannot apply.

The residents of Locke didn’t own the property they lived on, not because of racial prejudice, but simply because the owners of the property never had any intention to sell it, to anyone. They preferred keeping their property in their family estate. There is nothing discriminatory about that.  The late Connie King was quoted in an interview for the Locke Oral History Project for the Parks Department, when she mentioned speaking to Mr. Locke (I am assuming Clay Locke, grandson of George W. Locke, who lived on his ranch there until his death in 1963) and in regards to being asked why residents in Locke (after 1952) could not own their homes in town, she stated:   “See, I talk to Mr. Locke several times because I help him collect rent, see, so I said, “Why can’t you?” He said, “Because this land is owned by the Locke family and the family’s too big and not everybody agreed to sell.”  So that’s what happened.”--- quoted from transcript in  “Locke Oral History Project,” written by Maya Beneli, interviewed by Patrick Ettinger, Ph.D.,page 206.

In reality, and you can check the property records on this, Locke belonged to the Locke family from its beginnings all the way until the last of the Locke heirs passed away in 1969. It wasn’t until after the Locke’s had all passed away and the estate went into probate that a Chinese businessman from China came in and purchased the entire parcel in the 1970’s, which they intended to create a Chinese Amusement Park where the town is. That businessman Ng Tor Tai, is the brother-in-law of Clarence Chu.  No one ever brings up the fact that from the 1970’s until the County stepped in over 25 years later, the homes in Locke were unavailable for residents to own as well. It is a well-known fact that during that time period it was Ng Tor Tai who owned the town, and the entire parcel that once was the Locke Estate, and he had not offered the properties to residents to own, but in fact allowed the town to fall into such disrepair during that time the town was about to be condemned.

Local government had to get involved to save Locke and then eventually those who had homes in Locke had the opportunity to own each individual property.  Why then is it that this part of Locke’s history is never is mentioned? Yet, this false narrative that somehow residents were deprived of owning their homes between 1916-1953, because of some archaic land law or discrimination against Chinese is what is constantly pushed, when that simply wasn’t so. There seems to be double standards in this case since no one seems to complain that the later owner of Locke, Ng Tor Tai, for all the years of him owning the land, he didn’t offer the properties to residents either. Where is the outrage about that?

Historical Accuracy --The Census records for Locke going back to its early beginnings show that Locke was inhabited by a lot of different people, not solely Chinese. I have been researching Locke’s history for several years now and I have many of my findings on this blog which is backed up by primary source materials. Please feel free to read more about it, here are just a few links:





Yes, many Chinese lived in Locke, there is no denying that, but it was NOT exclusively lived in, built for and ran by Chinese. To say that Locke was exclusively a Chinese town would be revising the facts and that is history revisionism, and that is morally wrong. 

 Also, many of the Chinese living in Locke had fake papers (“Paper Sons”), meaning they had obtained fraudulent identification to show they were “Citizens” and not immigrants.  What did that mean for them?  It meant some of them could vote, own businesses and yes, even own land! 

 I have seen page by page lists of the voting registries of Locke going so far back as 1916 and census records from 1920 to the 1930’s showing there was diversity in Locke. Chinese and Caucasian residents, as well as Japanese in its earlier years, and later Russian, Italian, Portuguese as well as many other residents of various ethnic backgrounds.  Going back to the early 1916-1918 voting registries, a registered VOTER on the list meant they were listed as Citizens. 

Lee Bing was one of the people in Locke’s earlier history. The book “Bitter Melons” by Jeff Gillenkirk and James Motlow quoted Lee Bing’s son as saying his father “bought a lot of land” because, as it reads, “That law [ about Chinese not owning land] was pretty flexible.” – page 34.  Another thing to note, Lee Bing was an immigrant from China, who was using fake papers, and yet he owned land all over California, including Walnut Grove. As the book plainly states, the law was pretty flexible.


So in ending, I hope that you will see that the narrative that somehow the former residents of Locke were prevented from owning their homes because of some archaic land law is actually false. Locke was never for sale and was never going to be for sale as long as the Locke family had ownership of it, therefore there was no discrimination against anyone. In fact, it was quite the opposite. When in other areas of the state if Chinese or Japanese immigrants who might have wanted to purchase land but were denied because of the law, at least in Locke the Locke family allowed Chinese, Japanese and all sorts of other immigrants to rent from them and live there in peace.

 Again, you must remember, the law only applied if (a) you were an alien and (b) if you were attempting to purchase land or property that was actually for sale. This did not apply in Locke because the Locke family never had any intention to break up their estate and sell it. Another thing to mention was that there were plenty of residents within Locke who had the ability to purchase land or property elsewhere if they wished to, because they used false identification (Paper Sons) in order to claim citizenship. If you were considered a citizen, you could vote, own businesses and yes, even own land or property. So not all Chinese immigrants were barred from owning land or property, as even Ping Lee mentioned in his quoted interview in "Bitter Melons." 


(Copyright 2017) - J'aime Rubio  www.jaimerubiowriter.com

Saturday, April 2, 2016

1930 Census Shows Diversity

1930 Census, Locke, CA
The 1930 Census records shows there were 550 residents living in Locke at the time. Out of those 550 people, there consisted 136 separate "households".  Most of the residents at the time were Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, American, Italian, along with Swedish, German, Japanese, Filipino, Mexican, Turkish, Armenian and various others.

Here are the surnames of those households: Carlton, Gay, Chan, Chung, Lom, Lewis,Chun, Ah,Mar, Chan, Tai, Ching, Jang, Low, Lemma,Chan Lin, Chans,Lee, Leong, Chan, Baker, Way, Benedix, Locke, Bard, Owyang, Sing, Chan, Yuen, Chan, Cheung, Lee, Chan,Chan, Kim, Chan, Witt, Chan, Chan, Chan, Law, Chong, Owyang, Lend, Foringer, Modick, Fadan, Muller, Reistetter, Kuramoto, Ross, Corpuz, Delacruz, Castillian, Yurasaki, Jacob, Dauegtost, Lederma, Perry, Rodriguez, Marino, Garcia, Stickel, Hehr, Lowrence, Brum, Herzig, Ledesma, Gonsalves, Bautista, Goureia, White, Jenkins, Nolte, Hollenstein, Caster, Gonsalves, Bentz, Chin, Schiling, Myer, Coleman, Stickel, Lindauer, Lenhart, Fuhsman, O'Donnell, Castellanos, Nelson, Radke, Aman, Espigaras,Gil,Guigni, Richina, Ruiz, Zbitnoff, Lyada, Fueranten, Ortega, Espiche, Luengo, Arigliano, Cafiero, Miller, Price, Kennedy, Kennedy, Cucciare, Casado, Petarine, Leslie, Arana, Chiccheng, Martin, Hanlan, Emodan, Gil, Novarro, Lopez, Lopez, Pegus, Romero, Rubiales, Silva, Navarro, Simonich, Lawrence, Miller, Fries, Moreno, Wardwell, Paredes, Salido and Garcia. (U.S. Census Records, 1930, Town of Locke)  


( ** note: the underlined names are Non-Chinese residents in Locke)

Also, according to the 1930 Census—


There were:  10 Chinese businesses, 3 Caucasian businesses, 1 Portuguese business, and 2 Japanese businesses running in Locke as of 1930:


Chinese: (3) General Stores (1) Cigar Stand (1) Pool Room (1) Dentist (1) Butcher Shop (1) Barber Shop (1) Restaurant (1) Rooming House


Caucasian: (1) Rooming House (1) Saloon (refreshment parlor) (1)Mechanic Shop


Portuguese: (1) Restaurant


Japanese: (1) Rooming House (1) Restaurant


I am still working on a spreadsheet for 1930's census, but I estimate that about 37% of Locke’s residents in 1930 were of Chinese ancestry (Chinese immigrants and Chinese-American born citizens). The other 63 % consisted of non-Chinese immigrants, children of non-Chinese immigrants born in the U.S. and Americans (Caucasian).  Even in 1930, Locke was a multi-cultural town, full of a wide variety of people from virtually every ethnic background. 


(Copyright 2016, J'aime Rubio www.jaimerubiowriter.com)

Sources:
U.S. Census Records, 1930, Town of Locke

Monday, March 28, 2016

Who Approached George Locke First?

Who's Idea Was It? 

Who thought of moving to Locke first? The answers may surprise you. You see, there is an alternate story that has been circulated and even published over the years, stating that the Japanese were actually the first to think of moving to Locke as a group. Originally, a large amount of Japanese were also living in Walnut Grove's Chinatown. After the fire they were displaced, and no longer wanting to be associated with the Chinese, they approached George G. Locke about moving to his land first.

According to Eiichiro Azuma, the curator at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, his published work,"Interethnic Conflict under Racial Subordination: Japanese Immigrants and Their Neighbors in Walnut Grove, California, 1908-1941" the story is clearly presented.

Azuma cites sources documenting that after the fire in Walnut Grove, the Japanese immigrants wanted to disassociate themselves from the Chinese all together. Despite what many may assume, the two cultures were very much different and did not get along. After the fire the Japanese wished to rebuild, but this time they wanted a Japantown. Unfortunately the Japanese were divided. Some wanted to rebuild on the Dye brothers' land in Walnut Grove, while others eyed the property of George Locke. Cited sources used by Azuma state that "George Locke demanded $20,000 from the Japanese for the construction of a new living quarter. If they agreed on it, he promised to provide a maximum of $10,000."  The Japanese are the only ones to provide such evidence, and the dates coincide with the Walnut Grove fire, as it was only about a week after the fire that this is mentioned in various papers at the time. The Chinese have not provided any written documentation that the idea to move to Locke was their own. (Japanese Association of Walnut Grove, “Kawashimo Nihonjinkai Kiroku,” October 15, 1915 in JARP; and Nichibei Shimbun, October 18, 1915.) 

According to Azuma, once the Chinese heard that the Japanese were planning to move to George Locke's land, they quickly approached George Locke and "hastily signed lease contracts on the most convenient lots on Locke's land."*  There was a personal issue between both groups, one having complaints against the other. The Japanese thought of the Chinese as greedy and "menacing", who lived in filthy conditions and made their money by promoting undesirable practices (ex; gambling halls.)

Likewise, the Chinese thought the Japanese to be vulgar and would not let their children play with Japanese children at school. The opinion of the Japanese people was that the Chinese were "conspiring" against them at all times. From pushing the Japanese farm workers out (who were working the agricultural areas of the Delta since the early 1900's), to quickly flooding into the town of Locke, the animosity between the two groups didn't end there.

There were some Japanese that chose to stay in Locke, despite the high population of Chinese who moved there from Walnut Grove. For one, a Mr. Wakayama opened a barber shop in Locke after being displaced in the Walnut Grove fire.  For this choice he was "excommunicated" by his people, and a letter was sent to his home village in Japan, to shame his family for his "misdeeds." After several years, he was able to clear his name by writing a letter of apology to the Walnut Grove Japanese Association. Wakayama was not the only non-Chinese resident in Locke, though, there were many others.

(*there has been no written documentation presented proving the Chinese signed lease agreements with G. Locke, although the story has been orally passed down.)

(Copyright 2015- J'aime Rubio)
--originally posted on October 5, 2015 (Dreaming Casually)

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Life for the Kuramoto's

Locke Boarding House
The Locke Boarding House which sits at the corner of Locke Road and Main Street, in Locke, predates the other structures in town by at least a couple of years. According to the NCCSAH the structure was more than likely constructed in early 1910; However, the State Parks Department's website clearly points out that this structure was actually built in 1909, meaning it predates all the buildings in Locke. 

It's been thought that the earliest use was as a lodging structure for laborers, more than likely accommodating the Southern Pacific workers, and the workers at the G.W. Locke packing shed on the same property nearby. So far, not a lot of information in regards to who ran the boarding house prior 1921 has surfaced besides a few newspaper articles dating back to 1915, that mention "dormitories" on the Locke property that were used for their workers at the packing shed. The first family we are certain that ran it as a true boarding house, with rooms for rent,  was the Kuramoto family.

Almost all mentions of this building include that the house has not been associated with Chinese residents of Locke. 
The boarders typically were Caucasian or Japanese, with occasional Filipinos and Indians (Hindu).  According to Peter Cowan, whose father ran a trucking yard in South Locke in the 1950's, many of this building's transient residents were Oklahoma truckers who worked for his father. Peter Cowan said that he also lived in this same boarding house for awhile. Mr. Cowan owns a large portion of South Locke still today (2016), which was part of the Union Oil Company Railyard in the early 1900's, then a few decades later became his father's trucking yard.

The Beginning of Sam's Rooms

Sukiei Kuramoto, Nobu Kuramoto, their daughters Matsue, Kikue and son Eimi came to the United States and the family eventually ended up in  Locke around 1921, when they bought the boarding house, naming it Sam's Rooms. According to interviews with Sam Kuramoto, he claimed that his father loved the name Sam, and that later when he was born in 1928, that is why his father also called him Sam. They also had another daughter, Haruko who was 7 years older than Sam.

The Kuramoto's lived in the downstairs of the boarding house, on the backside of the structure, while the upstairs had the rooms for rent. While maintaining the boarding house, the Kuramoto's also worked in the agricultural field, traveling to Lodi and Stockton to pick grapes and strawberries, or packing asparagus and pears in the packing sheds nearby. At times the family would be gone all week, so the younger children were at home and learned quickly to run the boarding house if needed, while their parents were gone. In interviews Sam Kuramoto claimed that his mother didn't believe in locking the doors to their home, so many times they would come home to find that their furniture or belongings had been stolen. They blamed it on the Chinese residents.

(There was an animosity between the Japanese and Chinese in Locke, which stemmed from various reasons which I will go into further detail in an upcoming blog post.)

By 1936, the patriarch of the Kuramoto family, Sukiei died, leaving Nobu a widow, with children to raise by herself. She continued to run the boarding house by herself, and managed to work in the fields picking fruit and vegetables to make ends meet. Working as a single mother, during the Great Depression, Nobu still had time to maintain a beautiful garden just behind the house, on the east side. There she grew vegetables with beautiful flowers surrounding it.
 

By the time that the bombing of Pearl Harbor took place, there were rumors that the Japanese might be sent away to camps. According to the interview with Sam Kuramoto for the States Parks, he states that his mother panicked about this, and took everything she owned anyway related to Japan and burned it. She had taught her children they were born in America, and to be proud to be American, so it was apparent that she wanted to prove her loyalty to the country they were living in.


Unfortunately, when the time came in April 1942, the Kuramoto's were forced out of their home and sent to a detainment facility in Turlock. They would spend about three months there, before being sent to the Gila River facility in Arizona.

Gila River Camp

Located 36 miles southeast of Phoenix, sits the ruins of what once was the Gila River War Relocation Center, which once held over 13,000 Japanese-Americans.  Consisting of two separate camps, Butte Camp and Canal Camp, the internment facilities were originally built to house only 10,000 at full capacity.  Despite strict objections from the Gila River Tribe, the site was still used and the camp was constructed over a short two months, and opened on July 20, 1942.

Internees, as they were called, were brought in from as far as the Northern California Delta region, as well as the Central Valley area near Fresno and as far South as Los Angeles. Approximately, two thousand internees from an internment camp in Arkansas were also brought in to add to the population at Gila River. Although it was considered one of the least oppressive camps of its kind, due to the fact they only had one watchtower and the barbed-wire fences didn’t last, it was in no way what you could call “comfortable” living.

Butte Camp had a little over 800 buildings, while Canal Camp had approximately 400. Among the facilities on site were administration buildings, a hospital, living quarters or barracks, mess halls, laundry houses, warehouses, police offices, latrine and shower houses, churches, school houses as well as other buildings to maintain the camp. Shower rooms consisted of a room with a dozen shower heads or so, in a community shower atmosphere. The latrine rooms were just rooms consisting of toilets without stalls or separating areas for individuals. Some living barracks were divided by blankets and sheets or tarps used as makeshift walls that separated one living area from the next.  The term “shikata ga nai”, translated as “it cannot be helped,” was used often to summarize the Japanese internee’s feelings of helplessness in their living conditions.

The Kuramoto's spent 3 years at Gila River until they were able to move to Minnesota to join Nobu's oldest daughter, who had been released and given a job. The family remained in Minnesota until 1949, when Sam joined the Army. They never did return to their home in Locke, although he later recalled driving by on one of their visits to the delta region many years later. 

It is hard to imagine being ripped from your own home and taken to a strange place, and having no certainty of what lay ahead. One can only speculate how difficult it must have been for Nobu to be strong for her family during such a trying time.  It is said that when the Kuramoto's were sent to the internment camps, their neighbor Jack Ross (who lived in the house just north of them) took over the boarding house for them. He also ran the gas station and auto mechanic shop in Locke. Now this building is owned by the Department of Parks & Recreation and is used as a museum. 

Whenever I visit Locke, the boarding house is usually the first place I visit. Now, every time I see it, I will be reminded of the lovely family that made this house a home, and the sad struggle this family faced during such trying times.

(Copyright 2016- J'aime Rubio www.jaimerubiowriter.com) 

Sources: 
Sac Union, July 1915
1930 Census Records,
Family Search
Public Records,
NCCSAH newsletter, 2009
Transcribed Interview of Sam Kuramoto by Dr. Ettinger, Oral History Project (DPR)
Interview with Martha Esch (about Peter Cowan)
United State Japanese Americans Relocated During WWII, 1942-1946 database
Photos: Locke Boarding House, J. Rubio (Copyright 2015)
Gila River Camp - National Archives; photographer Hikaru Iwasaki (1945) 


Friday, October 23, 2015

The True History of Locke, California (Part 1)

ARTICLE HAS BEEN BROKEN UP INTO SMALLER ARTICLES--- PLEASE LOOK TO MY LIST ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THIS BLOG TO SEE INDIVIDUAL ARTICLES----