[Photo album of a young Japanese-American woman interned at Heart Mountain Relocation Center.]

California, Wyoming, 1937–1945. 336 photographs, 22 postcards. 1) Photo album (11” x 7.25"), black cloth, bound with string-ties. 116 b&w photos (mostly 2.5” x 2.25" to 3.5” x 2.5"), placed into photo-corners on album leaves. Approx. 59 photos with ink captions in margins, with an additional 12 photos inscribed on the image by the individual depicted. 2) Photo album (13.25” x 10.25”), decorative cream faux-leather, string-ties. 176 photos mounted into photo corners. 3) 2 album leaves containing 39 small photos creatively cut into shapes by Nakauchi, each captioned in the margin. 4) 5 loose photos (ca. 1940): 2 photos (8” x 10") inscribed to Nakauchi, a sleeved professional photo of a baby (captioned in Japanese), and 2 sleeved studio portraits by Toyo Miyatake, including a 9.5” x 7.25" wedding photo.

An archive of 336 photographs and twenty-two postcards belonging to Ayako Nakauchi, a young Japanese-American woman from Los Angeles, interned at Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming, with a collection of photos documenting her High School years in Los Angeles, some taken by noted photographer Toyo Miyatake.

The images are largely contained within two albums, one of which exclusively documents Nakauchi's time as an inmate at Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming. This album also contains eighteen postcards with handwritten notes, many sent back to Nakauchi by her fellow inmates upon leaving Heart Mountain. The other album depicts Ayako's life in Los Angeles and also contains a large collection of inscribed snapshots and studio portraits given to her by her schoolmates; among these are 17 studio portraits by famed Japanese American photographer Toyo Miyatake, best known for his portraits of inmates at Manzanar and collaboration with Ansel Adams.

Included are the following:

1) The album belonged to Miss Ayako Nakauchi (b. 1919), an internee at Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Northwest Wyoming (1942–1945), and contains her poignant collection of photographic portraits depicting inmates at the camp, many identified in painstaking detail on the album leaves. Shown are Ayako and fellow members of Block 27-14-A and Canteen #20 posing alone and together—on the steps of the spare, military style buildings they were assigned to, standing in front of the camp's barbed wire fence, or visiting the desolate plains of the Bighorn Basin just outside the camp gates. Throughout, the basic living conditions and remote location are apparent, although a few details—plants on the window ledge, an outdoor garden, etc.—show the inmates' attempts to beautify their surroundings. The album also includes an 8” x 3" group photograph of the employees of the camp's Community Enterprise, and a photograph of a performance by a Japanese-American music group at the camp. A group of twenty-nine photographs shows young women from the camp visiting the nearby town of Basin, Wyoming, including several images of a picnic they had there; this may have been a girl scout outing, as Basin was the headquarters of the the Girl Scout regional association, which was involved with the Heart Mountain Girl Scouts. The album also contains twenty-two postcards, eighteen of which contain notes sent by friends and family to Ayako (two are in Japanese), mostly while she was at Heart Mountain. These were sent by other Japanese-Americans between 1942 and 1945, from various locations in the American west. They appear to be from friends en route to internment camps or from canteen mates who were allowed to leave between 1943 and 1945; included are postcards from friends released from the camp after the war (finally out of Heart Mtn. The ride last nite was awful..."), plus several postcards from "Rosie" who was visiting Salt Lake City: "wish you were here—Finishing my shopping then off to movie—Regards to Marian, Harumi, Kimi, Haru & all canteen..." Taken as a whole—the photos of the young bunkmates, the inscribed photos, and the postcards—the album is a compelling document of the close social bonds formed among those imprisoned together. CONDITION: Very good, approximately six photos missing, album covers bowed.

2) This album dates from 1937 to 1940, during Nakauchi's time at Belmont High School in Los Angeles, and immediately afterward. Approximately seventy-six photos depict Nakauchi's friends and schoolmates, almost all inscribed (some with brief notes) and gifted to Ayako, likely as graduation tokens. These include thirty-eight studio portraits (measuring up to 5” x 7"), including fifteen formal studio portraits by famed Japanese American photographer Toyo Miyatake, best known for his portraits of inmates at Manzanar and collaboration with Ansel Adams. Another thirty-eight or so snapshots, almost all inscribed to Nakauchi, show her friends traveling after college or at home in Southern California. The rest of the album—around 100 snapshot photographs—documents Nakauchi's own life, including images of her life in Southern California, photos of a trip to the beach, and a collection of photos of a trip she took to Japan aboard an Ocean liner. CONDITION: Very good, with spotting and discoloration to covers.

3) Thirty-nine cutout images mounted on two leaves showing Ayako's family, friends, car, etc. in California ca. 1940. CONDITION: Creased, some photos missing.

4) Five loose photographs (ca. 1940): 2 photos inscribed to Nakauchi (one a wedding photo), a sleeved professional photo of a baby (captioned in Japanese), and two sleeved studio portraits by Toyo Miyatake, including a wedding photograph. CONDITION: A bit of soiling to sleeves.