Correspondence

This series includes correspondence between Obata and family, friends, and colleagues, primarily while he was incarcerated at Tanforan and Topaz. Occasional letters addressed to his family members are also included. Notable correspondents include John Boylin, Dorothea Lange, Monroe Deutsch, Dorothy Parker, Miné Okubo, and Ruth Kingman. Much of the correspondence in this series is in Japanese, including letters of appreciation from students who attended the art schools established by Chiura Obata at Tanforan and Topaz. Some correspondence includes explanatory notes summarizing letter contents or providing context, written by either Kimi Kodani Hill or Mia Kodani Brill, Obata's grandchildren who donated the collection to the archives. Noteworthy material includes a series of letters Obata wrote to his wife Haruko during his 1927 trip to the Sierras in California.