Fresno Assembly camp [Fresno Assembly Camp-peaches]

Sugimoto, Henry [ bio ]

Description

Stretched and framed.

Still life of dish with three peaches on wooden folding table or stool. Dish sits on top of "Fresno Grapevine" newspaper; pink coupon book in foreground; white ID tag for Sugimoto, "Sugimoto, S., No. 24907, Fresno Assembly Center," next to dish on right.

Inscription
Signed in medium, bottom left corner: H. Sugimoto, Fresno Assembly Camp, 1942 Written on back: Fresno Assembly Camp/16" x 13"

History
An apparently simple still life tells a complex story. An innocuous plate of peaches sits beside several other objects: a copy of the Fresno Grapevine (a newspaper produced by Japanese Americans in the camp); the government-issued tag that identified the Sugimotos by their assigned number, 24907; and a ration booklet that could be used to purchase items at the camp cooperative.

All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in this collection must be submitted to the Hirasaki National Resource Center at the Japanese American National Museum (hnrc@janm.org).