- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-19 (19 of 22)
- File
- April 2nd 1945
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Akira Fujii.
Showing 154 results
Archival description- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-04 (4 of 22)
- File
- June 5th 1942
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Akira Fujii.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-11 (11 of 22)
- File
- December 12th 1942
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Akira Fujii.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-36 (3 of 11)
- File
- August 12 1942
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Albert Ohama.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-34 (1 of 11)
- File
- April 27th [1942?]
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Albert Ohama written on postcard, as well as ca. 20 cm of ribbon.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-37 (4 of 11)
- File
- November 14 1942
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Albert Ohama.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-38 (5 of 11)
- File
- January 28 1943
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Albert Ohama.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-35 (2 of 11)
- File
- July 4 1942
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Albert Ohama.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-39 (6 of 11)
- File
- February 28th 1943
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Albert Ohama.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-48 (4 of 5)
- File
- January 26 1943
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Emee Otsuki.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-45 (1 of 5)
- File
- May 22 1942
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains postcard from Emee Otsuki, as well as ca. 10 cm of twine.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-47 (3 of 5)
- File
- June 30th 1942
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Emee Otsuki.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-46 (2 of 5)
- File
- June 2 1942
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Emee Otsuki.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-49 (5 of 5)
- File
- July 10 1943
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Emee Otsuki.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-26 (4 of 11)
- File
- July 24th 1942
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Jackie Takahashi.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-27 (5 of 11)
- File
- September 15th 1942
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Jackie Takahashi.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-28 (6 of 11)
- File
- November 17 1942
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Jackie Takahashi.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-32 (10 of 11)
- File
- May 8th 1945
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Jackie Takahashi.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-33 (11 of 11)
- File
- February 24 1947
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Jackie Takahashi, and one small black and white print of him and his brothers.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-25 (3 of 11)
- File
- June 10th 1942
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Jackie Takahashi.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-30 (8 of 11)
- File
- June 22nd 1944
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Jackie Takahashi.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-23 (1 of 11)
- File
- April 25th 1942
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Jackie Takahashi and ca. 20 cm of ribbon used to bind letters together.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-24 (2 of 11)
- File
- May 10th 1942
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Jackie Takahashi.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-29 (7 of 11)
- File
- October 28th 1943
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Jackie Takahashi.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-01-31 (9 of 11)
- File
- February 16th 1945
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Jackie Takahashi.
- RBSC-ARC-1786
- Fonds
- 1941 - 1988
The fonds consists of the incoming correspondence to Joan Gillis from a group of young Japanese Canadians she met while attending Queen Elizabeth Secondary School in Surrey. The fonds includes 149 letters and 10 small photographs, referred to colloquially as ‘snaps’ in the letters, sent from a total of 13 different correspondents. The majority of the correspondence took place during 1942 to 1946, with different friends writing from farms and work camps in Northern British Columbia, Manitoba, and Alberta. The letters provide insight into the Japanese Canadian internment, which occurred against the backdrop of a larger cultural context. Since the early 1900s Japanese immigrants and persons of Japanese descent living in Canada were subject to racially targeted legislation, including limits on immigration, limits on fishing licenses, and being denied the right to vote based on racial status.
In the spring of 1941 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) fingerprinted and registered all Japanese Canadians over the age 16, who were required to carry identification cards until 1949. Following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941, Canada declared war on Japan. The Royal Canadian Navy impounded the fishing boats of the Japanese Canadian fishing community, and within two months 1,200 Japanese Canadian owned boats were sold. On February 24th 1942 the federal government authorized the removal of all persons of Japanese origin, and gave the RCMP the power to search without warrant, to impose a dawn to dusk curfew, and to confiscate all cars, radios, firearms, and cameras. Mass forced dispersal and dispossession ensued, with all Japanese Canadians being sent to internment camps, to work on farms, and perform other forms of hard labor, living in very poor conditions through the much colder winters of Canada’s interior.
The letter-writers discuss their day-to-day life at the camps, living and working conditions, their new schools and teachers, and ask after Gillis’ life in Surrey and the on-goings at Queen Elizabeth (Q.E.) secondary school.
Gillis kept the correspondence bound in twine or ribbon, which is also included in the fonds. A government censor opened and read many, if not all of the letters, and many of the envelopes bear a sticker or stamp marking this. Many of the letters are hand-written, some are typed, and some are written on postcards. Listed at the file level is the full name of each correspondent and his or her specific geographical location.
Gillis, Joan
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-05 (5 of 6)
- File
- December 2 1943
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Leo Otsuki.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-06 (6 of 6)
- File
- February 7 1944
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Leo Otsuki.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-01 (1 of 6)
- File
- March 2 1943
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Leo Otsuki, as well as ca. 20 cm ribbon.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-04 (4 of 6)
- File
- October 31 1943
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Leo Otsuki.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-02 (2 of 6)
- File
- April 22 1943
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Leo Otsuki.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-03 (3 of 6)
- File
- July 18 1943
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Leo Otsuki.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-58 (2 of 18)
- File
- August 5 1942
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Masao Ujiije.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-60 (4 of 18)
- File
- September 18 1942
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Masao Ujiije.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-61 (5 of 18)
- File
- November 2 1942
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Masao Ujiije.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-62 (6 of 18)
- File
- December 28 1942
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Masao Ujiije.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-69 (13 of 18)
- File
- July 10 1944
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Masao Ujiije.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-63 (7 of 18)
- File
- January 13 1943
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Masao Ujiije.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-64 (8 of 18)
- File
- February 20 1943
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Masao Ujiije.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-57 (1 of 18)
- File
- July 24 1942
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Masao Ujiije as well as ca 20 cm. of twine.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-59 (3 of 18)
- File
- August 17 1942
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Masao Ujiije.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-67 (11 of 18)
- File
- October 9 1943
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Masao Ujiije.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-68 (12 of 18)
- File
- January 31 1944
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Masao Ujiije.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-70 (14 of 18)
- File
- November 14 1944
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Masao Ujiije.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-71 (15 of 18)
- File
- January 3 1945
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Masao Ujiije.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-72 (16 of 18)
- File
- March 31 1945
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Masao Ujiije.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-74 (18 of 18)
- File
- February 7 1946
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Masao Ujiije.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-65 (9 of 18)
- File
- April 1943
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Masao Ujiije.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-66 (10 of 18)
- File
- July 26 1943
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Masao Ujiije.
- RBSC-ARC-1786-02-73 (17 of 18)
- File
- September 22 1945
Part of Joan Gillis fonds
File contains letter from Masao Ujiije.
Results 1 to 50 of 154