[Archive of Original Photographs from the Japanese Methodist Episcopal Church in Oakland and Additional Photographs and Documents From Its Later Merger with Lake Park Methodist Church]

[Oakland, 1986. Good.. Seven substantial photographs, measuring between 6 x 9 inches and 7.5 x 36.75 inches, plus approximately four linear inches of programs, newspapers, additional photographs, holograph notes, financial records, and more. Varying levels of wear, soiling, chipping, and repairs to the photographs. A rare collection of substantial images picturing members of the Oakland Japanese Methodist Episcopal Church in the early-to-mid 20th century, first at what appears to be a converted home in the city, and later at their larger, more traditional church on West 10th St, with an additional image of an outing to Piedmont. The incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII led to the temporary closure of the church. During this time, one of its halls was used to store the possessions of incarcerated Japanese and Japanese American citizens; after the war, it served as a hostel for returning members. In 1967, the church sold the land and moved, at the invitation of Lake Park Methodist Church, to the latter's premises, and in 1968, the two churches formally merged. The second portion of the archive relates to the Lake Park Methodist Church both before and after this merger. The photographs present here depicting the earlier years of the Japanese Methodist Episcopal Church are as follows, in chronological order:

1) Oakland Japanese M.E. Church. Sept. 30, 1917 [caption title]. 7.5 x 9.5 inches. A handsome black-and-white group photograph outside the church, captioned in the plate in English. The wooden sign for the church is mounted above the entrance and reads, "Japanese M.E. Church." An American flag flies above the sign. Evidence of construction paper adhesion to verso; clear tape to upper corner; light soiling.

2) Methodist Ministers' Conference [caption title in pencil on verso]. 6 x 9 inches. Similar setting to the photograph above, this black-and-white group photograph, features a group of almost forty ministers of the Methodist Church, most of whom are not Japanese American, but apparently met in conference at the Japanese Methodist Episcopal Church in Oakland circa 1917 (though a pencil note on the verso reads, "1912?"). Formerly mounted, with tape remnants to verso and one corner, some creasing, a few short closed tears.

3) Japanese Methodist Episcopal Church of Oakland. Dedicated Feb. 24th, 1918 [caption title]. 12 x 20 inches. A substantial black-and-white group photograph outside the church, featuring a couple hundred members presumable posed for the church building's dedication. Two newspaper clippings of ministers of the church are taped to the upper corners, small semicircle of loss and tape to middle of bottom margin, tape to corners and verso.

4) [Uncaptioned Panoramic Photograph Featuring Church Members in 1925]. Tsuji Studios (stamp on verso and embossed blind stamp in lower margin). 7.5 x 36.75 inches. Pictures the church membership of over a hundred Japanese American men, women, and children in the midst of the Roaring Twenties. Heavy dampstaining and damage to left side, obscuring about five inches of the image. Accompanied by another example of the same photograph, also with Tsuji Studios stamps, this copy with damage to the right side. This second example has an ink inscription in Japanese on verso and a computer-printed date taped to the bottom margin and reading, "1925." The chipping on each side of the two photographs obscure some of the subjects, but taken together, these two images record all of the information contained in the photograph.

5) Church Outdoor Ceremony at the Piedmont Hills [caption title in Japanese]. 8 x 32 inches. A striking sepia-toned panoramic photograph capturing an outdoor excursion to the Piedmont hills in 1927 (four captions in the negative printed in Japanese). Tsuji Photo Studio stamp on verso, along with a short manuscript caption in pencil in Japanese. Light marginal staining; toning.

6) Farewell Ceremony for Pastor Arima and His Family. January 8, 1933 [caption title in Japanese]. Tsuji Photo Studio. 7.75 x 9.5 inches. Handsome sepia-toned group photograph of a farewell gathering for Pastor Arima and his family in early 1933 (captioned in the plate in Japanese). An ink inscription on the verso confirms the caption in the negative and reads, "Farewell photograph taken on January 8, 1933 prior to the departure of Rev. Arima & family to Japan." Rough patch to lower corner and lower edge, likely from tape removal, slightly affecting the extremities of the image.

7) Final Service at the West 10th Methodist Sanctuary. Feb. 5, 1967 [caption title]. Utsumi Studio. 8.5 x 14 inches. An informative black-and-white group photograph depicting the congregation at the West 10th Methodist Church location after it was sold in 1967. Small chip and closed tear to bottom margin, affecting part of caption, tape to verso.

The later portion of the archive documents church life and activities at Lake Park Methodist Church, the vast majority of which emanates from prior to the merger of the two churches. This earlier material includes a notebook of board meeting notes from 1967, numerous typed board meeting agendas from the 1960s, two issues of the Lake Park Methodist Church newsletter called Spotlite, church programs and fliers, a few Methodist newspapers such as the United Methodist and Lake District Reporter, and numerous photographs picturing Anglo-American members of the church. The post-merger material includes a dual-language newsletter and calendar for October 1972 (listing the minister as George Uyemura), a folder of financial records from the Lake Park United Methodist Church School from 1969-70, and two newsletters from November 1968.

An important record of Japanese American religious life in Oakland before, during, and after the collective trauma of WWII incarceration, as well as a peek into the development of a particular California Methodist Church later in the century.