1993 - Sharon Stathos, Violet K. DeCristoforo, Amy Tan, etc., 1993
Scope and Contents
The collection has been divided into eight series, see listing below, easily identified by the way Nikki filed her papers. In addition to her writings, her correspondence files and subject files are rich with details of her interests. For instance, her correspondence files show her great influence on Asian-American authors and artists. She helped edit their work, arranged for them to speak in San Francisco, and supported them with warm letters. The files show her work to pass the Civil Liberties Act of 1985, her service as a spokesperson for the redress movement, and the schedule of her lectures to school children from elementary to graduate classes usually speaking about the internment. She also addressed the topics of marrying a powerful white man and the perception of white superiority. She spoke and wrote with fact, feeling, and humor.
NSB was active in the San Francisco Center for Japanese American Studies and served as program chair and edited their newsletter during the 1980s. This period is well documented in the collection.
Her daughter has kept most of the family photographs and has requested that the following items be returned to her. In most cases, photocopies have been made for this collection at the Labor Archives (note that some photocopying was done two-sided, so check backs) and the originals are with Kathy Bridges Wiggins:
Material relating to internment of the Sawada family
Material referring to the marriage ceremony of NSB and HRB
Passports and other official documents from NSB and HRB
NSB and HRB correspondence with each other
Correspondence with relatives in Japan (NSB) and Australia (HRB)
Drafts of NSB/NSBF’s writings
Correspondence with HRB biographers
Correspondence with Nora Lupton, a close friend of Nikki’s
Photographs that were not returned are in the LARC photo collection. Those returned have been scanned when possible and are in the LARC computer. Some snapshots relating to correspondence or subject files are in the collection and are noted in this guide.
See also an audio recording of Nikki’s guest appearance at an SFSU history class in 1997 when she spoke of her life as a child of Japanese immigrant parents and described the three years her family spent interned in Arizona. Oral histories relating to NSB’s life are available: Betty de Losada and David F. Selvin.
The Collection has been divided into the following eight series. File folder titles, the order of the folders, and order within folders have been retained as she collected and filed the material.
Series 1 BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS - including resumes and interviews
Box 1 Folders 1 - 14
Series 2 CORRESPONDENCE, 1947-2002 - chronological with some individual folders
Box 1 Folders 15 - 42
Box 2 Folders 1 - 22
Box 3 Folders 1 -11
Series 3 SAN FRANCISCO CENTER FOR JAPANESE AMERICAN STUDIES, 1969-1986
NSB served as editor of the newsletter and program chairman, 1979-1986
Box 3 Folders 12 - 32
Series 4 SUBJECT FILES, A - Z
Box 3 Folders 33 - 47
Box 4 Folders 1 - 55
Box 5 Folders 1 - 25
Series 5 WRITINGS BY OTHER AUTHORS, MAINLY ASIAN-AMERICAN
Box 5 Folders 26 - 46
Series 6 WRITINGS BY NS/NSB/NSBF
Box 6 Folders 1 - 48
Series 7 INSTITUTE FOR SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS, 1975
NSB served as Director for the Center for Employment Studies
Box 6 Folders 49 - 68
Box 7 Folders 1 - 22 (archival box)
Series 8 WOMEN’S HEALTH ISSUES
Box 8 Folders 1 - 5 (archival box)
Dates
- 1993
Extent
From the Collection: 8.5 Cubic Feet ( (6 cartons) (2 boxes))
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
General
(NSB went to the Venice Film Festival in September with Betty de Losada; Nora Lupton came from Vancouver to stay in NSB’s house)
Letters to/from Sharon Stathos [?], Violet K. DeCristoforo, Amy Tan, Diane Middleton, David Selvin, Haru Fukui, SFSU Labor Archives, Roschelle Paul, Wayne Maeder, Yuka Otsuki, Milton Murayama, Valerie Matsumoto, Foster Bam, Marie Shell, Kaye Inouye, Robert D. Duggan, Thelton E. Henderson, Hidenori Fujmii, Joy Teraoka, Catherine E. Harrick, Bob Carson. Letters from those with only first name given: Miche & Walter, Margaret, Joy, Aiko, Prisulla, Susan.
1/5/93 NSB, “An Open Letter to Barry Minott” sent to The Dispatcher in which she criticizes the third part of Gene Vrana’s review of the video “Harry Bridges, A Man and his Union,” which she felt “gives a forum to grousers like Leo Robinson and Sid Roger” and did not present “a fair documentary”
5/22-23/93 Program for “The Eleventh Asian American Jazz Festival”
12/15/93 Decca Treuhaff a.k.a. Jessica Mitford to NSB: “Bob brought home your ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL article in California Lawyer...You’re a super writer. Have you got anything else coming up? If so, do send...”
12/10/93 NSB to Justin Sturken, Field Producer, ABC/NHK 20th Century Project, NYC: “In 1945, while I was still incarcerated, President Roosevelt died. In his memory we observed a minute of silence in the mess hall. I left camp soon afterwards and resettled in San Francisco. A few months later I made a trip to Bay Meadows, a local racetrack. Man o’War had just died. Every racegoer bowed his/her head in silence for a minute to honor that famous racehorse stud.”
5/27/93 Program at U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Historical Society on “The Trials of Harry Bridges,” which was videotaped
8/25/93 NSB to Hisako Fujii with family news (copy)
7/31/93 Women’s support group raised money for gift to honor Chizu and Ernie Iiyama’s 50th anniversary. Women involved: NSB, Margaret Itami (San Francisco), Kaye Patterson (SF), Reiko True (El Cerrito), Kazuko Tsuchiya (SF), Fumiko Ukai (Berkeley), Terry Ushijima (San Leandro)
2/26/93 California AFL-CIO News with article, “Bridges’ Widow Closes Account” reporting NSB’s protest of Bank of America
7/13/93 Don Congdon’s remarks on NSB’s stories and urging her memoirs (copy)
11/12/93 David J. Olson to NSB on Harry Bridges Chair, University of Washington
10/19/93 Gus Rystad’s one-page “In Defense of and Concern for the Harry Bridges Legacy” in which David Arian’s creation of the Harry Bridges Institute for Education and International Organization (HBI) is questioned
9/10/93 Jean R. Gundlach’s letter to University of Washington President William P. Gerberding outlining the actions of the Canwell Committee during the McCarthy era. The president’s response, 9/21/93
8/20/93 letter announcing “May Kurka as the winner of the Bernard Osher Cultural Award for distinguished efforts by an individual ‘unsung hero’ who works to bring excellence to a particular cultural institution”
3/12/93 NSB to Gus Rystad on documentary “Harry Bridges: A Man and his Union,” which she found “dishonest.” Also comments on Leo Robinson and Sid Roger, the latter she called “beneath contempt”
3/7/93 NSB to Aiko with description of the exhibit “Strength and Diversity” at the Oakland Museum; 2/14/93 Aiko letter to NSB describing her husband Jack going to his World War II parachute unit reunion; she also sent an article from The Washington Post, 11/8/92, “Data on Union Leader Found in Soviet File; Longshoremen’s Bridges was Communist Party Member, Authors Say”
2/10/93 NSB to Carol about the injustices faced by those who are gay
1/19/93 NSB to President, Bank of America, protesting reduction of employee’s hours resulting in loss of benefits: “I have cut in half and returned my visa card to you. I have removed my CD...from your branch in Noe Valley...”
3/12/93 NSB to editor, Columns Magazine: “I write concerning Ron Magden’s letter in the March issue of Columns Magazine in which he refers to my late husband, Harry Bridges, as a ‘Communist labor leader.’ I should like to inform your readers and Mr. Magden that the United States Supreme Court in three separate decisions denying the government’s right to deport Harry said that he was not a Communist.”
4/9/93 Ronald E. Magden to NSB: “Gus Rystad read your letter to the Columns Magazine editor at the last pension meeting. I want to commend your forthright statement. I am certain the rank and file will understand your statement...For too long the business people have controlled higher education to the detriment of the working people.”
Repository Details
Part of the Labor Archives and Research Center Repository
San Francisco State University
J. Paul Leonard Library, Room 460
1630 Holloway Ave
San Francisco 94132-1722 USA
(415) 405-5571
larc@sfsu.edu