Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 1924-1990 (Creation)
Extent
2.33 cubic feet
Name of creator
Biographical history
Kazuyoshi Kawata, an American engineer and missionary, is the son of Japanese immigrants. Kawata grew up in Portland, Oregon. In 1941, he and his family were held in an internment camp for Japanese-Americans. When the U.S. Army began accepting Japanese-Americans as enlistees in 1943, Kawata joined and served in Europe until the end of the war. After his honorable discharge he attended Oregon State College, finishing his degree in 1949. He married Marion Jean Sammis in August, 1949. After Kawata earned his M.S. at the University of Minnesota in 1951, the Kawatas served as missionaries to the Methodist Church in India for fifteen years. "Kaz" Kawata worked as a sanitation engineer, helping to design and implement improved septic and waste disposal systems. He was the first Methodist missionary to serve in such a capacity. Following his missionary service, Kawata returned to the United States to finish his Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University. He later taught at Johns Hopkins, where he remained until his retirement in 1988. His expertise allowed him the opportunity to continue working around the world through various community health programs.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
Kawata's work as a missionary, scientist, scholar, and humanitarian are reflected in this collection. Correspondence, photographs, legal papers, and reports on community improvement projects make up the series on his early life in schools, Japanese-American internment camps, and the mission field in India. Correspondence, academic papers, and published articles and monographs represent his university and publishing life. The publications series also contains articles by Kawata on such topics as the internment camps, prejudice in South Africa, and the U.S. military.
System of arrangement
This collection is arranged by series and subseries.
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
There are no restrictions regarding this collection.
Physical access
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Detailed use restrictions relating to our collections can be requested from the office of the archivist at the General Commission on Archives and History. Photocopying is handled by the staff and may be limited in certain instances. Before using any material for publication from this collection a formal request for permission to publish is expected and required.
Languages of the material
- English
- Japanese
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Related descriptions
Notes element
General note
When citing material from this collection please use the following format: Direct reference to the item or its file folder, Kazuyoshi Kawata Collection, United Methodist Church Archives - GCAH, Madison, New Jersey. Do not make use of the item's call number as that is not a stable descriptor.
Specialized notes
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Rules or conventions
Sources used
Archivist's note
Prepared by Kathleen Knaack, Student Assistant, Morris Davis, Jr., Manuscript Processor, and Mark C. Shenise, Associate Archivist.