George Yuzawa Papers

GY_GradDate Range: 19082009
Survey Conducted: Tue, 2010-09-14
Creator: Yuzawa, George

History: George Katsumi Yuzawa was born in Los Angeles, California on February 21, 1915. George’s immigrant parents named their Nisei son after the first president of their adopted country, George Washington (whose birthday was a day later on February 22). His parents, Tamasaburo “James” and Bun “Mary” Yuzawa, immigrated to the United States from Nagano, Japan. In 1917, James Yuzawa established the Vermont Flower Shop in downtown Los Angeles near the University of Southern California campus. He served a term as president of the Southern California Floral Association. As a young man, George was a founding member of Boy Scout Troop 64 in Los Angeles and achieved the rank of Life Scout.

Rocky Chin Papers

Date Range: 19692008
Survey Conducted: Tue, 2011-12-13
Creator: Chin, Rocky

History: Rocky Chin is a civil rights attorney who has been an active community leader advocating for labor and human rights. An Asian American born in Washington D.C., Chin completed his BA at Lehigh University, his MA at Yale University, and his JD at the University of Southern California. As an attorney, Chin has represented marginalized groups including immigrant and working-class families. He is married to May Y. Chen, former vice president of UNITE HERE and a founding member of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA).

DJ Rekha Papers

Date Range: 19982010
Survey Conducted: Tue, 2010-02-16
Creator: DJ Rekha

History:
Often credited for introducing bhangra and British Asian music to North American audiences, DJ Rekha is a producer, activist, and musician. Named one of the most influential South Asians in the United States by Newsweek, DJ Rekha was proclaimed by “one of the ten women of downtown music” by the New York Times Magazine. From the 1997 launch of Basement Bhangra, a monthly party held at New York City’s SOBs, to Mutiny, which she co-founded with filmmaker, DJ, and MIT professor Vivek Bald, DJ Rekha has been instrumental in establishing a South Asian music scene in the United States. Read more

Karl Ichiro Akiya Papers


Black and white portrait of Karl Akiya. Date Range:
 19202002
Survey conducted: Thu, 2008-12-04
Creator: Akiya, Karl Ichiro (1909-2001)

History: Labor and community activist Karl Ichiro Akiya (1909 – 2001) was born in San Francisco and at the age of six, sent to be educated in Japan. In 1927 he entered Kwansei Gakuin University (also known as Kansei Gakuin Daigaku), a Methodist school for preparation in secondary school teaching, where he studied Japanese and English language literature. During these years, Akiya fully immersed himself in extracurricular student life. He converted to the Methodist faith, was elected class chairman and participated in the movements opposing compulsory military training for college students and the increasing militarization of Japan. His political activities brought him into association with the union movement and the Japanese Socialist and Communist Parties. He became a member of the Communist Party and changed his first name to Karl after Karl Marx.After graduating college in 1932, Akiya returned to the United States to avoid being drafted into the Japanese Army. Having relocated to San Francisco, where his father operated a hotel, Akiya landed his first job as a staff writer for the Japanese North American Daily. He later worked for the San Francisco branch of the Sumitomo Bank. In his spare hours, Akiya continued his activist work, joining the Japanese American Citizens League, which was becoming active in the fight against racial discrimination. In the late 1930s, he was involved in recruiting Asian Americans as an organizer for the Congress of Industrial Organizations and National Maritime Union. He also joined the U.S. Communist Party.

AFL-CIO Printed Ephemera Collection

Date Range: 19492007
Survey Conducted: Fri, 2011-04-08
Creator: AFL-CIO

History:
The AFL-CIO was created from the merger of two major labor organizations. The American Federation of Labor (AFL), a craft-oriented union, had been formed in 1886, while the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) had broken away from the AFL in the late 1930s after internal disputes. The two unions merged in 1955 and George Meany was elected as the first president of the new AFL-CIO. Meany was succeeded in 1979 by Lane Kirkland. Because it is a voluntary federation of labor unions, the AFL-CIO represents nearly all unionized employees in the U.S. and Canada. Member unions are permitted proportional representation by delegates with voting power. The AFL-CIO lobbies on behalf of unionized labor and steps in as a mediator when member unions are in conflict.

Sources:
“Guide to the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives Printed Ephemera Collection on the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)” Last updated August 21, 2018. http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/tamwag/pe_021/.