Young native Americans dance to the rhythm of hot jazz at the annual gathering for the harvesting of the hop crop in Puyallup Valley. Audoma Park, 2 miles from Puyallup, has been reserved by its owner A. E. Applegate as a meeting place for the tribes. A dance floor has been set up for the younger tribesmen. A large group of men, women and children assemble on an outdoor concrete floor. Wires are strung from poles across the floor to hold a center light. A group of four musicians plays music from a sheltered wooden stage. Each year many of the tribes of Washington and British Columbia gathered in the Puyallup Valley at harvest time to pick crops and socialize with other tribes. (T. Times 8/30/1934, pg. 1)

Indians of North America--Social life; Migrant agricultural laborers--Puyallup--1930-1940; Migrant laborers--1930-1940; Hops; Dance floors--Puyallup--1930-1940; Dance parties;

Indian Festival. Photograph ordered by the News Tribune. Girls in native American costumes pose in a grassy area, with the Puget Sound in the background. (filed with Argentum)

Costumes--Native American;

The biggest enemy at "Camp Harmony" was boredom. Here a game of sandlot baseball has been organized to give this group some exercise and fresh air. More than 7,000 people of Japanese descent were interned at the camp. Men, women and children were crowded into a small living space. The orderly Japanese soon devised ways to keep their people occupied. Classes were mandatory for children and available for adults. Arts, crafts and recreational activities were devised. Entertainment was brought in; movies were shown. Every effort was made to make life appear ordinary.

Camp Harmony (Puyallup); Relocation camps--Puyallup; World War, 1939-1945--Relocation camps; Japanese Americans--Evacuation & relocation, 1942-1945;

While interred at "Camp Harmony", in May of 1942, three unidentified Japanese Americans built their own furniture for their barracks "apartments." The Puyallup Assembly Center "Camp Harmony" had been constructed by the Army in less than 3 weeks. The living quarters were makeshift barracks divided into "apartments," consisting of a single room no larger than 18 x 20 feet in which a whole family of up to 7 would live. Furnishings consisted of one army cot per person. Each "apartment" had a stove for warmth, one bare bulb hanging from the ceiling by a wire for light and one window. There was no running water. Toilets and showers were communal with no privacy dividers, until the Japanese built them themselves. As Spring passed, the detainees scrounged wood and tools and began constructing rough tables and chairs. Homes were created in the rough surroundings.

Camp Harmony (Puyallup); Relocation camps--Puyallup; World War, 1939-1945--Relocation camps; Japanese Americans--Evacuation & relocation, 1942-1945; Carpentry;

In the spring of 1942, four months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, more than 100,000 residents of Japanese ancestry were forcibly evicted from their homes in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona and Alaska and sent to temporary assembly centers, from there to be sent to internment camps in remote inland areas to sit out the war. The Puyallup Assembly Center, hastily erected by the Army in less than 3 weeks and known as "Camp Harmony," was utilized from April 28- September 12, 1942. On May 16, 1942, two year old Beverly Higashida and Lillian Fujihara were getting acquainted with Mrs. M. Kaniko and her seven month old son Wayne. The pictured group was all from Seattle. By the end of May, more than 7,000 people were crowded into the camp. The stoic Japanese made the best of a bad situation, forming their own government, schools and entertainments. The worst aspect of the camp was boredom in the confined quarters. A call went out for recreational materials, such as young Wayne's tricycle. (T. Times 4/30/1942, pg. 9)

Camp Harmony (Puyallup); Relocation camps--Puyallup; World War, 1939-1945--Relocation camps; Japanese Americans--Evacuation & relocation, 1942-1945; Children riding bicycles & tricycles; Fujihara, Lillian; Higashida, Beverly; Kaniko, Wayne;

Mrs. Mito Kashiwagi and her mother-in-law, Mrs. Y. Kashiwagi, decorate a window in the barracks at "Camp Harmony" with sheer curtains in this photograph from May, 1942. In the Spring of 1942, more than 100,000 residents of Japanese ancestry from WA., OR., CA. , AZ. and AK. were forcibly rounded up and sent to internment camps. The hastily erected "Camp Harmony" in Puyallup served as a temporary assembly center, where 7,000 residents from the Seattle and Tacoma area waited while more permanent detention centers were erected. They lived in makeshift barracks, where each family was assigned one room, approximately 18 x 20, with a heating stove, bare light bulb and one window. The barracks had no running water. They shared communal showers, one for each 250 detainees, and toilets. The interns set about making these green wood boxes a home. Wood was scrounged to make furniture, curtains were sewn and hung at the windows, and drawings and pictures from calendars were tacked to the walls. (T. Times 4/30/1942, pg. 9)

Camp Harmony (Puyallup); Relocation camps--Puyallup; World War, 1939-1945--Relocation camps; Japanese Americans--Evacuation & relocation, 1942-1945; Kashiwagi, Mito--Family;

A Native American chief in headdress and buckskins gazes at the remainder of downed trees on November 27, 1954. He is standing on a trailer hitch of the large truck that will haul the giant peeler log through the streets of Bellingham as part of a parade. Georgia-Pacific Plywood Co. had arranged for several giant Douglas firs to be cut and transported for this special parade. Photograph ordered by Georgia-Pacific Plywood Co. TPL-8281

Indians of North America--Bellingham; Logs;

Interview with Frank Boykin filmed in 2022 for the documentary project "The Evolution of Collective Wisdom."

Interview with Jim Walton filmed in 2022 for the documentary project "The Evolution of Collective Wisdom."

Interview with Jonathan Johnson filmed in 2022 for the documentary project "The Evolution of Collective Wisdom."

Tacoma Community House Spring 2022 English Language student from Russia. Interviewed by dindria barrow on April 27, 2022.

Tacoma Community House Spring 2022 English Language student from China. Interviewed by dindria barrow on April 27, 2022.

Tacoma Community House Spring 2022 English Language student from Iraq. Interviewed by dindria barrow on May 11, 2022.

Tacoma Community House Spring 2022 English Language student from Mexico. Interviewed by dindria barrow on May 11, 2022.

Grand opening of Ed Taylor Barber & Beauty Salon. Beauticians Alice Burns (foreground) and Willie May Harris smile at the photographer while at work with two customers. On February 23, 1969, Ed Taylor celebrated the grand opening of his remodeled combination beauty salon and barber shop at So. 23rd & K (now Martin Luther King, Jr. Way). Photograph ordered by Puget Sound National Bank.

Barbershops--Tacoma--1960-1970; Beauty shops--Tacoma--1960-1970; Hairdressing--Tacoma--1960-1970; Ed Taylor Barber & Beauty Salon (Tacoma); Burns, Alice; Harris, Willie May;

Ed Taylor Barber & Beauty Salon. View of exterior of modern one-story building with traditional barbershop striped pole attached. February 23, 1969, saw the grand opening of the remodeled Ed Taylor Barber & Beauty Salon in the So. 23rd and K (now Martin Luther King Jr Way) neighborhood. Photograph ordered by Puget Sound National Bank.

Barbershops--Tacoma--1960-1970; Beauty shops--Tacoma--1960-1970; Signs (Notices); Facades--Tacoma--1960-1970; Ed Taylor Barber & Beauty Salon (Tacoma);

Family gathering before or after the wedding of University of Washington graduates Luana Chizuru Uyeda and Dr. Keith Hiroshi Yoshino.

In this photograph believed to be from the mid 1880s, a group of Puyallup Indians gathers on the shore of the Puget Sound to gamble. The game they are playing appears to be the bone game, where two teams of 10-12 sit opposite each other. One team has four bones which they pass to the distracting accompaniment of the pounding of sticks and singing of chants. The other team must guess who has the bones. In the background are longboats and a bridge. The Puyallup village during this time period was believed to be at the foot of South 15th St. KING-003, TPL 2897.

Oral history interview of Juanita Olivas, an unhoused neighbor living in Tacoma, conducted by dindria barrow on April 9, 2022. Juanita shares how she became homeless, how her faith has carried her through life, and why she does volunteer work. Juanita is 60 years young and plans on completing high school so that she can get a job as a medical insurance billing and coder. Juanita dreams of being “somebody that can help out with the community, always. I would love to have a really big apartment building that I could just take in all the homeless…just pour my heart out to ‘em, because people out there, you never know their story until you actually talk to them and I’ve met a lot of people that is so talented out there and so educated, but their story just breaks my heart.”

Oral history interview with former Puyallup Tribal Council Member, Ramona Bennett. Interviewed by dindria barrow on April 2, 2022, in the Digital Media Lab of the Tacoma Public Library. Ramona discusses her views on Indian and Indigenous rights, the people she encountered on her advocacy journey and how she continues living during difficult times. Ramona reminds us that “things shift slowly”, to “love whoever is left” after someone passes away, to put “just one foot after the other” and that her people live on because of “all the ways we pray are so hard”.

Oral history interview with Tacoma resident Bernice Morehead conducted by dindria barrow on August 16, 2022. In this interview, Bernice tells us that she was a born into a family of sharecroppers who descended from slaves forcibly brought to Mississippi. Bernice lived on a farm until she was 16 years of age who spoke the language of animals until she moved to Iowa and worked with her mother as a Domestic Engineer. Bernice describes how she enjoys a challenge such as running four marathons, learning to swim at 50 years of age, finishing a triathlon, driving from Iowa to Washington state with two children and a grandchild, then earning two college degrees. She has worked for the state, run her own business, been a substitute teacher, is a certified Life Coach and is now helping others at the Bethlehem Baptist Church Shelter. Bernice reminds us to dream of new challenges and to take pride in whatever you do.

On February 24, 2023, dindria barrow conducted a group oral history interview with four members/founders of the Black Women's Caucus of Washington State, Tacoma Chapter. Those interviewed and photographed include (from left to right): Dr. Thelma Jackson, Caucus founder; Susan Alexander, previous president; Chana Lawson, current president; and Wilma J. Muse, longtime member. In this interview, the origin story of the Caucus is described, and the purpose of the group is explained.

Monty's Independents (Garagemen) were an all-black baseball team in the newly formed 9-member "Community" league in 1931. The Community League played a 16-game season. The league was notable for having not only an all-black team, but an all-Italian team headed by Al Greco, an all-Japanese team from Fife, and an all-Slavic team. Other teams in the league were Jack & Jill, the Tacoma Red Men, the 10th Field Artillery, Steilacoom, and McKinley Hill. Monty's opened their season on May 10, 1931, against Steilacoom where they lost 31-3 in a 7-inning game. (TDL 5-10-31, 2-B) TPL-3688; G39.1-173; G53.1-007; G39.1-165;

Baseball players--Tacoma--1930-1940; African American baseball players;

ca. 1890. "Chief Seattle's daughter" in Seattle.

Image title: Twin child healer. The North American Indian, v. 10, p. 94.

Indians of North America--Kwakiutl--1910-1920; Healers--Indians of North America;