Fresno Stories
This series examines the history of Nikkei in Fresno and their impact on the history of the city and California’s Central Valley. In particular, this series will examine how Japanese Americans shaped the culture of the Central Valley and the individuals who lived in it, whether through the arts, sports, or politics.
Stories from this series
Object Lesson of a Lost Temple: A Postcard of the Fresno Buddhist Church, 1912
June 22, 2023 • Jonathan van Harmelen
One of my favorite hobbies is collecting postcards. I began collecting in 2013, after I inherited a large collection of stamps and envelopes from my Dutch grandparents, a pair of avid collectors who amassed thousands of stamps ranging from the 1850s to the 1980s. What initially struck me about my grandparents’ collection was its magnitude and variety; some stamps came from newly-formed republics in Africa and Southeast Asia after decolonization, while others originated from now-extinct states such as Yugoslavia and …
Dutch Leonard - The Ballplayer who challenged Fresno's racism
March 6, 2023 • Jonathan van Harmelen
“Dutch” Leonard is no longer a household name, but he left behind an enduring reputation in baseball history. Originally born in Birmingham, Ohio and raised in Fresno, California, Hubert Benjamin Leonard became one of the greatest pitchers in baseball as a left-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. In 1914, he achieved the modern-era record for lowest single-season earned run average (ERA) of all time at 0.96 – a record that he still holds to this day. He led the …
Dr. T.T. Yatabe, the American Loyalty League, and the Birth of the JACL
Jan. 9, 2023 • Jonathan van Harmelen
Today, the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) is the largest Japanese American community organization in the United States. Founded in 1929, the organization has evolved over the course of the 20th century from a small group of community leaders to a national civil rights organization with chapters across the U.S. Yet before the JACL existed, Issei and Nisei community leaders in several West Coast cities formed local political organizations to demonstrate the loyalty of the Japanese community to the U.S. In …
William Saroyan and the search for "The Japanese American Novel"
Dec. 12, 2022 • Jonathan van Harmelen
Normally, when we think about “California” cities, our minds tend to drift to popular destinations such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, or San Diego. Often absent from the list of locations noted as part of the “cultural heartland” of California are the cities and towns that dot the landscape from the Central Valley up to the San Joaquin Delta. This long network of settlements nestled within inland California is often seen as the last outpost before the East, and its …
