Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall collection of Miné Okubo papers
name: label: Creator
content: Okubo, Miné, 1912-2001
label: Names
content: Central Utah Relocation Center
label: Names
content: Hall, Gaylord
label: Names
content: Hamilton, Howard
label: Names
content: Leeper, Roy
label: Names
content: Tono, Doris
label: Names
content: Tono, Harry
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Illustrators -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Authors -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Women artists
label: Topic
content: Art patronage
label: Topic
content: Asian American artists
label: Topic
content: Japanese American art
label: Topic
content: Japanese American artists
label: Topic
content: Asian American painters
label: Topic
content: Asian American illustrators
label: Topic
content: Asian American authors
label: Topic
content: Women painters
label: Topic
content: Women illustrators
label: Topic
content: Women authors
label: Topic
content: Japanese Americans -- Forced removal and internment -- 1942-1945
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall donated the collection of Miné Okubo papers in 2001.
creator: label: Creator
content: Okubo, Miné, 1912-2001
setName: label: See more items in
content: Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall collection of Miné Okubo papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall collection of Miné Okubo papers measures 1 linear foot and dates from circa 1940 to 2001.  Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall were long-time friends with and patrons of Okubo from the late 1950s until her death.  The collection contains letters, writings, and sketches by Okubo.  Among the printed materials is a copy of the 1944 special edition of Fortune magazine which was sympathetic to Japanese Americans interned during World War II and which Okubo was hired to illustrate.  Also found are scattered documents relating to Hall and Leeper.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Miné Okubo (1912-2001) was a Japanese American painter, illustrator, and author.  She is known for her book Citizen 13600 in which she described her experience at the Topaz incarceration camp in Topaz, Utah through prose and drawings. 

Born in Riverside, California in 1912, Okubo began her arts education at Riverside Junior College  and transferred to the University of California, Berkeley where she completed her BA and MA in Fine Arts, and where she first met Roy Leeper.  In 1938, she received an award to travel and study under Fernand Léger in Paris. When World War II began in Europe she moved back to California and worked for the Federal Arts Project.  She produced some solo murals and also assisted Diego Rivera on his Treasure Island mural Pan American Unity, (1940). 

In April of 1942, Okubo and one of her brothers were sent to the Tanforan Assembly Center under Executive Order 9066, which forcibly incarcerated over 100,000 Japanese and Japanese-American citizens living on the West Coast of the United States.  Six months later, they were sent to the incarceration camp in Topaz, Utah.  There, Okubo taught art in the camp's school and often sketched camp life.  She was art editor for the camp newsletter Trek, a supplement to the Topaz Times.  

In 1944, Fortune magazine published a sympathetic special edition on the Japanese and Japanese American incarceration during World War II. The magazine hired Okubo to illustrate two of the articles.  She was permitted to leave the camp and move to New York City, where she remained for the rest of her life, working as a painter and illustrator.  She wrote and illustrated a book about her experiences at Topaz, Citizen 13600, which won the American Book Award in 1984.  Miné Okubo died in 2001. 
 
 
Medical doctor Roy Leeper befriended Miné Okubo while they were both students at the University of California.  Later, he and his partner dentist Gaylord Hall were reintroduced to Okubo and her artwork by a mutual friend.  They began a life-long relationship with Okuba, both as friends and collectors.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1940-2001
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.okubmine
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Drawings
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 7 series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1942-1994 (1 folder; Box 1)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1957-2001 (0.6 linear feet; Boxes 1-2)

Series 3: Personal Business Records, 1957-1998 (4 folders; Box 2)

Series 4: Printed Material, 1944-2000 (0.3 linear feet; Box 2, OVs 3-4)

Series 5: Photographs, circa 1940-circa 1990s (3 folders; Box 2)

Series 6: Artwork, 1960s-1997 (3 folders; Box 2, OV 3)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall collection of Miné Okubo papers was minimally arranged upon receipt.  The collection was fully processed and a finding aid prepared by Jayna Josefson in 2017 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Institution Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool. The collection was prepared for digitization by Stephanie Ashley and was digitized in 2025 with funding  provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art and the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The collection was digitized in 2025 and is available on the Archives of American Art website.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Drawings
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall collection of Miné Okubo papers measures 1 linear foot and dates from circa 1940 to 2001.  Roy Leeper and Gaylord Hall were long-time friends with and patrons of Okubo from the late 1950s until her death.  The collection contains letters, writings, and sketches by Okubo.  Among the printed materials is a copy of the 1944 special edition of Fortune magazine which was sympathetic to Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II and which Okubo was hired to illustrate.  Also found are scattered documents relating to Hall and Leeper. 

The bulk of the collection is comprised of Miné Okubo's letters, many of which are illustrated, to Hall and Leeper. Okubo's letters discuss her health, career, their purchase of her artwork, and mutual friends. Other correspondents include Howard Hamilton and Doris and Harry Tono. Personal business records concern the purchase and loan of Okubo's artwork for exhibitions and include a statement by Okubo about the pricing of her artwork and lists of artwork.

Printed materials include a 1944 edition of Fortune magazine devoted to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.  The issue includes reproductions of Okubo's illustrations of life in the World War II incarceration camp in Topaz, Utah.  Photographs include snapshots of Okubo at an exhibition with her art and of works of art. Sketches and drawings depict mostly cats and flowers.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: The Center for Social Justice and Civil Liberties at Riverside Community College District in Riverside, California also holds the Miné Okubo papers.