COLLECTIONS

In 2022, the San Joaquin County Historical Museum received the collection of Richard and Helen Yoshikawa. The collection consists of archival materials, such as documents, photographs, home movies, scrapbooks, and yearbooks, as well as three-dimensional artifacts. One of the artifacts in the collection is an Exakta VX500 35mm SLR film camera. Many of the photos within the Richard and Helen Yoshikawa Collection were likely taken using this camera.

Richard Shizuo was born in Stockton in 1920 to Nisuke Yoshikawa and Misaho Nakamura. His father immigrated to the United States from Japan in 1906 and his mother came in 1919 as a picture bride. Richard attended Monroe, Franklin, Lafayette, and Washington Elementary Schools before graduating from Stockton High School in 1938. He went on to study at Stockton Junior College (today, San Joaquin Delta College) and then moved to Los Angeles to study photography at the Art Center School of Photography. When the United States entered World War II, he moved back to Stockton. The Yoshikawa family was sent to the Stockton Assembly Center at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds in 1942 and then to the Rohwer Incarceration Camp in Arkansas. The United States government prohibited Japanese Americans from bringing cameras to camp and considered them contraband. Richard, however, kept his camera with him and took photos of daily life while in the camp. He worked as an x-ray technician in the camp’s hospital and developed his film in the dark room with developing supplies sent to him by his friend George Lark. When the war ended, he returned to Stockton and helped his family get resettled.

After the war, Richard briefly worked at Sharpe Army Depot before opening his photography business. In 1947, he married Helen Takeko Takahashi, whom he had met at a church social. That same year, he opened Yoshikawa Photography Studio at 11 N. El Dorado Street in Stockton. He later moved his studio across the street. When Stockton’s downtown was redeveloped he built a photo studio next to his house at 1223 N. Hunter Street where he engaged in commercial, portrait, and school photography. He also served as the official photographer for the Miss San Joaquin Pageant.

In addition to running a business, Richard Yoshikawa was active in the community. He served as the president of the Professional Photographers’ Guild of San Joaquin County, was a member and past president of the Stockton Optimist Club, a member of the Stockton Rotary Club, past president of the Stockton Chapter of the Japanese American Citizen’s League, member of the Freemasons and advisor to the local DeMolay Chapter, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Better Business Bureau, and supported athletics at the University of the Pacific. In 1963, he ran unsuccessfully for the Stockton Unified School District Board. The following year, he was appointed a trustee of San Joaquin Delta College and was re-elected in 1967 and 1971. He served as a trustee for over ten years until he resigned to serve as a member of the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors.

When County Supervisor Carmen Perino was elected to the California State Assembly, Richard expressed his interest in filling the vacant seat on the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors. Richard applied and his friends wrote letters of recommendation to Governor Ronald Reagan. In 1974, then-Governor Reagan appointed Richard to finish Perino’s term. Richard was San Joaquin County’s first Japanese American supervisor and represented the South Stockton, French Camp, and Lathrop areas. In 1976 and 1980, Richard was re-elected to the Board of Supervisors and served as chairman in 1982.

Richard introduced a resolution that the Board of Supervisors passed in 1981, recommending that the federal Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) consider awarding financial compensation to Japanese held in internment camps during World War II. Richard testified before the commission about the experience he had while at Rohwer. In 1988, the United States issued a formal apology to surviving internees who also received $20,000 in compensation. Richard was also instrumental in having the Nippon Hospital at 25 S. Commerce Street in Stockton dedicated as a National Historic Landmark. In 1980, he worked with the Stockton Cultural Heritage Board to designate the Stockton Assembly Center site at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds as a State Historic Landmark (#934). Richard passed away on May 29, 2011, at the age of 91.