COLLECTIONS

This McCormick-Deering T-20 TracTracTor, built by International Harvester, was owned by a Japanese American farmer named Akira Oye.

 
The T-20 was the second generation of crawler tractor built by the International Harvester Company between 1931 and 1939. The mid-size T-20 was popular, with over 15,000 built during its nine-year production run. This tractor’s original serial number plate is missing, but a casting date code of “7-27-36” on the transmission housing indicates that the tractor was built in mid-to-late 1936.

 
Akira’s parents, Sankichi and Yakuno Oye, immigrated to the United States from Japan and settled in Southern California. Akira was born in Los Angeles on February 7, 1914. As a young boy, he was sent to Japan to live with his uncle and receive an education. He returned to the United States in 1931.

 
In 1940, Akira moved to Stockton where he rented farmland from Dave Zignego. The following year, he married Harumi Carla Tsushima. Akira worked as a truck farmer growing a variety of crops, including tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage, and cantaloupes.

Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, led to the United States’ entry into World War II. In February 1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which resulted in the forced removal and incarceration of approximately 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, many of whom were American citizens.

 
Like many Japanese American residents of San Joaquin County, Akira and his family were sent first to the incarceration camp at Rowher, Arkansas, and later to Tule Lake, California, near the Oregon border. Families were allowed to take only what they could carry, forcing many to sell their remaining possessions at a significant loss or give them away. Some entrusted their property to friends or neighbors in the hopes that they would be able to retrieve their items once the war was over.

The Oye family was fortunate enough to have their friend, Frank Piccardo, look after the family’s McCormick-Deering T-20 tractor and other farm equipment while they were incarcerated. When the Oye family returned to Stockton in 1946, the tractor and farm equipment were waiting for them.

 
This was rare, as not all Japanese families received their property back when they returned after the war.
The tractor stayed in the family until it was donated to the San Joaquin County Historical Museum in 2015. The tractor was restored to running condition by Museum volunteers and it has been featured in our annual Tractor Fest, including being driven in the tractor parade. It is a reminder of both the resilience and power of community in times of injustice and uncertainty.

We invite you to see this and other historic tractors on display and in action at the 6th annual San Joaquin County Tractor Fest on Saturday, October 10 here at the San Joaquin County Historical Museum.