Acknowledgments

I AM FORTUNATE to have received a great deal of help in writing this book. Several institutions were instrumental in providing not only research material but also prompt responses to my queries. I thank the staffs at the Charles E. Young Research Library, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); the Bancroft Library, the University of California, Berkeley; the Knight Library, Special Collections, the University of Oregon; the Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University; the Harvard-Yenching Library, Harvard University; the Wisconsin Historical Society; the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; the Modern Museum of Art; the Brooklyn Museum; the Smithsonian American Art Museum; and the Japanese American National Museum (JANM). Peter Hanff at the Bancroft Library and Jamie Henricks at JANM were especially helpful.

I could not have put these archives to use without funding from various sources. I received a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend that covered an assortment of expenses. My home institution, the University of Alabama, was also generous in providing aid. I won a Research Grants Committee (RGC) award at the university level, as well as two grants from the College of Arts and Sciences’ College Academy for Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity (CARSCA), established by Dean Robert F. Olin. The Department of American Studies provided support from the Carla and Cleo Thomas Fund and from my two-year Clarence C. Mondale Faculty Fellowship.

My gratitude extends to those laboring in Asian American studies and related fields who welcomed and tested my ideas for this project. Much of this process began with my visit to UCLA, where Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, David Yoo, and Stacey Hirose were generous with their advice and encouragement. Since then, through conferences at the American Studies Association, the Association for Asian American Studies, and other forums, I have enjoyed friendships with a host of supportive scholars. While sharing a shuttle van ride to the airport after one gathering years ago, Cathy Schlund-Vials introduced herself and then invited me to present at the University of Connecticut’s Asian American Studies Institute. This book developed further from my participation on panels and in other exchanges with Eiichiro Azuma, Leslie Bow, Kim Brandt, Elena Creef, Greg Robinson, and Stephen Sumida. Several of Eiichiro’s suggestions changed the direction and the nature of the book for the better. Elena and Leslie were present at the start of the project and inspired me with their own work. Greg was a marvelous fount of information, always ready with particular leads, reassurance, and excellent choices in restaurants. At various venues, Steven Doi, Victor Jew, and Brian Niiya imparted valuable insights as well. Kim Brandt, Mary Ting Yi Lui, and Ellen Wu were kind in sharing their scholarship with me. In the early stages of formulating my thoughts, Min Hyoung Song, who was then the editor of the Journal of Asian American Studies, guided a draft article on Hanama Tasaki to publication with precision and professionalism. Also during this process, Eiichiro Azuma, Naoko Shibusawa, John Shy, and John J. Stephan lent crucial perspectives to my understanding of Tasaki. Emily Anderson came to my aid by sending me her English translation of Henry Sugimoto’s unpublished memoirs. Madeleine Sugimoto was encouraging in my brief exchanges with her and provided vital information about her father’s life and work. Koji Arizumi was more than willing to communicate with librarians in Tokyo and Wakayama, Japan, on my behalf. Finally, Fred Whiting organized the Americanist Faculty Workshop at the University of Alabama, a hospitable site where I presented my ideas on two occasions.

As for the Department of American Studies and my wonderful colleagues, I could not have asked for a better working environment. Lynne Adrian, Jolene Hubbs, Stacy Morgan, and Eric Weisbard read various forms of my writing, from book proposals and fellowship applications to introduction and chapter drafts. Throughout the two decades that I have known her, Lynne has perused almost everything I have written and has kept me centered on the important issues. Jolene, with her loathing of modifiers, vagueness, and passive voice, worked the chapter on Yamaguchi Yoshiko into shape. She, Han, and Geneva also served as amiable hosts, entertaining me during two research visits to the Bay Area. Always the devoted friend, Stacy lent his expertise to the chapter on Henry Sugimoto, adding intellectual heft and exactitude to my outlook on modern art. He was gracious, too, in guiding me through the process of obtaining copyright permissions and image reproductions. Eric helped with his forceful questioning of my arguments, structure, and wording, which vitalized mundane first-attempt fellowship statements and informed my later writing. Mike Innis-Jimenez, Rich Megraw, Jeff Melton, and Mairin Odle are equally ideal co-workers, willing to reach consensus on difficult issues and quick to laugh and sympathize over the shared joys and challenges of academic life. The same is true for the administrative staff, Veronica Pruitt and Neva Newman, who manage the office with good cheer and patience.

Temple University Press has been a terrific institution to work with. My editor, Sara Cohen, saw promise in the project and steered it through to publication with a deft touch. Several readers for the press, including Greg Robinson, Cathy Schlund-Vials, and Naoko Shibusawa were thoughtful and dedicated in their comments and suggestions, improving the final product in many ways. My appreciation extends to the various staff members, Ann-Marie Anderson, Gary Kramer, Nikki Miller, and Joan Vidal among them, who helped make the process as straightforward as possible. I am also grateful for Ginny Perrin’s copyediting.

My final thanks go to the Tang family. Although my father, Sam, passed away before I began my doctoral work many years ago, he set the model for what a life in teaching and research could accomplish. My mother, Bessie, still inspires me with her enduring support, humor and toughness, and passion for storytelling. My brother, Andy, like my father, departed too soon. But he helped me see what was important, and I sense how his musings and generosity, fondness for fiction and poetry, and love of good coffee come to life in his remarkable son, Brendan. To all of them I dedicate this work.