George Kiyoshi Kambara, MD (1916-2001)

Descriptive Summary
Title:                         George K. Kambara, MD Collection
Collection ID:           SCKAREC1
Size:                         1 Box
Repository:               Museum of Vision, Academy Archives
Abstract:                   Records of George K. Kambara, MD.  
                                 Records date from 1942 to 1986.

Administrative Information
Source:                    George K. Kambara, MD
Access:                    Collection is open to the public by 
                                appointment only
Restrictions:              Material is copyrighted, for permission to 
                                publish please contact the Museum of Vision 
                                at (415) 561-8502 or museum@aao.org
Preferred Citation:    [identification of item], George K. Kambara, 
                                MD Collection, Museum of Vision and the 
                                American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Related Collections:  Jerome Bettman, MD Collection

Biographical Note
In 1942 Executive Order 9066 asserted the government’s right to send all Japanese Americans living along the U.S. coastline into relocation or work camps. At that time George Kambara was a first year resident of Japanese descent in San Francisco. In May 1942, Dr. Kambara was relocated to the Tule Lake Relocation Center on the California-Oregon border.

At Tule Lake Dr. Kambara learned that he had been placed in charge of the camp’s EENT clinic, serving the new community of 17,000 detainees. With less than two month’s experience in eye work, Dr. Kambara reached out to former colleagues for help. Dr. Jerome Bettman answered his questions about treatment of eye diseases and was even given special permission to visit Dr. Kambara for one weekend, which Dr. Kambara recalled as “my baptism into ophthalmology.”

Starting in 1943, the American government began to allow Japanese Americans to move out of the camps and into unrestricted areas of the country. Unfortunately, prejudice against the Japanese made this extremely difficult. Dr. Kambara applied for residencies around the country and in July 1943, he was given permission to relocate to Memphis, Tennessee. Once there, Dr. Kambara decided he wanted to concentrate in ophthalmology and eventually finish his studies and passed his examination with the American Board of Ophthalmology.

Dr. Kambara and his family were some of the 120,000 Japanese Americans forced into internment camps during World War II. Like many Japanese Americans well integrated into American life, Dr. Kambara’s family was forced to sell personal property and businesses at a great loss in order to comply with orders to immediately relocate. Dr. Kambara was able to return to California in 1948 where he set up an ophthalmic practice in Los Angeles.

Scope and Content
The George K. Kambara, MD Collection contains personal records of Dr. Kambara including correspondence and photographs.

Container List
Box 1
   Folder 1: Evacuation and Detainment Notices, 1942
     Western Union Telegram, Mrs. May Kambara
     Western Union Telegram, Dr. Geo. Kambara
     War Relocation Authority pamphlet entitled “Questions and Answers 
     for Evacuees”
     Letter from US Public Health Service to Miss. May Kambara
     Letter from US Public Health Service to Dr. G. Kambara

   Folder 2: Correspondence with Jerome Bettman, MD, 1942-1943
     Questions regarding the treatment of the following eye conditions, no
     date
     Letter from Jerome Bettman, MD, September 19, 1942
     Letter from George Kambara, MD, September 26, 1942
     Letter from Jerome Bettman, MD, October 2, 1942
     Letter from George Kambara, MD, October 12, 1942
     Letter from Jerome Bettman, MD, October 23, 1942
     Letter from George Kambara, MD, October 28, 1942
     Letter from Jerome Bettman, MD, November 18, 1942
     Letter from George Kambara, MD, November 19, 1942
     Letter from Jerome Bettman, MD, November 27, 1942
     Letter from Jerome Bettman, MD, December 14, 1942
     Letter from George Kambara, MD, December 18, 1942
     Letter from Jerome Bettman, MD, April 10, 1943

   Folder 3: War Relocation Authority Order of Merit
     Letter from War Relocation Authority to Dr. George Kambara
     Letter from War Relocation Authority to Mrs. May Kambara

   Folder 4: Correspondence 1943
     Letter from Phil M. Lewis, MD, May 19, 1943
     Letter from Phil M. Lewis, MD, June 22, 1943
     Letter from Dr. Kambara to Dr. Phil Lewis, June 29, 1943
     Letter from Hans Barkan, MD, October 8, 1943
     Letter from Dr. Kambara to Dr. Barkan, December 4, 1943

   Folder 5: Correspondence 1944
     Letter from Dr. Jerome Bettman, MD, November 1, 1944

   Folder 6: Correspondence 1945
     Letter from H. Hedden, MD to Mrs. Kambara, February 5, 1945
     Letter from Phil Lewis, MD, March 5, 1945

   Folder 7: Correspondence 1946
     Letter from George Kambara, MD, April 13, 1946
     Letter from Edward Ellett, MD, April 29, 1946
     Letter from Edward Ellett, MD, August 25, 1946
     Letter from George Kambara, MD, December 3, 1946
     Letter from Edward Ellett, MD, December 6, 1946

   Folder 8: Correspondence 1947-1948
     Letter from Ralph Rychener, MD, November 12, 1947
     Letter from Ralph Rychener, MD, November 13, 1947
     Letter from Walter Boyd, MD, January 20, 1948

   Folder 9: Correspondence 1986
     Letter from Arthur H. Keeney, MD
     Letter from Howard P. House, MD
     Letter from Bradley Straatsma, MD
     Letter from Harold Alexander, MD

   Folder 10: Photographic Slides
     23 Photographic slides of Dr. Jerome Bettman and Dr. George
     Kambara, c.1986

War Relocation Authority Order of Merit letter to Dr. Kambara, 1943

Dr. Kambara and Dr. Bettman, c.1986