Research Materials, 1946-1950 and undated

This series primarily consists of samples of Mead Smith Karras’ work in Japan from 1947 to 1949, as well as some documents from 1946 and 1950. Materials in this series include reports, drafts, field trip notes, and memoranda about Women’s and Minors’ rights and safety in the workforce. Topics include equal pay, menstrual leave, limitations on the hours allowed to work or the weights of items to be carried, age restrictions, notes on the creation and story of kamishibai (“paper theaters stories”). There are also materials containing survey responses from women including responses for which industries they worked, what their wages were, and a demographic breakdown of age, marital status, why they worked, and for how long they intended to work. Other survey responses contain minors’ opinions about their places of employment.

This series includes conference information for the “Labor Standards for Women and Children in Industry” conference that was held in Osaka in August 1947 and gives context for the questions submitted there that are found in Series 3 of this collection.

Also included are pamphlets, leaflets, and posters, and articles from publications that do not appear in the Series 6: Graphic Materials and Publications.

Some materials were generated in English, some were translated into English, some materials were generated in Japanese, and some materials appear in their original Japanese with English translations.

The original order of this series was prohibitive to access and items have therefore been arranged chronologically, with undated documents remaining in their original order within the folder.