Mead Smith Karras papers

The Mead Smith Karras papers primarily consists of materials dated from 1946-1949 that Mead Smith Karras created, received, or collected during her time as an economist for the Labor Division during Allied Occupation of Japan. While the bulk of the materials originated from this time period, the collection also contains items as far back as 1939 and one from as recent as 2007. The materials include monthly reports on labor developments; survey responses and statistics; copies of the monthly Labor Bulletin; conference schedules and speech drafts; conference attendee submitted questions; correspondence; print material such as kamishibai (“paper theater stories”), posters, pamphlets, and artists’ prints; and photographs.

This series contains reports within the range of September 1945 to February 1949 (with a gap between the end of June to mid October of 1948). It is comprised of personal drafts of the Monthly Reports ranging from September 1945 to April 1946 (though the document was mislabeled as “Personal Drafts of mo. reports August 1946 - April 1947”), the Monthly Reports ranging from May 1946 to June 1948, and Semi-Monthly reports ranging from 15 October 1948 to 26 February 1949. The reports were produced for the General Headquarters for the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers.

The reports contain details pertaining to wages, employment and unemployment, labor legislation, labor disputes with a breakdown of incidents per industry, labor education, union members with a breakdown of the number of unions per industry, and various details concerning the general practices and tasks of the Labor Division.

The Monthly Report for January 1947 had been interfiled with the Samples of Mead Smith Karras Work in Japan 1947 file in Series 2 but was moved here during processing.

Items in this series are in English. Items are arranged chronologically.

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.

This series is comprised of approximately 150 questions submitted on whole and half sheets of paper during the Labor Standards for Women and Children in Industry conference that Mead Smith Karras spoke at in Osaka on August 14th and 15th 1947.

The questions were submitted by the conference attendees: Japanese women unionists, women leaders, and representatives of a variety of women’s organizations. They posed questions concerning a variety of topics: gender equality of the workplace; socio-economic differences in power within unions; the political power of the union; the practical logistics of labor education; the financial support of the union; the role of women in labor unions within the United States.

The series also includes a memorandum issued on the 5th of August 1947 detailing Mead Smith Karras’ travel schedule for August, including the conference in Osaka.

During processing, the materials in this series were placed within mylar sleeves. Most of the questions were asked in Japanese and then later had an English translation inscribed on the same paper. Further information about this conference, including Mead Smith Karras’ summary, can also be found in Series 2, Folder 1: Samples of Mead Smith Karras Work in Japan, 1946 - 1947 and undated.

Items are arranged into two groups by size. Questions written on half sheets were paired with other questions to conserve space, but do not necessarily indicate a related topic.

This series contains 31 letters received by Mead Smith Karras between 1948 and 1950. The bulk of these letters were farewell messages sent to Mead Smith Karras in 1949 upon her departure from Japan from field representatives of the Women’s and Minors’ Union from various prefectures.

Most of the letters contained the original message written in Japanese with an accompanying English translation, though there are several messages originally written in English as well.

The letters have been arranged chronologically.

This series consists of approximately 2,500 black and white photographs. Subjects include labor conference talks, demonstrators with signs, military parades, factories, and women’s dormitories. Subjects also include scenes from around Japan including coastlines, towns, temples, shrines, and gardens, as well as various performances, ceremonies, and festivals. This series also includes a number of personal photographs.

Loose photographs were gathered into two envelopes but have no imposed order. The photo albums have been arranged by size and according to their original number distinction.

This series contains graphic materials given to or collected by Mead Smith Karras, as well as labor related publications that she worked on.

It contains prints from the series “Japanese Vocation in Pictures” by artist Sanzo Wada (Vol I, No. 1-10, 15-24, and undated) with descriptions in Japanese and English; three kamishibai, or “paper theater stories”, in Japanese; a collection of prints by various artists titled “Touring Kyoto and Vicinity”; labor related posters including one on the importance of self-government through unions and a ten-poster series instructing minors how to register for work, all in Japanese; the March 1949 edition of the “Labor” booklet printed in Japanese with many English translations pasted inside; a tourism pamphlet titled “The Picture of Nikko Shrine” primarily in Japanese with some English translations; a book published in 2007 concerning the establishment of women workers in Post-War Japan in Japanese.

Items in this series are arranged into two groups based on size.

English translations for the items within quotations (“”) are present on the items. The rest are approximate translations provided by the processor with consultation by the curator.