Estelle Peck Ishigo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Estelle Ishigo
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| Born |
Estelle Peck
July 15, 1899 Oakland, California, U.S.
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| Died | February 25, 1990 (aged 90) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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| Nationality | American |
| Education | Otis Art Institute |
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Notable work
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Lone Heart Mountain |
| Spouse(s) |
Arthur Ishigo
(m. 1928) |
Estelle Ishigo (born July 15, 1899 – died February 25, 1990), whose maiden name was Peck, was an American artist. She was famous for her amazing watercolors, pencil drawings, and sketches. During World War II, she and her husband were forced to live in a special camp. This camp was called the Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming.
After the war, Estelle wrote a book about her time there, called Lone Heart Mountain. Her life and art were also featured in a documentary film, Days of Waiting: The Life & Art of Estelle Ishigo. This film even won an Oscar! Estelle was unique because she was one of the very few non-Japanese people sent to these camps during the war.
Contents
Early Life and Art
Estelle Peck was born in Oakland, California, on July 15, 1899. Her mother, Bertha Apfels, was a concert singer. Her father, Bradford Peck, was an artist who painted portraits and landscapes. Estelle's family moved to San Francisco a year after she was born. She grew up surrounded by music and art.
When Estelle was 12, her family moved to Los Angeles. She decided to become a painter. She enrolled at the Otis Art Institute. There, she met Arthur Ishigo (1902–1957). Arthur was a Nisei, which means he was a Japanese American born in the U.S. He worked at Paramount Studios and dreamed of becoming an actor.
In 1928, Estelle and Arthur traveled to Tijuana, Mexico, to get married. They did this to avoid unfair laws in America that stopped people of different races from marrying. Because they were an interracial couple, they faced many challenges. Estelle's family even disowned her. The couple lived in the Japanese American community in Los Angeles. They loved camping and found peace in nature away from prejudice.
Life in the Camps
After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, life became very hard for Estelle and Arthur. Arthur was fired from his job at Paramount Studios because he was Japanese American. A few weeks later, Estelle lost her job as an art teacher because of her Japanese last name. Even though both were American citizens, they faced discrimination.
President Roosevelt then signed Executive Order 9066. This order forced many Japanese Americans to leave their homes and go to special camps. Arthur was told to report to a temporary camp in Pomona, California. Estelle had a difficult choice: stay in Los Angeles alone or go with her husband. She was told that if she went, she would have the same status as the Japanese American prisoners. On May 10, 1942, Estelle chose to go with Arthur. She began sketching everything she saw.
Estelle and Arthur were first held at the Pomona Assembly Center. More than 5,000 people of Japanese heritage were held there. Estelle helped create the camp newspaper, the Pomona Center News. In August 1943, the Ishigos were moved to the Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming. This camp held over 12,000 prisoners. Estelle continued to draw and paint to show what life was like there.
Estelle became very involved in camp life. She joined the Heart Mountain Mandolin Band and a theater group. She felt truly accepted by the Japanese American community. She later wrote that in this "desperate and lonely place," she felt accepted for the first time. She chose charcoal sketches and pencil drawings for her art. She felt watercolors were "too clean and untroubled" to show the camp experiences. Many of her artworks showed the harsh Wyoming weather, like the strong winds and snow. Even though Estelle and Arthur never had children, much of her art showed children playing inside the barbed wire fences of the camps. Estelle worked in the camp's Reports Division and was paid $19 a month.
After the War
The War Relocation Authority closed the Heart Mountain camp in November 1945. Like most other prisoners, the Ishigos had lost everything. They were each given $25 and a train ticket back to Los Angeles. With no jobs or homes, Estelle and Arthur lived in temporary trailer camps outside Los Angeles. When these camps were closed, Japanese American families moved into housing projects.
Arthur found small jobs, but he was very sad because of his time in the camp. The couple lived in poverty for many years. Estelle joined a Japanese American band to feel the sense of community she had in the camp. In 1948, the Ishigos tried to get money for their lost property through the Japanese American Evacuation Claims Act. They asked for over $1,000 but were only given $100. They tried to get more money, but by 1956, they gave up and accepted $102.50.
Arthur Ishigo died on August 19, 1957, at age 55. After his death, Estelle worked as an office machine operator to earn money. In 1983, filmmakers found Estelle living in a small apartment in Los Angeles. She was then moved to a hospital. Estelle died on February 25, 1990, at 90 years old.
Famous Works
Lone Heart Mountain
The students from Heart Mountain High School's Class of 1947 helped Estelle republish her book, Lone Heart Mountain, in 1972. This book is a memoir that shares her words and drawings from her time in the camp. She wrote about the powerful feeling of Heart Mountain itself: "Imprisoned at the foot of the mountain... we searched its gaunt face for the mystery of our destiny."
Days of Waiting
The film Days of Waiting: The Life & Art of Estelle Ishigo (1990) was made by Steven Okazaki. When Okazaki met Estelle, she reportedly told him, "I've been waiting for someone to tell my story to, then I can die." She passed away shortly before the film was released. This film won a Peabody Award and an Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject).
Legacy and Art Collections
In 1972, the California Historical Society held an art exhibit called Months of Waiting. It showed art from the concentration camps, including works by Estelle Ishigo and other artists like Hisako Hibi and Miné Okubo.
Estelle left her watercolor collection to an art collector named Allen Hendershott Eaton. In 2015, the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) bought Eaton's large collection of camp artwork. Estelle's watercolors were then cared for and loaned to Heart Mountain, where she had been held. Later, a friend of Ishigo's donated 137 of her pencil sketches to the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation. Her work was shown at Heart Mountain from May to December 2018 in an exhibit called Works by Estelle Ishigo: The Mountain was Our Secret.
Today, the Japanese American National Museum has 120 of Ishigo's drawings, sketches, and watercolors. Some of her works are also kept at the Massachusetts Historical Society. The original draft of Lone Heart Mountain and other important papers are part of the Estelle Ishigo Papers at UCLA's Charles E. Young Research Library. This collection includes documents, letters, photos, paintings, and sketches related to her life.
