Ruby Kameoka Tamada collection
Scope and Contents
The Kameoka Tamada collection contains scrapbooks that document Ruby’s time at the Cook County School of Nursing and her employment at Cook County Hospital (CCH), the theatrical and social events that she attended, newspaper clippings related to CCH and medical procedures, hand-crafted gifts from patients, greeting cards to celebrate holidays, newsletters from Colorado, matchbooks, correspondence from friends stationed domestically and abroad during WWII, communications from the Illinois State Nurses association, ticket stubs and programs from a variety of Chicago events. The collection also includes the Chicago Japanese American Yearbook, which contains profiles of prominent Japanese Americans, advertisements for businesses and events, and a directory of all Japanese Americans residing in Chicago.
Dates
- 1932-1950
Biographical / Historical
Ruby Mitsuye Tamada (née Kameoka) grew up in Sugarite, New Mexico and attended school in Raton. After her junior year of high school, she moved to Colorado and graduated from Pueblo Central High School in 1935. Upon graduating, Ruby was accepted into the Cook County School of Nursing in Chicago, Illinois. In 1939, she became the first Japanese American to graduate from the program. Ruby went to work at the Cook County Hospital in Chicago, becoming Head Nurse of Recovery, while her family continued to live in Colorado.
When World War II began, her family was spared internment, however, her father was taken to Denver for a two week period for questioning. She applied and was denied twice for WWII medical service in Europe with Cook County teams. In 1942 or 1943, Ruby met her future husband, Kay Tamada, at a dance at Fort Sheridan. He was stationed in the Pacific Theater for much of the war and they married in 1946. The couple had two children, Ronald Tamada and Phyllis Tamada-Brown. Kay died on September 21, 1995 and Ruby passed away on September 24, 2004.
Source: Kameoka Tamada, Ruby
Extent
3 boxes
Language of Materials
English
General
Stacks 02 Column 02 Shelf C
- Title
- Ruby Kameoka Tamada collection
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the JASC Legacy Center Repository