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Published by [N.p., likely Sacramento, 1952
Seller: William Reese Company - Americana, New Haven, CT, U.S.A.
Panoramic silver gelatin photograph, 8 x 33¾ inches. Short closed tear and mild crease near upper left corner, slight silvering to image. Still, in very good condition. A handsome group photograph memorializing the attendees of the 1952 annual conference of the Northern California Young Buddhist League. The photograph depicts over 200 finely-dressed Japanese-American men and women, and even a few Anglo Americans, organized by region, which are indicated by printed signs. The delegates to the conference came from Lodi, Placer, Marysville, Sacramento, Delta, Stockton, and Florin. A sign hanging on a building behind the delegates reads "Greetings Busseis," a general term for Buddhist youth. Interestingly, 1952 was the year that several chapters of Young Buddhists and other Japanese American mutual aid societies and support groups successfully implemented several changes to Japanese immigration policies brought about by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (the McCarran-Walter Act). While this law still provided for some discriminatory policies, it also allowed a new path to citizenship for most Asian Americans. Groups such as the Northern California Young Buddhist League helped many Japanese-American Issei attain citizenship, previously forbidden by U.S. immigration law. A rare image, with no copies reported in OCLC.