The collection consists of photographs taken by or given to Claude M. Adams while he worked in Japan for the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP), Natural Resources Section, Fisheries Division from 1945-1951.
Claude M. Adams Photographs, 1945 - 1952 (SMC 130)
Extent: 0.4 Linear feet (1 archives box)
Digital Content
A selection of photographs from this collection have been digitized and can be viewed through links in the container list, or by searching on the term "Claude M. Adams Photographs" on the UC San Diego Library Digital Collections website.
Claude M. Adams (1907-1974) was a cannery inspector in San Pedro and San Francisco, California before receiving an Army commission with the rank of Captain during World War II. After basic training, he was sent to Stanford University and the Monterey Language School, where he learned Japanese. He went to Japan in October 1945 to work for Lt Col Hubert G. Schenck in SCAP's Natural Resources Section, Fisheries Division, to support redevelopment of the post-war Japanese fishing and whaling industries. Capt Adams was relieved from active duty in February 1947 and continued on in his work in Japan as a civilian government employee until 1951.
The collection consists of 291 photographs taken by or given to Claude M. Adams while he worked in Japan for SCAP, Natural Resources Section, Fisheries Division from 1945-1951. The photographs document the construction and refurbishment of whaling ships, whaling expeditions, and villagers engaged in diving, seaweed-gathering, canning, and other aspects of coastal life in post-World War II Japan. Adams visited the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the atomic bombings and the collection contains several photographs of the destruction. It also includes a small number of postcards and ephemera from his travels.