Franklin Odo Papers, 1984-2022

Summary

Franklin Odo was born in 1939 and grew up on a farm in Honolulu, Hawai'i. He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University, completed his Master's degree in East Asian Regional Studies from Harvard University, and returned to Princeton to earn his Ph.D. in 1975 in Japanese history. As a student and scholar, Odo became involved in the movement to create Asian American Studies programs in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He co-edited "Roots: An Asian American Reader," the first published reader for the field, other publications of his include "No Sword to Bury: Japanese Americans In Hawai'i During World War II" (2003) and "Voices from the Canefields: Folksongs from Japanese Immigrant Workers in Hawai'i" (2013). Odo first joined the Smithsonian as the Assistant to the Provost for Asian Pacific American Research and Public Programming from 1995-1997, and then became the founding director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program (now known as the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center) in 1997. Prior to his tenure at the Smithsonian Odo was an instructor, Asian history, Department of History, Occidental College, 1968-1970; Curriculum Coordinator, Asian American Studies Center, University of California, Los Angeles, 1970; Lecturer, Asian American Studies, University of California, Los Angeles, 1969-1972; Assistant and Associate Professor, California State University, Long Beach, 1972-1977; Director, Asian American Studies, California State University, Long Beach; and Chairperson and Professor, Ethnic Studies Department, University of Hawaii, Manoa, 978-1997. At the Smithsonian, Odo worked to expand and integrate Asian American and Pacific Islander history, culture, and arts throughout the institution. After retiring from Smithsonian in January 2010, Odo served as interim chief of the Asian Division at the Library of Congress, and then returned to teaching at Amherst College, serving as the John Woodruff Simpson Lecturer in American Studies. Odo passed away in September 2022. This accession consists of the papers of Franklin Odo and document his work creating the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center; his talks and lectures; his work as senior advisor to the National Park Service's National Historic Landmarks Program and facilitator for the National Park Service's Asian Pacific Islander Theme Study; research on Japanese Americans during World War II and in Hawai'i; and the courses he taught at Amherst College. Materials include correspondence, memoranda, reports, lectures, talks, presentations, meeting agendas and notes, proposals, conference records, transcriptions, notes, research records, awards and certificates, professional performance records, slides, photographs, and clippings. Some materials are in electronic format.

Subject

• Odo, Franklin
• b University of Hawaii at Manoa
• United States National Park Service
• National Historic Landmarks Program (U.S.)
• Library of Congress
• University of California, Los Angeles
• Princeton University
• Harvard University
• Occidental College
• Amherst College
• California State University, Long Beach
• Smithsonian Institution Office of the Provost
• Smithsonian Institution Asian Pacific American Program
• Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center

Notes

• Electronic List in accession file.
• Folder List in accession file.

Organization

Unarranged

Repository Loc.

Smithsonian Institution Archives Capital Gallery, Suite 3000, MRC 507; 600 Maryland Avenue, SW; Washington, DC 20024-2520

Date

• 1984
• 1984-2022

Topic

• WW II
• Lectures and lecturing
• Education
• Forced removal and internment, 1942-1945
• College teaching
• Study and teaching
• Museums
• Society
• History
• World War, 1939-1945
• Asian Americans--Study and teaching
• Japanese Americans--History
• World War, 1939-1945--Japanese Americans
• Japanese Americans--Forced removal and internment, 1942-1945
• Museums--Educational aspects
• Social life and customs

Place

Hawaii

Form/Genre

• Clippings
• Collection descriptions
• Manuscripts
• Transcripts
• Electronic records
• Digital versatile discs
• Color photographs
• Color transparencies

Local number

SIA Acc. 23-207

Physical description

2 cu. ft. (2 record storage boxes)

Full Record

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