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Catalog Data

Artist:
Corky Lee, 5 Sep 1947 - 27 Jan 2021  Search this
Sitter:
Yuri Kochiyama, 21 May 1921 - 1 Jun 2014  Search this
Medium:
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions:
Image: 23.4 × 15.5 cm (9 3/16 × 6 1/8")
Sheet: 25.4 × 20.4 cm (10 × 8 1/16")
Type:
Photograph
Place:
United States\New York\Kings\New York
Date:
1980 (printed 2016)
Exhibition Label:
Yuri Kochiyama 1921–2014
Born San Pedro, California
Yuri Kochiyama was a natural community organizer, even under duress. When she was imprisoned with other Japanese Americans in an internment camp in Jerome, Arkansas, she initiated an effort to write letters to Nisei soldiers fighting in the European and Pacific theaters. After the war, she and her husband moved to New York City, where they joined with African American and Puerto Rican groups to demand equal access to education and jobs. After Kochiyama met Malcolm X in 1963, her activism radicalized. This photograph documents Kochiyama’s participation in a restaurant workers protest organized by the Chinese Staff and Workers Association in New York City’s Chinatown.
Born Mary Yuriko Nakahara, she began calling herself Yuri in the late 1960s to identify with her Japanese ancestry, much like black activists who took African or Muslim names. Present when Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965, Kochiyama bravely rushed to his side.
Corky Lee (born 1948)
Gelatin silver print, 1980 (printed 2016)
NPG.2016.102
Topic:
Costume\Headgear\Hat  Search this
Costume\Dress Accessory\Eyeglasses  Search this
Architecture\Building  Search this
Exterior\Cityscape  Search this
Equipment\Sign  Search this
Yuri Kochiyama: Female  Search this
Yuri Kochiyama: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Activist\Civil rights activist  Search this
Portrait  Search this
Credit Line:
National Portrait Gallery; Smithsonian Institution
Object number:
NPG.2016.102
Restrictions & Rights:
Usage conditions apply
Copyright:
© Corky Lee Estate
See more items in:
National Portrait Gallery Collection
Location:
Currently not on view
Data Source:
National Portrait Gallery
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm44de32ccf-436e-4390-a75d-8abcc0ee9a77
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:npg_NPG.2016.102