Japanese Americans at Grand Canyon - Bellboys and WWII Heroes

Fred Harvey founded the Fred Harvey Company in 1876 and began to collaborate with the Santa Fe railroad. The railroad company finished a railway line from Williams, AZ to connect visitors to the South Rim of Grand Canyon in 1901. The Fred Harvey Company then built and ran many of the restaurants, hotels, and visitor amenities at the canyon throughout the 20th century. Fred Harvey and his company was an equal opportunity employer in some regards. Harvey was quoted as saying, “Real Service is without discrimination.” While Fred Harvey hired many people of color, they were often relegated to lower paying service positions. Harvey hired Japanese Americans such as Suzuki Akamatsu as a kitchen hand. One longstanding employee of Japanese descent with the Harvey Company and the Grand Canyon was George Murakami.

George Murakami, Bell Captain at El Tovar Hotel, June 17, 1955.

Park Service photographer Steve Leding, Grand Canyon Museum Collection.

George Murakami was a bellboy at El Tovar in Grand Canyon, a dedicated community member, and a WWII hero. Murakami was born in Hawaii and moved to California to work with the Los Angeles City Club. He saw the world while working on cruise ships and eventually made his way to the Grand Canyon in 1933. Murakami created a strong community at the canyon. He was also subject to racially charged nicknames. When dealing with the broader public, Japanese Americans at the time were generally subjected to remarks of racism and fascination. The Fred Harvey Company leaned into the infantilization of Japanese people and culture at the time by only hiring Japanese Americans for its bellboy positions. In the early 1900s it was seen as prestigious to have a Japanese individual in a position of service for a wealthy White person. The only people working as bellboys in 1940 were seven Japanese American men. While many in the public had a fascination with Japanese culture, this often did not translate into care for the people themselves. This especially proved true after the start of WWII.

President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 in February 1942, which designated military zones where Japanese Americans would be forbidden. This resulted in the forced removal and incarceration of over 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry from the Pacific Coast. Many of the confinement facilities were located throughout the Southwest. While the Grand Canyon did not fall into these designated military zones for forced removal, discrimination against Japanese Americans increased throughout the country. In 1941 the National Park Service requested that the Fred Harvey Company remove an “alien employee” from the canyon. The company moved the employee to another hotel they owned outside the canyon so that they would not have to terminate the employee.

None of the Japanese American bellboys at Grand Canyon remained in their positions as of 1942. It is unclear where all went, but records show that George Murakami enlisted in the Army on March 13, 1942. Another Japanese American employee at Grand Canyon, Robert T. Kishi, enlisted in the army on August 25, 1943. He married his wife, fellow Grand Canyon resident and member of the Hopi tribe, Josephine Navakuku, a week after he enlisted.

Technical Sergeant George Murakami, circa 1945

American Legion Post 42

George Murakami served in the 100th Infantry Battalion, part of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. These units were completely made up of Japanese American soldiers. Murakami’s unit became highly decorated during the war and he was promoted to Staff Sergeant. He was awarded with a Bronze Star and an additional stripe to become a technical sergeant. He was discharged in November of 1945. While Murakami was able to safety return home, Robert Kishi was not so fortunate. Kishi belonged to Company G in the Second Battalion of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. He served as a runner to deliver messages between units and was killed in battle while attending to the wounds of his comrades. Kishi was posthumously promoted to corporal and awarded a Silver Star for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy.”

George Murakami returned to Grand Canyon after his discharge and got his old job back. He also joined the local chapter of the American Legion, John Ivens Post 42. Murakami was elected by the other members to serve as sergeant at arms in four separate years. He served as post adjutant in 1948. In this year the chapter dedicated a memorial in the Grand Canyon South Rim Cemetery to those in the Canyon community who had died while serving in the World Wars. The monument features eight names, one being Robert T. Kishi. It is fair to assume that Murakami’s administrative role in the chapter that year helped to ensure that Kishi had his rightful place on the monument.

George Murakami continued to work at the Grand Canyon until 1965 when he moved to Los Angeles to work with the Fred Harvey Company at a restaurant at the Los Angeles Music Center. Murakami passed away in his Los Angeles apartment on June 15, 1982.

For more information on Asian American History, please visit the Finding a Path Forward: Asian American Pacific Islander National Historic Landmarks Theme Study

Sources:

Nuttall, Kern. “Why is a Japanese Name on the American Legion Memorial?” The Ol’ Pioneer Volume 31: Number 1. The Grand Canyon Historical Society, 2020.

Margaret Hangan (2020) Finding African American History in the West, KIVA,
86:2, 149-155, DOI: 10.1080/00231940.2020.1756096