This exhibit examines Yuri Kochiyama’s unique role as an archivist of social movements in New York City between the 1960s to the 1990s. It investigates how her sprawling collection of pamphlets, leaflets, speeches, class notes, articles, day books, photographs, scrapbooks, and contacts connected activists and organizations across movements in New York City. Bringing together social movement history and notes on Kochiyama’s personal collection, this exhibit uncovers a lesser-known aspect of Kochiyama’s activism and her profound influence on emerging anti-imperialist and internationalist coalitions. This exhibit also surveys the assortment of causes, movements, and organizations that Kochiyama supported or took interest in. 

This exhibit has been adapted for the Localized History Project from a previous exhibition entitled Yuri Kochiyama’s North Star by Vayne Ong (Ph.D. Candidate, Columbia University) and Thai Jones (Lehman Curator for American History, Rare Book and Manuscript Library). The exhibition was on display from 2023 to 2024 at the Lehman Suite in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, whose Rare Book and Manuscript Library houses the Yuri and Bill Kochiyama Papers,