The Cortez Growers Association (CGA) provided some community structure and cohesion to the life of the farmers. Membership in the organization was contingent upon board approval and the payment of fifty dollars. From its origins, it evolved into a diversified structure, encompassing the marketing of produce, the shipping of goods, the purchase of farm supplies on a collective basis, even the drying of fruit. (Matsumoto, p.49; 53) However, far beyond a purely business related collective of farmers, the CGA created an important cultural institution. It staged traditional Noh plays for the community and provided English language and Sunday school instruction, although some members of the community retained their devout Buddhism, despite the efforts of Christian missionaries. The CGA showed how these farmers could retain their Japanese culture and still function as loyal Americans

Ironically, the passage of the 1924 Immigration Act that limited the number of Japanese immigrants reduced some...
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