Michener, Mari
Dates
- Existence: 1920-07-20 - 1994-09-25
Biography
Mari Yoriko Sabusawa Michener was born on July 10,1920 to Harry and Riki Sabusawa in Las Animas, Colorado. Her father Harry, a melon farmer, moved the family to California in 1925. During World War II the family was placed in a Japanese internment camp at the Santa Anita race track in California and then transferred to Granada Relocation Camp in Amache, Colorado. Mari was released from Granada and attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where she studied political science and international relations, graduating in 1945. After graduation she analyzed Japanese propaganda for the Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service. As a graduate student at the University of Chicago, Mari specialized in race relations in the graduate sociology program. Mari worked for the American Council of Race Relations and then became an assistant editor for the American Library Association Bulletin. Mari appears to have served in this position from September 1951 to November 1955. She met James A. Michener in Chicago in 1954 while working for the American Library Association. She became Michener's third wife on October 23, 1955 in Chicago. Mari and James A. Michener were both avid art collectors, and donated art to a number of art museums including the Huntington Art Gallery at the University of Texas at Austin. Mari passed away of pancreatic cancer on September 25, 1994 in Austin, Texas. She left an estate of two million dollars to Antioch College. Mari Michener and her husband are buried in Austin Memorial Park Cemetery.
Citation:
Cory, John Mackenzie, "Memo to Members," ALA Bulletin, Vol. 45, No. 7, July-Aug. 1951, p. 238. Memo is dated 1951 July 16. ALA Bulletin, Vol. 45, No. 8, September 1951, p. 267. ALA Bulletin, Vol. 49, No. 10, Nov. 1955, p. 547. Associated Press. "Mari Michener Dead at 74,"Greeley Tribune, Sept. 26, 1974, p. A5. Associated Press. "Estate of Michener's Wife Goes to Antioch," Greeley Tribune, Jan. 12, 1995, p. A2.Found in 6 Collections and/or Records:
Frank and Elfrieda Riley photographs
Photographs of trips and cruises Frank and Elfrieda Riley, Anne Tweedy's parents, took with Jim and Mari Michener.
James A. Michener Art Museum art collection
11 works of art deaccessioned from the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. The materials were transferred to UNC Archival Services in May 2012.
Karen Clugston papers
This collection contains material collected by Caroll and Becky Gilbert, parents of Karen Clugston, related to their friendship with and the career of James A. Michener.
Ken Clark papers
This collection contains material retrieved from Ken Clark’s mother from the Michener’s home in Tinicum, PA and includes correspondence, photographs, and personal papers.
Tessa Dalton papers
Material created during Tessa J. Dalton's work with James A. Michener during research for his book Centennial. This material was later used in Michener and John King's book, In Search of Centennial.
Yuri Nakata papers
This collection consists of correspondence and articles about James A. Michener and Mari Michener. The collection was complied by Yuri Nakata a friend of Mari Michener