Remembering a Forgotten Photographer of Chicago History


He took photographs of the Eastland disaster, the race riots, and every picture you’ve seen of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

Jun Fujita was also the country’s first Japanese-American photojournalist.

Thanks to our sponsors:

View all sponsors

Chicago Tonight unearths the buried legacy of the great photographer, and explores the multifaceted background of a man who was also a poet, a carpenter and visual artist.

We traveled to Madison, Wisconsin, to find a living relative, who shared stories of Fujita’s encounter with Al Capone, and his lifelong love affair with the woman he could not marry for decades because of miscegenation laws of the era.

  • Jun Fujita (Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

    Jun Fujita (Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

  • Jun Fujita (Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

    Jun Fujita (Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

  • Indiana Dunes (Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

    Indiana Dunes (Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

  • (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

    (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

  • (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

    (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

  • (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

    (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

  • Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

    Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

  • Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

    Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

  • Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

    Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

  • Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

    Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

  • Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

    Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

  • Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

    Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

  • Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

    Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

  • Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

    Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

  • Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

    Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

  • Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

    Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

  • Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

    Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

  • Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

    Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

  • Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

    Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

  • Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

    Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

  • Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

    Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

  • Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

    Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

  • Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

    Indiana Dunes (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of Graham and Pamela Lee)

  • (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

    (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

  • (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

    (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

  • (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

    (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

  • (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

    (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

  • (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

    (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

  • (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

    (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

  • (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

    (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

  • (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

    (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

  • (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

    (Jun Fujita / Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

More on this story

You can learn more at the Poetry Foundation, which presents the exhibition “Jun Fujita: Oblivion” through April 21.

More: Read Fujita’s poems


Related stories:

Survival Stories, Photos Commemorate Dark Chapter in US History

Jan. 23: A new book and a Chicago-area survivor recall the infamous internment of Japanese-Americans that took place 75 years ago.


‘Making’ a Photograph: The Conceptual Work of Kenneth Josephson

April 11, 2016: Acclaimed Midwestern photographer Kenneth Josephson has created innovative pictures of Chicago from the 1950s until the 21st century. We take a look at the man behind the lens and his conceptual photography.


Photos Reveal Snapshots of City Neighborhoods in Late ‘70s

April 4, 2016: In 1978, photographer David Gremp spent a year documenting 14 Chicago libraries, their neighborhoods and their patrons. Gremp snapped hundreds of images, giving his subjects a simple directive: look straight into the camera.


Thanks to our sponsors:

View all sponsors

Thanks to our sponsors:

View all sponsors