Itsuzo Sumy Collection

Historical Society of the Town of Chester

Collection Facts

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Historical Context

Itsuzo Sumy was born in the Japanese village of Toba on May 22, 1891. Following graduation from the University of Tokyo with a degree in engineering in 1915, Mr. Sumy worked in Manchuria for 6 years. In 1922 he came to the United States. After traveling around the country with a troupe as a Master of Jujitsu, he settled in Chestertown, New York in 1932, where he operated a photography and novelty shop.

Itsuzo Sumy was a self-taught photographer. He captured every major community event and many social affairs in Chestertown for over three decades until his death in 1970.

Scope of Collection

Itsuzo Sumy documented the Town of Chester, New York through his photography from the 1930s until his death in 1970. He left his extensive photograph collection to the Historical Society of the Town of Chester.

The photographs document the people, events, social life, and day-to-day activities of people in the Town of Chester, New York and the surrounding areas in Warren County, located in the Southern Adirondacks.