Edita Morris and Hiroshima House
Archival research isn't yet threatened by new AI technology. A search for "Hiroshima" in the Columbia University Archives turned up an exceptional story in the Edita Morris papers.
Edita Morris (born Toll) was a Swedish native who married the son of the American envoy – Ira Morris — a talented, and wealthy, American writer.
Edita, herself, soon embarked on a successful writing career. Before she and Ira made their first trip to Hiroshima she had published a best-selling novel, Charade.
The couple's first visited Hiroshima in 1955. What struck them most powerfully was the the living conditions of the survivors, the hibakusha.*
Edita gathered official statistics: destitute 30%; jobless 72%;; parentless families 27%; families where breadwinner is female 20%.
Many hibakusha could not afford to travel to the hospital for specialized treatment.
*"Atomic Bomb survivors are referred to in Japanese as hibakusha, which translates literally as “bomb-affected-people," According to the Atomic Bomb Survivors Relief Law, there are certain recognized categories of hibakusha: people exposed directly to the bomb and its immediate aftermath; people exposed within a 2 kilometer radius who entered the sphere of destruction within two weeks of the explosion; people exposed to radioactive fallout generally; and those exposed in utero, whose mothers were pregnant and belonging to any of these defined categories."
HIROSHIMA HOUSE
On May 2, 1957, the Morris' opened the Hiroshima Rest House
The immediate aim of our house is the aid the survivors, but it is our hope that its existence will help draw attention to what happens when an atom bomb explodes on our earth. If this rest house can arouse a few people’s interest it many bring a little nearer the day when public opinion forces the governments of the world to outlaw atomic warfare and cease perilous nuclear tests.—Ira Morris, May 2, 1957
Hiroshima House served as a hostel for patients of the Bomb Hospital. It offered a meeting place, children's activities, theater and art programs.
In eight years Hiroshima House had hosted a stunning 10,000 meetings. An estimated 45,000 people used its services.
To some it was referred to as "the House of Solace." In 1965, the Representatives of the Atom-Bomb Survivors of all the Districts of Hiroshima thanked the couple for their "Desire to communicate with the people of Hiroshima, telling them that the great crime of the first atom bomb would not be repeated."
Eventually those supporting Hiroshima House included: Albert Schweitzer, Jean Paul Sarte, Gunner Myrdal, Benjamin Spock. Pearl Buck visited as a representative of the PEN international association of writers.
Above: 37 people, including 20 in-patients at the atom bomb victim hospital, attended the 165th recreation meeting on May 2, 1959.
Below: 108th Recreation Meeting People from the Atago District, 1958.
FLOWERS OF HIROSHIMA
Edina Morris' novel Flowers of Hiroshima came out in 1962. The book made the best-seller lists and earned high praise from reviewers of the time:
"A small story is, on the one hand, touching and tender, while on the other it is a terrible indictment of a tragedy of our time. It is inevitably and unquestionably moving." —Kirkus Reviews
Flowers of Hiroshima tells the story of hibakusha Yuka-san and her family. In dire financial straights, Yuka-san takes in a young American boarder. She struggles to keep up the appearance of normal life. But Yuka-san, her husband, Fumio and her sister Ohatsu are all survivors. While Yuka can hide her scars under her long sleeves, Fumio is slowly dying from "suntroke" — the colloquial name for the last stage of radiation poisioning.
In the tradition of mid-century novels, a romance blooms between Ohatsu and the American. But Ohatsu, forever reliving the death of her mother and consumed by fear of effects on the next generation, runs off with another hibakusha.
Flowers of Hiroshima won the 1962 Albert Schweitzer Prize.
Hiroshima House now functions as the Edita & Ira Morris Hiroshima Foundation for Peace and Culture.