Contributing Institution: University of California, Santa Cruz

Title: Watsonville-Santa Cruz Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League records

Creator: Hashimoto, Mas (Masaru), 1935-2022

Identifier/Call Number: MS.525

Physical Description: 5.42 Linear Feet 3 cartons, 1 flat box

Physical Description: 5.5 GB 436 digital files

Date (inclusive): 1934-2024

Abstract: This collection documents the activities of the Watsonville-Santa Cruz chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) from 1934 through 2021. Records of the Watsonville-Santa Cruz chapter's internal functions include organizational and administrative records such as financial documents and reports, membership lists, meeting minutes and agendas, event records, and ephemera. The collection also contains records that pertain to the Watsonville-Santa Cruz chapter's engagement with the JACL's Northern California, Western Nevada, and Pacific (NCWNP) district and the national JACL organization. Materials relate to Japanese immigration and community formation in California's Pajaro Valley before World War II, forced removal and incarceration, Nisei military service and veterans, and JACL's involvement in the redress and reparations movement. In addition, the collection holds records of the Watsonville-Santa Cruz JACL's efforts to preserve Pajaro Valley Japanese American history and public education and outreach. These records were created and collected by Mas and Marcia Hashimoto. Regarding community history, it includes photographs, family biographies, news clippings, and oral history interviews. It also contains educational materials and documentation of the chapter's involvement in public memorial projects.

Language of Material: English , Japanese .

Collection open for research. Audiovisual media is unavailable until reformatted. Digital files are available in the UCSC Special Collections and Archives reading room. Some files may require reformatting before they can be accessed. Technical limitations may hinder the Library's ability to provide access to some digital files. Access to digital files on original carriers is prohibited; users must request to view access copies. Contact Special Collections and Archives in advance to request access to audiovisual media and digital files.

Copyright for the items in this collection is owned by the creators and their heirs. Reproduction or distribution of any work protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the copyright owner. It is the responsibility of the user to determine whether a use is fair use, and to obtain any necessary permissions. For more information see UCSC Special Collections and Archives policy on Reproduction and Use.

Watsonville-Santa Cruz Japanese American Citizens League records. MS 525. Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.

Gift of Marcia Hashimoto, 2022.

The Watsonville-Santa Cruz Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) is an organization in California's Pajaro Valley that was founded as the Watsonville Citizens League in 1935 by Nisei, second-generation Japanese Americans. During its early years, the Watsonville Citizens League functioned as a social club and worked to promote civic engagement and patriotism among its members. During World War II, due to the mass incarceration of individuals with Japanese ancestry, the Watsonville Citizens League ceased its operations. Its members were incarcerated in Poston, a War Relocation Authority (WRA) concentration camp located in Arizona. Postwar, the Watsonville Citizens League resumed its activities, and began to focus on political advocacy. In 1949, the Watsonville Citizens League became a formal chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL). The organization's name was changed to Watsonville-Santa Cruz JACL in 1964. During the 1970s and 1980s, the national JACL organization and members of the Watsonville-Santa Cruz JACL were involved with the national campaign for redress and reparations for individuals who were incarcerated during World War II. From the 1960s and continuing through the 2020s, members of the Watsonville-Santa Cruz JACL have advocated for civil rights and have worked to document the histories of the Japanese community in the Pajaro Valley and wartime incarceration and engaged in cultural outreach.

The first Japanese migrants (known as Issei) arrived in the Pajaro Valley during the 1880s. By the 1920s, Nisei in the Pajaro Valley and other areas of the West Coast began to form social, political, and mutual aid organizations. The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) was founded in 1929 as an umbrella organization for Nisei organizations on the West Coast. Like the Watsonville Citizens League, local chapters of the JACL focused on spreading awareness of citizenship rights and responsibilities among Nisei communities.

After the outbreak of World War II and the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the national JACL focused on promoting a public image of Nisei as loyal American citizens. In February 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which authorized the U.S. military to forcibly remove and incarcerate Japanese Americans on the West Coast. Leaders of the Watsonville Citizens League initially considered voluntarily moving the entire Japanese population to an apple orchard in Idaho, but when the land proved inadequate, they advised the community to wait for instructions from the federal government. In total, 1,301 people of Japanese ancestry were forcibly removed from Santa Cruz county. In April 1942, they were taken to a temporary detention center on the Salinas rodeo grounds. In July, members of the Watsonville Citizens League and most of the broader Pajaro Valley Japanese community were incarcerated in the Poston concentration camp in Arizona. Incarceration halted the activities of the Watsonville Citizens League as its members were split between camps I and II at Poston.

Postwar, in 1948, Nisei leaders met to discuss the reorganization of the Watsonville Citizens League. The new Citizens League began to carry out two primary functions: teaching the wider Pajaro Valley population about the Japanese community and providing assistance to members filing evacuee claims for losses caused by incarceration. It also created a partnership with the Blue Cross so members could access health insurance and re-register its members to vote. In 1949, the Watsonville Citizens League became a formal chapter of the national JACL. During the 1950s, the Watsonville chapter focused on political issues. Like the national JACL, its members advocated for the repeal of laws that disenfranchised and discriminated against first-generation Japanese immigrants, or Issei. They also continued to assist members in filing claims for property that was lost during World War II. In the 1960s, the national JACL increased efforts to provide services and care for the aging Issei population. It also began its efforts to support the Sansei, or third-generation Japanese Americans, this included creating college scholarships. During the 1970s, the Watsonville-Santa Cruz chapter purchased a building on Blackburn Street in Watsonville, which became a space to hold meetings. It also housed a Japanese cultural and senior center.

In 1977, the national JACL joined other Japanese American activists in the campaign for redress and reparations for people who were incarcerated during World War II. There were differing opinions on the redress movement among JACL members across the country and, at first, many of its leaders opposed monetary reparations. The majority of Watsonville-Santa Cruz JACL members supported the movement, but some felt revisiting the issue of incarceration was unnecessary. Despite varied perspectives, the chapter voted to support the national JACL redress committee. One member of the Watsonville-Santa Cruz chapter testified during the hearings held by the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) in 1981 and several others submitted written testimonies. In 1983, after the hearings, the CWRIC issued a report recommending that the US government officially apologize for incarceration and provide monetary restitution. The JACL worked with other activist groups to lobby for the passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which provided a formal apology by President Ronald Reagan and $20,000 in compensation to surviving US citizens and legal residents of Japanese ancestry who were incarcerated. In addition to redress, the Watsonville-Santa Cruz chapter worked to address issues of anti-Asian racism locally and nationally from the postwar period to the 2020s. In the 1990s, the national JACL began to contend with questions about actions during World War II including their policies for cooperation with the US government and wartime condemnation of draft resisters. Within the national JACL and the Watsonville-Santa Cruz chapter, there were varied opinions on whether the organization should provide a formal apology to those deemed disloyal due to resistance activities during the war. In 2000, the JACL voted to apologize to Nisei draft resisters. Presently, the JACL is engaged in efforts to repair wartime divisions caused by discourses of patriotism and loyalty. The Watsonville-Santa Cruz chapter has engaged in efforts to preserve and uplift histories of Japanese incarceration, immigration, and community formation in the Pajaro Valley and greater Monterey Bay area. For example, in 1984, they partnered with the Salinas, Monterey, San Benito County, and Gilroy chapters of the JACL to sponsor a historical marker at the site of the detention facility at the Salinas Rodeo. In 2002, the Watsonville-Santa Cruz chapter performed "Liberty Lost . . . Lessons in Loyalty," a first-of-its-kind re-enactment of the 1942 forced removal of the Japanese community. JACL members Mas and Marcia Hashimoto led efforts to document and educate the public on Pajaro Valley Japanese Americans. For example, they created an oral history project to interview members of the Nisei generation in 2006 and participated in the Preserving California's Japantowns . The Watsonville-Santa Cruz JACL's historical documentation, education, outreach, and advocacy work continues today.

References used: Sandy Lydon, "A Half Century of Service: The Watsonville Japanese-American Citizens League, 1934-1984," Santa Cruz Public Libraries Local History collection, 1984.

Cherstin M. Lyon, "Japanese American Citizens League," Densho.

Japanese American Citizens League, Power of Words Handbook: A Guide to Language about Japanese Americans in World War II, Understanding Euphemisms and Preferred Terminology , volume 4., August 2020.

This collection documents the activities of the Watsonville-Santa Cruz chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) from 1934 through 2021. Records of the Watsonville-Santa Cruz chapter's internal functions include organizational and administrative records such as financial documents and reports, membership lists, meeting minutes and agendas, event records, and ephemera. The collection also contains records that pertain to the Watsonville-Santa Cruz chapter's engagement with the JACL's Northern California, Western Nevada, and Pacific (NCWNP) district and the national JACL organization. Materials relate to Japanese immigration and community formation in California's Pajaro Valley before World War II, forced removal and incarceration, Nisei military service and veterans, and JACL's involvement in the redress and reparations movement. In addition, the collection holds records of the Watsonville-Santa Cruz JACL's efforts to preserve Pajaro Valley Japanese American history and public education and outreach. These records were created and collected by Mas and Marcia Hashimoto. Regarding community history, it includes photographs, family biographies, news clippings, and oral history interviews. It also contains educational materials and documentation of the chapter's involvement in public memorial projects.

This collection is arranged in three series:

• Series 1: Organizational Files
• Series 2: Meeting Minutes
• Series 3: Community History Files

Materials within each series are arranged chronologically, unless otherwise specified.

This collection was stewarded by members of the Watsonville-Santa Cruz JACL before its accrual by UC Santa Cruz University Library Special Collections & Archives. This work included but was not limited to collecting, organizing, labeling, transcribing, digitizing, cataloging, and preserving documents from the JACL, its members, and the broader Pajaro Valley Japanese American community. After the collection was donated to Special Collections & in 2022, it was processed by Meleia Simon-Reynolds with assistance from Alix Norton in the Center for Archival Research and Training (CART),2024. The original arrangement and folder titles were retained when possible. JACL newsletters were separated from the collection and cataloged separately.

The Watsonville-Santa Cruz JACL Newsletter, published by the JACL beginning in 1966, can be found in UCSC Library Search.