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Title: Gertrude King papers
Date (inclusive): 1941-1951
Collection Number: 2002C3
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
8 manuscript boxes
(3.2 Linear Feet)
Abstract: The papers primarily consist of correspondence, reports, memoranda, pamphlets, and serial issues, relating to internment of
Japanese Americans during World War II, and to placement of Japanese-American students in colleges. Also includes records
of the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council (NJASRC) and collected materials directly related to the Japanese
American evacuation and relocation.
Creator:
National Japanese American Student Relocation Council
Creator:
King, Gertrude
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2002, with an increment in 2018.
[Identification of item], Gertrude King papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
In the three months following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and the subsequent declaration of war
on Japan and its allies, restrictions on Japanese Americans went into effect. Earlier restrictions first curtailed the activities
of Japanese Americans, culminating with Executive Order #9066, where President Franklin Roosevelt authorized relocation of
West Coast based Japanese Americans, immigrants and citizens alike. As a result, Japanese American students in the areas directly
impacted by Executive Order #9066 were forced to withdraw from universities and colleges in which they were enrolled.
In response, a student relocation committee consisting of members from the national Young Men's and Young Women's Christian
Association, West Coast college and university presidents, and other educators formed to assist Japanese American students
already enrolled in higher education so that they could continue their studies. Within two months, the War Relocation Authority
authorized the formation of a nationwide committee to address the issues facing Japanese American students that were pursuing
or wished to pursue higher education. As a result, on May 29, 1942, the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council
[NJASRC] officially formed.
Within the NJASRC, the front line of student relocation and assistance was the Permit Department. This department assisted
students in securing permits to leave their assigned relocation center in order to attend school. The Permit Department also
worked directly with the students and universities to place qualified students in schools best suited to their needs, within
communities where they were least likely to face extreme prejudice and persecution.
One of the most vocal and active members of this department was supervisor Gertrude (Trudy) King (1916-1969). During her time
with NJASRC (June 1942-April 1944), Trudy King made a lasting impression on her colleagues and the students she helped to
relocate, as evidenced by the extensive correspondence with both sets of individuals during and following her time in the
NJASRC, even past the point when the NJASRC closed its doors in June 30, 1946.
Additional information regarding Gertrude King and the NJASRC was obtained from
From Concentration Camp to Campus: Japanese American Students and World War II, by Allan W. Austin, University of Illinois Press, �2004.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Gertrude King Papers primarily consist of correspondence, reports, memoranda, pamphlets, and serial issues, relating to
the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, and to placement of Japanese-American students in colleges. The
papers also include records of the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council (NJASRC) and collected materials
directly related to the Japanese American evacuation and relocation.
Gertrude King joined the NJASRC less than two months after its formation on May 29, 1942 and remained until April 1944. During
that time and in the years following, King maintained correspondence with several of her colleagues within the NJASRC and
outside of it. The bulk of this collection consists of correspondence between King, her colleagues within the NJASRC, various
individuals and groups that worked with NJASRC, colleges and universities, government organizations, relocation centers, and
students. Along with correspondence both of an official and personal nature, the collection also includes several administrative
and procedural documents for the NJASRC, including reports, college and student information lists, newsletters, memoranda,
procedures, and personal notes regarding her work with the students directly and within the organization.
King also collected materials and documents relevant to the agencies she worked with her role in with NJASRC as well as materials
related to the Japanese American evacuation and relocation during World War II and in the months immediately following.
The original order of the materials as they were when initially acquired was retained as much as possible. The final arrangement
for the papers is as follows:
Correspondence, National Japanese American Student Relocation Council Records, and Subject File and Collected Documents.
Thomas Ray Bodine Papers, 1941-1982, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
John W. Nason Papers, 1921-2001, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
National Japanese American Student Relocation Council Records, 1942-1946, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The issues of the following publications have been separated from the collection due to duplication in the Hoover Institution
Library:
Communique;
Denison Tribune;
Granada Pioneer;
Manzanar Free Press;
Pacific Citizen;
The Rohwer Outpost;
Topaz Times;
The Tulare News.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Japanese Americans -- Forced removal and internment, 1942-1945
World War, 1939-1945 -- United States
World War, 1939-1945 -- Education and the war