Description
Papers of two generations of the Smith family — Dr. Frank Herron Smith and his son Dr. Morris Eugene "Gene" Smith — including
vintage broadsides and government reports on the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II and correspondence from
the elder Smith to government officials advocating for improved treatment and safety for returning internees. Also includes
Gene Smith's personal papers, yearbooks, photographs, newspaper clippings, tennis racquets and frames, and an illustrated
autobiographical typescript detailing his service in the 25th Infantry Division from 1942-1946 as an Army linguist, translator,
and interrogator in the Aleutians, Japan, the Philippines, and New Caledonia. Material donated by Smith family members in
1981, 1996, 2005, 2008 and 2009.
Background
Dr. Frank Herron Smith was born in Illinois in 1879, son of a physician and a school teacher. By 1905, he had completed a
theological course of study at Northwestern University. He soon left to begin his work abroad as a Methodist missionary, establishing
churches in Japan and later Korea. By 1926, Frank Herron Smith and his family had returned to the U.S. and settled in Berkeley,
California, where he served as the superintendent of the Pacific Japanese (Methodist) Mission and oversaw 22 churches in the
Western U.S. After the 1942 forced internment of Japanese Americans from the West Coast, he continued ministering to his congregation
by conducting church services for them in all ten of the far-flung internment camps. He was also a strong advocate for the
fair treatment of the internees both while interned and once released, as well as for their businesses and real property that
they had been forced to leave upon evacuation. Conversant in Japanese, Frank Herron Smith assisted the Office of War Information
(OWI) in preparing scripts and making radio broadcasts to Japan during the war years. He died in Palo Alto, California, on
August 6, 1965.
Restrictions
In order to reproduce, publish, broadcast, exhibit, and/or quote from this material, researchers must submit a written request
and obtain formal permission from Special Collections, Cal Poly, as the owner of the physical collection. Researchers should
also consult with an appropriate staff member regarding literary or other intellectual property rights pertaining to this
collection.
Availability
Collection is open to qualified researchers by appointment only. For more information on access policies and to obtain a copy
of the Researcher Registration form, please visit the Special Collections Access page. Advance notice for use required.