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Smith Family Papers on World War II
MS 065
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Title: Smith Family Papers on World War II,
Date (inclusive): 1936-2005
Date (bulk): (bulk 1942-1946)
Collection number: MS 065
Creator:
Smith, Frank Herron, 1879-1965
Smith, Morris Eugene, 1912-2005
Smith, Morris Eugene, 1912-2005
Extent:
8 boxes
Repository:
Special Collections, Robert E. Kennedy Library
California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, California 93407
Abstract: 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.
Donated by Gene Smith in 1981 and 1996 with an additional donation given by his heirs in 2005, 2008 and 2009, the collection
is housed in and administered by Special Collections at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.
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.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
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.
Photocopying of material is permitted at staff discretion and provided on a fee basis. Photocopies are not to be used for
any purpose other than for private study, scholarship, or research. Special Collections staff reserves the right to limit
photocopying and deny access or reproduction in cases when, in the opinion of staff, the original materials would be harmed.
Smith Family Papers on World War II, Special Collections, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Rev. Frank Herron Smith
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.
Morris Eugene "Gene" Smith, Ph.D.
Gene Smith was born 1912 in Nagasaki, Japan, to Methodist missionary parents, Frank Herron and Gertrude Smith. As his parents'
work led them to establish churches in Korea, Smith spent most of his childhood there. The family returned to the U.S. in
1926, living in Berkeley, California. Smith attended U.C. Berkeley, earning a Bachelor's degree in History and a Master's
degree in East Asian Studies. He also was a star player on the varsity tennis team, reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.
After the war years, Smith continued his studies, earning a doctorate in history at the University of Oregon; his thesis was
the first scholarly history of the campus now known as California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Smith enlisted in the Army in 1942. With a working knowledge of the Japanese language and his personal experience living abroad
in Asia, Smith had valuable war-time skills. After a year's intensive language training at the Military Intelligence Service
Language School (MISLS), he went on to serve as a Military Intelligence Officer, translating for and interrogating Japanese
POWs. Discharged in 1946 with the rank of major, he received the Bronze Star and the Air Medal for his military service.
He began teaching history at Cal Poly in 1946. During his tenure at Cal Poly, he served as Social Sciences Department Head
and later as founding head of the History Department. While at Cal Poly, he also coached the tennis team from 1946-1954. He
retired in 1974 and died on May 8, 2005, in San Luis Obispo, California.
Sources
"M. E. 'Gene' Smith." [obituary] San Luis Obispo Tribune 27 July 2005: B-2.
"Morris E. Smith." U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946. Ancestry.com.
"Professor Emeritus M. E. 'Gene" Smith Memorial July 30." Cal Poly Report. 20 July 2005: 2.
"Retirement Reception Planned for Gene Smith." Cal Poly Report 26 Feb. 1974: 2.
"Rites Set for Former Missionary to Japan." Los Angeles Times 14 Aug 1965: B-8.
The Smith Family Papers on World War II contains the personal papers of Reverend Frank Herron Smith of Berkeley and the personal
and wartime papers of his son Morris Eugene "Gene" Smith, of San Luis Obispo. Both father and son shared a life-long interest
in Asian culture and history, having spent several years living in Japan and Korea.
The collection is housed in eight boxes and divided into two series:
1. Frank Herron Smith Papers, 1942-1945
2. Morris Eugene Smith Papers, 1936-2005
Records relating to the elder Smith's efforts on behalf of interned Japanese-American citizens during and after World War
II are found in the first series, including correspondence to government officials and broadsides ordering the evacuation
and internment of Japanese-Americans from the Central Coast of California.
In the second series, the younger Smith's wartime papers include an autobiographical typescript of his career as a military
interrogator, with sketches of interrogations, and photographs of Smith with other U.S. soldiers and Japanese POWs, and of
commanding officers in the Philippines. Also included is a post-war study by the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission of the effects
on the populations of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Vintage newspapers from San Luis Obispo County, California, document the end
of the war and post-war.
There is an additional donation of two tennis racquets and frames owned by the younger Smith, who played at Wimbledon in 1939.
The provenance, or original organization, of the papers has been preserved for the most part. However, in order to simplify
access to the collection for researchers, some materials in specific formats and topics were reorganized and refoldered to
more accurately reflect their contents.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Japanese Americans -- Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945.
Pacific Japanese (Methodist) Mission.
Philippines -- History -- Japanese occupation, 1942-1945.
Prisoners of war
Smith, Frank Herron, 1879-1965 -- Archives
Smith, Morris Eugene, 1912-2005 -- Archives
United States. War Relocation Authority.
World War, 1939-1945.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Evacuation of civilians.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Concentration camps -- United States.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Aleutian Islands (Alaska).
World War, 1939-1945 -- Archival resources.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Japan.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Japanese Americans.
World War, 1939-1945 -- New Caledonia.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Philippines.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons.
Correspondence
Monographs/printed material/pamphlets
Yearbooks
Typescripts
Periodicals
Broadsides
Military papers
Photographs
Newspaper clippings
Newspapers
Sketches
Government reports
Tennis racquets and frames
Materials Cataloged Separately:
Twenty-six monographs about Asian history and culture or about San Luis Obispo County history owned by the Smith family have
been cataloged separately with MARC records.
Related Collections
Special Collections, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo:
Manzanar Collection, 1942-1994 (MS 062)
Messinger Pacific Theater World War II Collection, 1945 (MS 064)
University Archives, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo:
Photo Archives