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Finding aid for the Civil Liberties Public Education Fund Grant Program Records
99.98  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Access
  • Publication Rights
  • Preferred Citation
  • Project Information
  • Organizational History
  • Scope and Content of Collection
  • Indexing Terms

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: Civil Liberties Public Education Fund Grant Program records
    Dates: 1997-1998
    Collection number: 99.98
    Creator: Civil Liberties Public Education Fund
    Collection Size: 12.5 linear feet
    Repository: Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.)
    Los Angeles, California 90012
    Abstract: The Civil Liberties Public Education Fund (CLPEF) was a government-sponsored program that developed from the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. The CLPEF's mission was to educate the public on the issues surrounding the wartime incarceration of Americans of Japanese ancestry. This collection contains the applications and projects of the CLPEF grant recipients.
    Physical location: Japanese American National Museum 100 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012

    Access

    By appointment only. Please Contact the Collections Management and Access Unit by email (collections@janm.org) or telephone (213-830-5615).

    Publication Rights

    All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in this collection must be submitted to the Hirasaki National Resource Center at the Japanese American National Museum (collections@janm.org).

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Civil Liberties Public Education Fund Grant Program records. 99.98, Japanese American National Museum. Los Angeles, CA.

    Project Information

    This finding aid was created as part of a project funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. The project started in 2007. Project Director was Cris Paschild. Project Archivists were Yoko Shimojo and Marlon Romero.

    Organizational History

    In 1980, Congress established the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC). This committee was directed to review the facts and circumstances regarding Executive Order 9066. In 1983 the Commission issued its findings in the report Personal Justice Denied, stating that a grave injustice was done to both citizens and permanent resident aliens of Japanese ancestry by the evacuation, relocation, and internment of civilians during World War II. The CWRIC had recommended legislative remedies of redress consisting of: (1) an official U.S. Government apology; (2) redress payments of $20,000 to each of the survivors; (3) a public education fund to help ensure that this type of incarceration based on racial prejudice will not happen again.
    The Civil Liberties Public Education Fund (CLPEF) was established in large part by the findings of the CWRIC. The goal of the CLPEF was to educate the public about the lessons to be learned from the forced removal and internment of civilians and permanent resident aliens of Japanese ancestry.
    The CLPEF effort included holding several community meetings throughout the country to get feedback on the creation of the grant criteria and how the grants would be distributed. In total, the CLPEF issued 135 grants totaling over 3 million dollars. The projects taught lessons from the incarceration from many different cultural and institutional perspectives. The different characteristics of diversity include:
    1. Projects located in 20 different states and the District of Columbia.

    2. Projects covering seven subject areas including curriculum, landmarks/exhibits, art/media, community development, research, research resources, and national fellowships. These projects cover a wide diversity of projects and range in funding from $2,000 to $100,000.

    3. Projects reaching different audiences: those who were never aware that the incarceration occurred, academic scholars, those viewing exhibits and monuments, law students learning the coram. nobis cases, those who are active in the Japanese American community, students in public schools and institutions of postsecondary education, and those who appreciate the arts, literature, and films, Southeast Asian and Chinese immigrant students, and African American and Latino students in low income communities.

    4. Projects informing the public about the diverse experiences before, during, and after the incarceration: Nisei veterans, the role of Nisei women, Japanese Latin Peruvians, those interned at the Department of Justice camps, the effects of incarceration on Sansei and Yonsei, the experience of Hawaiians during World War II, the role of the Military Intelligence Services, those who resisted incarceration, and the redress movement.

    5. Projects recipients have diverse backgrounds and make meaningful contributions by teaching the lessons learned from the incarceration. They include museums, resource libraries, state arts and humanities councils, K- 12 school teachers, universities, research institutes, community colleges, National Asian American organizations, artists and theater groups, graduate students, those who were incarcerated and other talented individuals knowledgeable about the lessons learned from the incarceration.
    On August 27, 1997, over 50 curriculum grant recipients, applicants, educators, and facilitators gathered on the campus of San Francisco State University for a summit sponsored by the CLPEF.
    From June 28-30, 1998, a national conference was held in San Francisco for all of the CLPEF grantees with over 200 people attending. Co-sponsored by the Asian American Studies Program of UC Berkeley, the CLPEF conference enabled grant recipients to present their projects and findings to the public.
    In November 1998 the Civil Liberties Public Education Fund closed its offices. For more information on the activities of the CLPEF, see: http://www.momomedia.com/CLPEF/backgrnd.html

    Scope and Content of Collection

    The series titles in this collection are divided into seven subject areas: Arts and Media; Community Development; Curriculum; Landmarks and Institutions; National Fellowships; Research Projects; Research Resources. Within the series each folder is arranged alphabetically by the name of the grant recipient. The folders contain the recipients grant applications and projects. These projects are represented in various material types such as, CD-ROM's, VHS cassettes, audiocassettes, and manuscripts. The complete listing of grant projects can be found on the CLPEF Network website: http://www.momomedia.com/CLPEF/projects.html

    Indexing Terms

    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.
    Japanese Americans
    Civil Liberties Public Education Fund