The Japanese American Medical Association Life History Project was started in 2002 with funding from the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program in conjunction with the UCLA Asian American Studies Center and the Japanese American National Museum. This project sought to tell the stories of a generation of Nisei, second generation Japanese Americans, physicians who directed health care while interned in concentration camps during World War II. Silent Scars of Healing Hands: Oral Histories of Japanese American Doctors in World War II Detention Camps is written by oral historian Gwenn Jensen, PhD., and writer Naomi Hirahara. This collection contains writing documents of the publication and transcripts and various media copies of photographs and interviews.

The Japanese American Medical Association (JAMA) was created in 1947 to promote and maintain a social, cultural, scientific and educational exchange of information and experiences among its members. It originally served its members in the social and professional capacity, as Japanese Americans were typically not included in hospital privileges in the postwar era. JAMA represents more than fifty-five specialties within the Southern California area, primarily the Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties. JAMA is recognized as a tax-exempt charitable organization and sponsors a scholarship program, Hiroshima A-bomb survivor care and projects like Silent Scars of Healing Hands.

1.5 linear feet

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).

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