Description
This collection consists of documents and photographs relating to the establishment and administrative workings of the Western
Defense Command (WDC), the War Relocation Authority (WRA) and the Wartime Civilian Control Administration (WCCA) for the year
1942. It includes administrative policies, orders, manuals, correspondence, statistics, posters, photographs and newspaper
clippings. Though the materials collected cover 1921-1966, the bulk of this collection documents the activities of 1942.
Background
On February 19, 1942 President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 providing broad powers for the War Department to create
exclusion zones and to initiate an evacuation program for the Western Defense Command (WDC). Under the leadership of General
John Dewitt of the WDC, the Civil Affairs Division (CAD) and the Wartime Civil Control Administration (WCCA) were created
in order to provide for the transition of voluntary evacuees, enemy aliens and United States citizens alike, from exclusion
areas to other parts of the country. The failure of the voluntary evacuation plan led President Roosevelt to issue Executive
Order 9102, which established the civilian run War Relocation Authority (WRA). The WRA was mandated to institute enforced
evacuations. Due to the recalcitrance of states on the interior of the country to accept the Japanese evacuees or to provide
for their safety, the WRA also constructed internment centers in order to house the evacuees. Between 1942-1945 the WRA, the
WCCA, the CAD and the Office of the Commanding General of the Western Defense Command segregated and housed approximately
110,000 Japanese-American men, women and children.
Extent
6 boxes
(9 linear feet)
Restrictions
Copyright has not been assigned to the San José State University Library Special Collections & Archives. All requests for
permission to publish or quote manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Special Collections. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of the Special Collections & Archives as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader. Copyright restrictions
also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files from or derived from these collections
is restricted to research and educational purposes.
Availability
Collection is open for research.