Guide to the Pacific Coast Committee on American Principles and Fair Play records, 1940-1951
Processed by Linda Jordan and Terence Padden
The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu
© 1998
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Note
History --History, California Geographical (By Place) --California Social Sciences --Area and Interdisciplinary Studies --Asian American Studies History --World War II
Guide to the Pacific Coast Committee on American Principles and Fair Play Records, 1940-1951
Collection number: BANC MSS C-A 171
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Contact Information:
- Processed by:
- Linda Jordan and Terence Padden
- Date Completed:
- December 1997
- Encoded by:
- Xiuzhi Zhou
© 1998 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Pacific Coast Committee on American Principles and Fair Play Records,
Date (inclusive): 1940-1951
Collection Number: BANC MSS C-A 171
Creator:
Pacific Coast Committee on American Principles and Fair Play
Extent:
Number of containers: 5 cartons and 8 boxes
Linear feet: 9.55
Repository: The
Bancroft Library.
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Languages Represented:
English
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts
must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft
Library 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.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Pacific Coast Committee on American Principles and Fair Play records, BANC MSS C-A 171, The Bancroft
Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Related Collections
Title: Japanese American evacuation and resettlement records, 1930-1974
Identifier/Call Number: (BANC MSS 67/14 c)
Title: Morton Grodzins, Political Aspects of the Japanese Evacuation
Identifier/Call Number: (BANC MSS 71/169 c)
Title: Japanese American Citizens League, National Ad Hoc Committee to Repeal the Emergency Detention Act records, 1967-1971
Identifier/Call Number: (BANC MSS 75/59 z)
Title: Harry Lee Kingman papers, 19921-1975
Identifier/Call Number: (BANC MSS 76/173 c)
Title: Rosalie H. Wax papers, 1943-1974
Identifier/Call Number: (BANC MSS 83/115 c)
Title: Galen Merriam Fisher correspondence
Identifier/Call Number: (BANC MSS 86/179 c)
Material Cataloged Separately
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The Pacific Coast Committee on American Principles and Fair Play Records were given to The Bancroft Library by Dr. Galen M.
Fisher in 1952.
Funding
Funding for processing provided in part by a Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA), Title III: Networking, Preservation
and Statewide Resource-sharing grant, 1994-1996.
Scope and Content
Materials relate to the evacuation, internment, and relocation of Japanese Americans during World War II. Correspondence includes
requests for information from government agencies and officials, community groups, and private individuals. Committee records
include in-house correspondence, memoranda, reports of activities, minutes of executive board meetings, financial records,
and publications, including articles by Dr. Galen M. Fisher. Materials collected by the Committee for reference purposes include
Japanese-American subject files relating to evacuation from the west coast, specific relocation centers, and resettlement
legislative issues; War Relocation Authority files, including memoranda, reports, statements, press releases, and clippings
which illustrate the committee's role in the interpretation and dissemination of government information; and, files for various
organizations, which may include correspondence, minutes, reports, statements, and printed materials as well as clippings,
all providing insight into the feelings of citizens connected to the situation.
Organization History
The Pacific Coast Committee on American Principles and Fair Play was organized in January of 1943 with the express purpose
of insuring the constitutional rights of persons of Japanese ancestry who had been evacuated from the Pacific Coast and relocated
to the interior of the country by presidential proclamation in 1942.
The committee was an outgrowth of the Committee on National Security and Fair Play, which had been originally constituted
in October 1941, under the name of the Northern California Committee for Fair Play for Citizens and Aliens of Japanese Ancestry.
Among its founders and leading members were David P. Barrows, Monroe Deutsch, Josephine Duveneck, Galen M. Fisher, Henry Francis
Grady, Ruth Kingman, Alfred J. Lundberg, Robert Millikan, Chester Rowell, Robert Gordon Sproul, Paul Taylor, and Ray Lyman
Wilbur.
The committee acted as an unofficial public relations representative of the War Department, the Justice Department, the State
Department, the War Relocation Authority, and any other government body or civil servant whose responsibility it was to express
a considered opinion concerning persons of Japanese ancestry in the United States. The work of the committee included disseminating
educational materials to the public, providing public speakers, holding conferences, correcting distorted statements in the
press, carrying on a dialogue with governmental officials and leaders of community groups, investigating conditions at relocation
centers and monitoring the return of the evacuees after the centers were closed. Chapters were formed in Fresno, Los Angeles,
Pasadena, Santa Barbara, Portland, and Seattle.
After the closing of the relocation centers, committee members decided that other, broader based interracial, intercultural
community organizations could more effectively continue the work of the committee and incorporate its programs into their
own. To this end, the Pacific Coast Committee for American Principles and Fair Play dissolved itself in December 1945.
Scope and Content
The Pacific Coast Committee on American Principles and Fair Play Records date from 1940 to 1951, and relate to the evacuation,
internment, and relocation of Japanese-Americans during World War II. The collection consists of a variety of materials, including
correspondence, reports, minutes, and printed materials, which provide insight into the feelings of the citizens connected
to this situation.
Correspondence includes requests for information from government agencies and community organizations as well as individuals.
Committee records include memoranda, reports, minutes of Executive Board meetings, and financial records. Publications include
articles by Dr. Galen M. Fisher.
The Japanese-American subject files include evacuation from the West Coast, materials regarding specific relocation centers,
and resettlement legislative issues. The relationship of The Committee to the War Relocation Authority is illustrated by handwritten
memos, reports, and statements. Of particular interest are field notes and interviews regarding the return of the Japanese-Americans
to Northern California in the summer of 1945. A selection of clippings completes the collection.
Container List
Boxes 1-7
SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE, 1942-1945.
Scope and Content Note
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically or alphabetically, as appropriate.
Divided into three sub-series: General Correspondence: Incoming/Outgoing; In-House Correspondence: Incoming/Outgoing; and
Correspondence Arranged by Subject. The series is a comprehensive record of the day to day activities of the Committee. General
Correspondence: Incoming/Outgoing includes requests for information from government agencies and community groups as well
as individuals. In-House Correspondence: Incoming/Outgoing includes minutes of many chapter meetings forwarded to headquarters
in letter form. Correspondence Arranged By Subject is presented as the subjects were designated by the Committee.
GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE: INCOMING/OUTGOING, 1942-1945
Box 1, folder 1-13
Incoming/Outgoing
March 1942-Sept. 1943
Box 2, folder 1-16
Incoming/Outgoing
Oct. 1943-April 1944
Box 3, folder 1-14
Incoming/Outgoing
May 1944-Oct. 1944
Box 4, folder 1-14
Incoming/Outgoing
Nov. 1944-April 1945
Box 5, folder 1-13
Incoming/Outgoing
May 1945-Dec. 1945
IN-HOUSE CORRESPONDENCE: INCOMING/OUTGOING, 1942-1945
Box 6, folder 1-28
Incoming/Outgoing
April 1942-June 1945
Box 7, folder 1-6
Incoming/Outgoing
July 1945-Dec. 1945
CORRESPONDENCE ARRANGED BY SUBJECT, 1943-1945
folder 8
Japanese-American Reemployment
Jan.-Feb. 1945
folder 9
Lundberg, Alfred and Earl Warren
July-Sept. 1943
folder 10-12
Membership requests
Feb. 1943-Jan. 1945
folder 13-17
Publications requests
April 1943-Dec. 1945
folder 18
Student Fair-Play Committees
March 1943-Dec. 1944
Carton 1, folders 1-51
SERIES 2: COMMITTEE RECORDS, 1941-1946.
Scope and Content Note
Arrangement
Arranged hierarchically or alphabetically. Founding Documents, General Membership and Financial Records are arranged hierarchically.
Sub-Committees is arranged alphabetically by name, while Chapters is arranged alphabetically by state and then by city. Publications
is arranged hierarchically, with materials written by committee members followed by miscellaneous pamphlets.
Divided into six sub-series: Founding Documents, General Membership, Financial Records, Sub-Committees, Chapters, and Publications.
The series contains many one-of-a-kind Founding Documents, which outline the proposed structure of the organization. General
Membership and Financial Records include minutes of meetings, reports, memos, statements, and annual reports. Sub-Committees
includes minutes spanning the life of the Executive sub-committee. Although the remaining sub-committee files are not as comprehensive,
most include minutes, membership lists, or policy statements. Chapters may include correspondence, membership lists, and policy
statements created at the local level. Many chapters created minutes of meetings in the form of letters which were forwarded
to headquarters; these can be found in Series 1, within the sub-series: In-House Correspondence: Incoming/Outgoing. Finally,
Publications includes many articles written by Dr. Galen M. Fisher in various stages of completion, and miscellaneous publications
by other organizations completes this series.
FOUNDING DOCUMENTS, 1942-1945
folder 2
Articles of incorporation
Dec. 1943
folder 4
History and purpose of the committee
1942-45
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP, 1941-1945
folder 9-10
Conference on Interracial Coordination
Jan. 10-11, 1945
FINANCIAL RECORDS, 1942-1945
folder 17
Cash disbursements
1943-45
folder 22
Petty cash accounts
1943-45
SUB-COMMITTEES, 1943-1945
folder 35
Membership list
July 1943
folder 38
Statement of purpose
n.d.
folder 42
Correspondence and membership list
1944
folder 43
Correspondence and membership list
1944
folder 45
Membership lists and statements
1943-45
Santa Barbara, California
folder 47
Minutes and membership list
1943
folder 48
Correspondence and minutes
1943-44
Ctn. 1, folder 49-50
Writings by Dr. Galen M. Fisher
1941-46
folder 51
Miscellaneous pamphlets
1943-44
Carton 1, folders 52-63; Carton 2, folders 1-17
SERIES 3: JAPANESE-AMERICAN EVACUATION, 1941-1945.
Scope and Content Note
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by topic. Original headings as named by the committee have been retained, and within each topic, files
are arranged with original materials, such as correspondence and memos presented first, followed by print materials and clippings.
Contains materials related to the Japanese-American evacuation, relocation, and resettlement at the end of World War II. Files
may contain correspondence, reports, memos, essays, speeches, War Relocation Authority materials, pamphlets, and clippings.
The variety of materials provides many insights into the feelings of citizens connected to this situation. One subject file
may present views of religious organizations, local service clubs, and government agencies. Many eyewitness accounts are included
in the form of memos and reports to The Committee, as well as speeches and essays.
folder 53-55
Evacuation from the West Coast
1941-45
folder 58-59
Japanese-American Cultural Heritage
1942-45
folder 60
Legislative issues in California
1943
folder 61
Legislative resolutions in the California State Senate
1942-45
folder 62
Legislative resolutions in the United States Senate
1943-44
Ctn. 2, folder 1
Minorities in the United States
1941-45
folder 2
National Conference on Japanese Americans
Nov. 8, 1945
folder 5
Religious organizations
1942-45
folder 7
Manzanar, California
1944-45
folder 9
Tule Lake, California
1943-44
folder 12-13
Resettlement on the West Coast
1944-45
folder 15-16
United States military
1943-45
folder 17
United States vs. Minoru Yasui Memorandum of Law
n.d.
Carton 2, folders 18-28
SERIES 4: WAR RELOCATION AUTHORITY, 1940-1946.
Scope and Content Note
Arrangement
Arranged hierarchically.
Contains memoranda, reports, and statements, followed by materials issued by the House on Un-American Activities Committee,
press releases, selected issues of WRA Newsletters, and clippings. Many of the memos are handwritten, detailed exchanges with
The Committee, and along with reports and statements, illustrate the relationship of The Committee to the WRA and The Committee's
role in the interpretation and dissemination of government information.
folder 21
House on Un-American Activities Committee
1943-44
folder 25-26
Daily News Digest
Oct. 1944-Dec. 1945
folder 27
Review of West Coast News Items
July 1944-March 1945
Carton 2, folders 29-39; Carton 3, folders 1-10
SERIES 5: ORGANIZATION AFFILIATIONS, 1940-1951
Scope and Content Note
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically.
Individual files may include copies of correspondence, minutes, reports, statements, newsletters, pamphlets, and clippings.
Of particular interest are field notes and interviews regarding the return of the Japanese-Americans to Northern California
in the summer of 1945, which can be found in the file on the American Council on Race Relations.
Ctn. 2, folder 29
American Baptist Home Mission Society
1945
folder 30
American Council on Race Relations
1944-46
folder 31
American Friends Service Committee
1944-46
folder 33
California Councils for Civic Unity
1944-45
folder 34
Committee for Equality in Naturalization
1951
folder 35
Committee on Christian Democracy
1946
folder 36
Council on Alien Relations
1944-45
folder 37
Friends of the American Way
1944-45
folder 38
Home Missions Council of North America
1945
folder 39
Japanese American Citizens League
1940-45
Ctn. 3, folder 1
Los Angeles Coordinating Committee for Resettlement
1945
folder 2-3
Los Angeles County Committee for Interracial Progress
1944-48
folder 4
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
1945
folder 5
National Japanese American Student Relocation Council
1943-45
folder 6
Protestant Church Commission for Japanese Service
1945
folder 7
San Francisco C.I.O. Council
1942-43
folder 8
Welfare Council of Metropolitan Los Angeles
1946
folder 9
Young Men's Christian Association
1945-46
folder 10
Young Women's Christian Association
1942-45
Carton 3, folders 11-36; Cartons 4-5; Box 8
SERIES 6: CLIPPINGS, 1942-1945.
Scope and Content Note
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
folder 12-36
Clippings
Jan. 1942-July 1944
Ctn. 4, folder 1-24
Clippings
Aug. 1944-March 1945
Ctn. 5, folder 1-40
Clippings
April 1945-Nov. 1945
