Descriptive Summary
Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Biography/Administrative History
Scope and Content of Collection
Indexing Terms
Additional collection guides
Descriptive Summary
Title: Japanese American Incarceration in California
Dates: 1941-1992
Collection Number: Local History_ 29-7-1
Creator/Collector:
Extent: 8 Boxes ; Some oversized items
Repository:
California State University, Fullerton. University Archives and Special Collections
Fullerton, California 92834-4150
Abstract:
Japanese
American Incarceration in California is composed mainly of documents related to the
relocation
program during World War II. Items include the official government report of the Manzanar Relocation Center, oral histories,
a photo album, post-war activism related to preserving and remembering the camps, and various clippings and documents. The
strength of this collection is found in its many perspectives on the controversial "relocation" program and how it has been
presented since World War II.
Language of Material: English
Access
The collection is open for research. Some materials within the collection are subject to reproduction restrictions.
Publication Rights
Property rights reside with the California State University, Fullerton University Archives and Special Collections. No part
may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the University Archives & Special Collections, CSU Fullerton
or the copyright holder.Requests for permission to quote from these materials should be addressed to:
California State University, Fullerton
University Archives & Special Collections
800 N. State College, PLS-352 |Fullerton, CA 92834-3599
(657) 278-3444
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item]. Japanese American Incarceration in California. Collection Number: Local History_ 29-7-1. California
State University, Fullerton. University Archives and Special Collections
Biography/Administrative History
On February 19th, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which authorized the forced removal of
Japanese-American citizens on the West Coast. For the duration of the war, 110,000 citizens forcibly resided in Relocation
Centers across the western half of the United States. Most famous of these internment camps was Manzanar, near Death Valley,
and Tule Lake in Northern California. Although the relocation program was authorized due to fears of a Japanese attack from
within US borders; not a single internee was convicted for a war related crime.
Scope and Content of Collection
The
Japanese
American Incarceration in California collection consists of documents related to the
relocation
program during World War II. It includes items such as the official government report of the Manzanar Relocation Center,
oral histories, a photo album, post-war activism materials focused on preserving and remembering the camps, and various clippings
and documents.
Georgia Day Robertson, vice-principal at a high school in the Poston Relocation Center, collected and donated most of these
materials. Additional contributions came from Miss Seiko Ishida, a school teacher who interned at the Manzanar Relocation
Center, and Betty Mitson, who organized the collection in collaboration with the CSUF Center for Oral and Public History.
Special features of the collection include "Harvest of Hate" by Georgia Day Robertson, research studies by Betty Mitson, bibliographies
of printed materials on Japanese American internment, and oral history project reports.
While the collection touches on treaties and legislation affecting Japanese Americans in America before World War II, the
bulk of the material focuses on events from 1942 to 1946 on the West Coast. There is also some content related to the resurgence
of scholarly and popular interest in the late 1960s and 1970s.
Previously known as
Japanese
American
Relocation
in California and Japanese American Internment in California, the collection was renamed Japanese American Incarceration
in California on March 26, 2024, by Lisa Mix, Director of Special Collections.
Indexing Terms
Japanese
Americans--Evacuation and
relocation
, 1942-1945
Japanese Americans--Reparations--History--20th century
World War, 1939-1945--
Japanese
Americans
World War, 1939-1945--Concentration Camps--California-Manzanar
Gila River War
Relocation
Center
Manzanar War Relocation Center
Manzanar (Calif.)--History
Poston Relocation Center (Ariz.)
Tule Lake
Relocation Center
Additional collection guides