Benjamin Harrison Watson was an American working in the export business in Shanghai when World War II began. The Benjamin Watson Papers document the experiences of internees in the Chapei Civilian Assembly Center in 1943 through the camp newsletter Assembly Times.

Benjamin Harrison Watson was born in 1893 in Brooklyn, New York to William A. and Annie Watson (née Jones). His father was in the weighing and gauging business for imports, which influenced his decision to go into the export business. During World War I Watson joined the National Guard 1st New York Field Artillery. He was initially sent to the border with Mexico. The war ended before he was sent abroad. After the war, Mr. Kilbourne of the Koster Company recruited Watson to rejoin the export business. He initially worked in Java and Singapore before going to Shanghai. During World War II, he was interned in Shanghai at the Chapei Civilian Assembly Center. At the time of his internment he worked for Fagan Company. He passed away in 1973 at the Veterans Home of California in Yountville.

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