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Indonesian Sailors Deportation Photograph Collection
SPC.2016.001
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Contributing Institution:
California State University Dominguez Hills, Gerth Archives and Special Collections
Title: Indonesian Sailors Deportation Photograph Collection
Identifier/Call Number: SPC.2016.001
Physical Description:
1 box
Physical Description:
0.21 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1946-1947
Abstract: This collection contains nine photographs, one flyer, and one magazine related to the detetion of a group of Indonesian seamen
in 1947. The images depict about 200-300 men at an immigration detetion center in downtown San Francisco, at the Southern
Pacific depot in San Francisco, and on a ship called the "Marine Lync" in San Francisco Bay. The photographs in this collection
have been digitized and are available online.
Language of Material:
English
.
There are no access restrictions on this collection.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from items in the collection must be submitted in writing to the Director
of Archives and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of
the physical materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
For information about citing archival material, see the
Citations for Archival Material guide, or consult the appropriate style manual.
Archives acquisition.
Collection processed by Evan Tucker, 2016.
The Indonesian National Revolution against Dutch colonial rule began on August 17, 1945 when the Proclamation of Indonesian
Independence was broadcast by radio throughout the country. In the following months, Indonesian seamen who were docked in
US ports began leaving Dutch and English ships, which they asserted were carrying weapons that would be used against their
countrymen. The striking seamen were supported by the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and a variety of other civil
rights and labor activists. When the shipping companies terminated the employment of the Indonesian seamen they were left
without valid visas. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service detained these unemployed sailors and in June of 1946
the Justice Department began deportation proceedings against them. CIO Lawyers Harold Sawyer and Leo Gallagher argued that
the Indonesian seamen were entitled to political asylum and filed a petition of habeas corpus to halt their deportation. As
a result of this legal action the Indonesian seamen were removed from a ship waiting to return them to the Dutch East Indies
(as Indonesia was called at the time), and put on a train to the Justice Department camp in Crystal City, Texas. A federal
judge later ruled that the Indonesian seamen were prohibited by the alien exclusion act from remaining in the country. All
of their subsequent appeals were denied and on January 13, 1947 roughly 300 Indonesian seamen were deported from the United
States.
This collection consists of nine black and white photographs with captions, one magazine, and one flyer. The collection documents
the detention of a group of Indonesian seamen in 1946 or 1947 as they await the outcome of deportation proceedings in the
federal courts. The images show these roughly 200-300 men at an immigration detention center in downtown San Francisco, at
the Southern Pacific depot in San Francisco, and on a ship called the "Marine Lynx" docked in the San Francisco Bay. The men
on the Marine Lynx were waiting to be deported to Batavia, Dutch East Indies (modern day Indonesia). These men were later
photographed at the Southern Pacific depot waiting for a train to Crystal City, Texas. Information accompanying the images
states that they are from 1947, but historical accounts of the events depicted in the images suggest the photographs were
taken in 1946.
Arranged in three folders.
This collection is part of the California State University Japanese American Digitization Project. For more information:
CSU Japanese American Digitization Project.
Processing Information for Digitized Materials
The Gerth Archives and Special Collections created digital reproductions from the original material for long-term preservation
and access. These preservation files (449 mb tif files) were scanned to and stored on the Gerth Archives and Special Collections
Deparment Drive. For more information on the best practices and standards for the digitization process, please see:
CSU Japanese American Digitization Project Technical Reference Guide.
Existence and Location of Copies
The photographs in this collection have been digitized and are available at the CSU Japanese American Project site:
Indonesian Sailors Deportation Photograph Collection.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Deportation -- United States
Crystal City Internment Camp (Crystal City, Tex.)
San Francisco (Calif.)
Crystal City (Tex.)
Gallagher, Leo
Sawyer, Harold
Congress of Industrial Organizations (U.S.)
United States. Immigration and Naturalization Service