Japanese American Incarceration Camp Newspaper Collection, 1942-1945

Summary

Title:

Japanese American Incarceration Camp Newspaper Collection

Dates:

1942-1945

Creators:

California State University, Northridge. University Library

Abstract:

This collection brings together nineteen newspapers produced by Japanese American incarcerees from inside nine different American concentration camps during World War II.

Extent:

6.78 linear feet (11 boxes)

Language:

English, Japanese

Preferred citation:

For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual, or see the Citing Archival Materials guide.

Background

Scope and content:

The Japanese American Incarceration Camp Newspaper Collection consists of nineteen publications from nine different American concentration camps. From 1942 to 1945, the U.S. government forcibly removed and incarcerated Japanese Americans during World War II. During this time, newspapers were produced inside of both temporary army-run Wartime Civil Control Administration (WCCA) camps and the subsequent longer-term camps operated by the civilian War Relocation Authority (WRA). Incarcerated Japanese Americans wrote, edited, produced and distributed camp newspapers themselves. These newspapers documenting daily life, policy impacts, acts of resilience, sports news, opinion pieces, editorials, human-interest stories, and more. Newspapers at WCCA camps were routinely censored by the miliary. Newspapers published in the civilian-controlled WRA camps were not explicitly censored, but they were still "supervised" by camp officials. So, although the U.S. government strove to create the façade of a free press, there were still restrictions imposed.

Content Warning: The historical documents in this collection include euphemistic terms and racist language that were wrongfully used to describe Japanese Americans during and after the World War II period.

Biographical / historical:

The library created this collection of materials for study and research.

Acquisition information:

Sundance Press, 1980, 1985.

Processing information:

The collection was initially processed by Tony Gardner. This finding aid was revised in 2012. The finding aid was again revised in 2026 to address outdated and harmful descriptive language. References to Japanese American "relocation," "evacuation," and "internment" during World War II were removed and replaced with community recommended/currently accepted terminology in 2026, such as "Japanese American incarceration."

Related resources

Related material:

This collection is part of the Japanese American Incarceration Collection

Alternative form available:

Digital reproductions of selected items in this collection are available electronically as a part of the CSU Japanese American Digitization Project.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Documents

About this collection guide

Date Encoded:

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-05-13 10:26:50 -0700.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research use.

Terms of access:

Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge. Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Preferred citation:

For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual, or see the Citing Archival Materials guide.

Location of this collection:

California State University, Northridge, Special Collections

18111 Nordhoff Street

Northridge, CA 91330, US

Contact:

(818) 677-4594

Website