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A Guide to the The Commission on the Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) Los Angeles Hearings Video Collection, 1981.
2012-03  
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Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Creator Sketch
  • Scope and Contents
  • Organization and Arrangement
  • Alternate Format Available
  • Access Restrictions
  • Use Restrictions
  • Index Terms
  • Preferred Citation
  • Related Material
  • Processing Information

  • Descriptive Summary

    Creator: Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress and Visual Communications
    Title: The Commission on the Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) Los Angeles Hearings Video Collection
    Dates: 1981
    Language: Materials are in English and Japanese.
    Accession No: 2012-03
    Extent: 13 DVDs; digital files.

    Creator Sketch

    The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) was created through the passage of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians Act in July 1980. The Commission explored the implementation of Executive Order 9066, its effects, and related actions of Japanese-American internment during World War II.
    The Commission’s final report, entitled Personal Justice Denied, stated that the causes of the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans included wartime hysteria, racial prejudice, and the failure of political leadership. The commission proposed that monetary reparations be paid to those Japanese Americans who were interned. The report and conclusions of the CWRIC was critical to the passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 that granted monetary compensation to former internees and issued a government apology.

    Scope and Contents

    The Commission on the Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) Los Angeles Hearings Video Collection,1981, consists of approximately 26 hours of video testimonies, transcripts, and summaries from the 1981 Los Angeles public hearings of the Commission on the Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC). 157 participants, including historians, elected officials, Japanese Americans (including former internees), and community members testified during the three-day and one evening session at the Los Angeles State Building and the Little Tokyo Towers.
    The testimonies cover personal stories of former internees and their children, in addition to the range of effects of Japanese American internment during World War II that cover property, business, and economic loss; psychological impact; health impact; mental health impact; impact of FBI activities; voluntary relocation experiences; educational impact; military and veteran experiences; search, seizure, and mistreatment; constitutional issues; and resettlement. These testimonies encouraged Japanese Americans to push for reparations.
    Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress (NCRR, then known as the National Coalition for Redress and Reparations) enlisted Visual Communications to videotape the 26 hours of Los Angeles hearings (just one of the two cities that had its hearings recorded). These digibeta tapes were later compiled into a 13-volume DVD set produced jointly by Visual Communications and NCRR entitled “Speak Out for Justice.” Digitization of these testimonies was funded in part by grants from the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, Japanese American Community Services, the Aratani Foundation and with the help of many individual donors.

    Organization and Arrangement

    The holdings are organized into two series: I. Testimonies and II. Written materials. Materials are mostly in English; a select few are in Japanese.
    Series I consists of the bulk of the collection and consists of video testimonies varying in length and detail. Series II contains short synopses of the testimonies, a Viewer’s Guide with summaries of the testimonies, and transcripts of the testimonies. Selected testimonies are available online at the Densho Digital Archive.

    Alternate Format Available

    Due to the fragility of the original magnetic tapes, the access DVDs should be viewed.

    Access Restrictions

    This collection is open for research use. Advance notice required for access. Contact repository for appointment.

    Use Restrictions

    Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holders.

    Index Terms

    Subjects (Persons)

    Allard, Dean C., 1933-
    Amemiya, Chizu
    Amemiya, Enosuke
    Antonovich, Michael D.
    Baker, Lillian
    Boss, Larry
    Bradley, Tom, 1917-1998
    Chikahisa, Paul
    Chuman, Frank F., 1917-
    DeLoyd, Akiyo
    Edelman, Edmund D.
    Embrey, Sue Kunitomi
    Farrell, Robert C.
    Ford, Gerald R., 1913-2006
    Fujii, James T.
    Fujikawa, Fred
    Fujimoto, M. Jack, 1928-
    Fujimura, Bunʾyū, 1910-
    Fukai, Mas
    Fujita, Katsuichi
    Fukushima, Jun
    Furutani, Warren
    Goldberg, Arthur J.
    Goto, James
    Hamasaki, Charles
    Hara, Ben
    Hashimoto, Elsie
    Hashimoto, Harry S.
    Hayamizu, Robert
    Hayakawa, S. I. (Samuel Ichiyé), 1906-1992
    Hayashi, Ken
    Himeno, Edward Terao
    Cheng, Lucie
    Hironaka, Masaaki
    Holmes, Hannah Tomiko
    Honda, Francis L.
    Horiuchi, Akira
    Ichioka, Yuji
    Ikemoto, Yoshio
    Imahara, David
    Imai, Judy
    Imoshita, Mas
    Inouye, Daniel K., 1924-2012
    Ishizuka, Mary
    Iwasaki, Mary
    Kadomatsu, Marian
    Kaji, Bruce
    Kamei, Hiroshi
    Kawahara, Harry
    Kawaminami, Jim
    Kawamoto, Harry
    Kight, Morris, 1919-2003
    Kikumura-Yano, Akemi, 1944-
    Kinada, Thomas
    King, Ernest Joseph, 1878-1956
    Kitagawa, Frances C.
    Kizu, June
    Knox, Frank, 1874-1944
    Kumamoto, Junji
    Kuramoto, Ford Hajime
    Kurihara, Mary F.
    Lundgren, Daniel
    Machida, Michiko
    Marumoto, Barbara
    Masaoka, Kathryn Nishimoto
    Masaoka, Mark
    Mass, Amy Iwasaki, 1935-
    Matsuda, Ann
    Matsuo, Dave Toru
    Matsuoka, Jim
    Matsushita, Marjorie
    McGrath, H. Read
    Meyer, Dillon S.
    Miyamura, Hiroshi, 1925-
    Miyashiro, Sheri
    Mori, Kazuo
    Morimoto, George
    Morimoto, Linda
    Morita, Carole Sei
    Murakami, Henry
    Murase, Ichiro Mike
    Myers, Elsie Akita
    Nabeta, Alfred
    Nakagawa, Bill
    Nakamura, Grace
    Nakamura, Yoshio
    Nakano, Roy
    Nehira, Alice Tanabe
    Nicholson, Herbert
    Nishida, Mo
    Nishikawa, Elizabeth
    Nishio, Alan
    Nishio, Esther Takei
    Nishio, Jane
    Nishizu, Clarence
    Nozawa, Tsuye
    O’Brien, Robert
    Ochi, Rose Matsui, 1938-
    Oda, Mary S.
    Oda, Paul
    Odagiri, Mary Fusako
    Odoi, Mas
    Ohara, Veronica K.
    Ota, Mabel T.
    Oekawa, Katsuyo
    Ogata, Mamoru
    Okamoto, Martha
    Okrand, Fred
    Okubo, Ruby
    Ono, Yayoi Arakawa
    Osaki, Rei
    Ota, John J.
    Ota, Peter K.
    Reschke, Babe Toshiko
    Ringle, K.D.
    Roberts, John G.
    Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945
    Roth, George K.
    Roth, Irma Brudbaker
    Sagawa, Paul
    Saito, John J.
    Saito, Tetsu
    Sakai, Henry
    Sanchez, Gilbert
    Sasahara, Mitsuru
    Sasaki, Chiyoko
    Sasaki, Hideko
    Sato, Gerald M.
    Sato, Kuniko Okumura
    Seki, Sumio
    Senzaki, Miyo
    Shigekuni, Phil
    Shigeta, William
    Shinkai, Bill
    Shironaka, Beth
    Sonoda, Kiyoshi
    Sugita, Saburō, 1921-
    Takei, George, 1937-
    Tamai, Joyce S.
    Tamaki, Henry S.
    Tanibata, Masaharu
    Taniwaki, Marge
    Terakawa, Alan
    Tomach, Morry
    Tsuboi, Mr.
    Tsuji, Jeff
    Tsuneishi, Selly
    Tsuneishi, Arthur
    Uchiyama, Hiro
    Usi, Mitsuo
    Watanabe, Hector
    Watanabe, Teru
    Watanabe, Tom
    Wiedman, Raymond
    Yagura, Katsumi
    Yamada, Henry S.
    Yamamoto, Joe
    Yamashita, Kiyo
    Yamashita, Stanley
    Yoshida, Ewan
    Yoshioka, Vernon

    Subjects (Organizations)

    American Civil Liberties Union
    American Friends Service Committee
    Japanese American Citizens’ League
    Life Magazine
    Little Tokyo Peoples’ Rights Organization
    Little Tokyo Service Center
    Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress
    Rafu shinpō
    San Francisco chronicle
    United States. Army. Infantry Battalion, 100th
    United States. Army. Regimental Combat Team, 442nd
    United States. Army. Signal Corps
    United States. Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians
    United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation
    United States. Joint Chiefs of Staff
    United States. Selective Service System
    United States. Supreme Court
    United States. War Relocation Authority
    Veterans' hospitals--California, Southern.
    Visual Communications/Asian American Studies Central -- Archives.

    Subjects

    Atomic bomb
    Bronze Star Medal (U.S.)
    Buddhist priests
    Discrimination
    Emigration and immigration
    Equality before the law-- United States.
    Executive orders
    Hostility (Psychology)
    Interrogations
    Japanese Americans
    Japanese American soldiers
    Japanese American veterans
    Japanese Americans--Civil rights.
    Japanese Americans--Economic conditions--20th century.
    Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945.
    Japanese Americans--Hawaii.
    Japanese--Peru
    Loyalty oaths--United States
    Martial law--United States.
    Medal of Honor.
    Mental illness--United States.
    Military life
    Minorities--Political activity.
    Model minority stereotype
    Nationalism and education--Japan
    Pearl Harbor (Hawaii), Attack on, 1941
    Personal property--United States.
    Pledge of Allegiance
    Poor--Health and hygiene.
    Propaganda, Anti-Japanese
    Race discrimination
    Reparations for historical injustices
    Sensationalism in journalism
    Social justice--United States.
    United States. Constitution. 1st-10th Amendments
    United States. Immigration Act of 1924. Japanese
    United States. War Powers Resolution.
    War propaganda--United States.
    World War II

    Places

    Bainbridge Island (Wash.)
    Camp Joseph T. Robinson (Ark.)
    Camp Livingston (La.)
    Central Utah Relocation Center
    Chicago (Ill.)
    Crystal City Internment Camp (Crystal City, Tex.)
    Denver (Colo.)
    Fort Collins (Colo.)
    Fort Lincoln (Washington, D.C.)
    Fresno County (Calif.)
    Gardena (Calif.)
    Gila River Relocation Center
    Heart Mountain Relocation Center (Wyo.)
    Kodiak (Alaska)
    Los Angeles (Calif.)
    Little Tokyo (Los Angeles, Calif.)
    Manzanar War Relocation Center
    Minidoka Relocation Center
    Missoula County (Mont.)
    New Orleans (La.)
    Petaluma (Calif.)
    Portland Livestock Center
    Rohwer Relocation Center (Ark.)
    Sand Island (Oahu, Hawaii)
    Santa Anita (Calif.)
    Stockton Assembly Center
    Tacoma (Wash.)
    Telluride (Colo.)
    Terminal Island (Calif.)
    World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Arizona--Poston.

    Preferred Citation

    The Commission on the Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) Los Angeles Hearings Video Collection, 1981. Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress and Visual Communications Archives.

    Related Material

    See also Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) Redress Video Collection, 1988-1991, undated (2012-01).

    Processing Information

    This collection was digitized in 2008. Processed and arranged by Helen Kim in October 2012. Finding aid written in October 2012 and encoded in February 2013 by Helen Kim.