Guide to the San José State University Japanese-American Internment Research Collection
SJSU Library Special Collections & Archives
© 2010
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
San José State University
One Washington Square
San José, CA 95192-0028
Phone: (408) 808-2062
Fax: (408) 808-2063
Email: special.collections@sjsu.edu
URL: http://library.sjsu.edu/sjsu-special-collections/sjsu-special-collections-and-archives
Trustees of the California State University. All rights reserved.
Guide to the San José State University Japanese-American Internment Research Collection
Collection number: MSS-2010-08-23
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library
San José State University
One Washington Square
San José, CA 95192-0028
Phone: (408) 808-2062
Fax: (408) 808-2063
Email: special.collections@sjsu.edu
URL: http://library.sjsu.edu/sjsu-special-collections/sjsu-special-collections-and-archives
- Processed by:
- Tom Hewitt
- Date Completed:
- 2010
- Encoded by:
- Tom Hewitt
© 2010 Trustees of the California State University. All rights reserved.
Title: San José State University Japanese-American Internment Research Collection
Dates: 1935-2010
Bulk Dates: 1942-2010
Collection number: MSS-2010-08-23
Creator:
San Jose State College
Collection Size:
1 box
(0.5 linear feet)
Repository:
San José State University. Library.
San José, California 95192-0028
Abstract: The San José State University Japanese-American Internment Research Collection, 1935-2010 (bulk 1942-2010), documents the
internment of Americans of Japanese descent from 1942-1945, the presence of Japanese-American students at San Jose State College
in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and the awarding of honorary degrees to some of those students by San José State University
in 2010. The records consist of brochures, correspondence, government reports, magazines, memorabilia, memos, newspaper clippings,
photocopied articles, photos, and spreadsheets. This collection is arranged into three series: Series I. Japanese-American
San Jose State College Students, 1935 - 1994, Series II. Japanese-American Internment, 1942-1996, and Series III. Nisei Diploma
Project at SJSU, 2009-2010.
Physical location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English,
Japanese
Collection is open for research. Photocopying of original newspapers is prohibited.
San José State University Japanese-American Internment Research Collection, MSS-2010-08-23, San José State University Library
Special Collections & Archives.
Collection processed by Tom Hewitt. Finding aid EAD encoded by Tom Hewitt. Reviewed by Danelle Moon.
Japanese-American Internment History
On February 19, 1942 President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 providing broad powers for the War Department to create
exclusion zones and to initiate an evacuation program for the Western Defense Command (WDC). Under the leadership of General
John Dewitt of the WDC, the Civil Affairs Division (CAD) and the Wartime Civil Control Administration (WCCA) were created
in order to provide for the transition of voluntary evacuees, enemy aliens and United States citizens alike, from exclusion
areas to other parts of the country. The failure of the voluntary evacuation plan led President Roosevelt to issue Executive
Order 9102, which established the civilian run War Relocation Authority (WRA). The WRA was mandated to institute enforced
evacuations. Due to the recalcitrance of states on the interior of the country to accept the Japanese evacuees or to provide
for their safety, the WRA also constructed internment centers in order to house the evacuees. Between 1942-1945 the WRA, the
WCCA, the CAD and the Office of the Commanding General of the Western Defense Command segregated and housed approximately
110,000 Japanese-American men, women and children.
Scope and Content of Collection
The San José State University Japanese-American Internment Research Collection, 1935-2010 (bulk 1942-2010), documents the
internment of Americans of Japanese descent from 1942-1945, the presence of Japanese-American students at San Jose State College
in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and the awarding of honorary degrees to some of those students by San José State University
in 2010. The records consist of brochures, correspondence, government reports, magazines, memorabilia, memos, newspaper clippings,
photocopied articles, photos, and spreadsheets. This collection is arranged into three series: Series I. Japanese-American
San Jose State College Students, 1935 - 1994, Series II. Japanese-American Internment, 1942-1996, and Series III. Nisei Diploma
Project at SJSU, 2009-2010.
This collection is arranged into three series: Series I. Japanese-American San Jose State College Students, 1935 - 1994, n.d.
(1935-1942), Series II. Japanese-American Internment, 1942-1996, n.d (1993-1996), Series III. Nisei Diploma Project at SJSU
(2009-2010).
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
San Jose State University -- History.
Education, Higher -- California -- San Jose.
Japanese Americans -- California -- Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945 -- Periodicals.
Japanese Americans -- California -- Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945 -- Newspapers.
Japanese Americans -- California -- San Jose -- Biography.
Flaherty Collection: Japanese Internment Records, MSS-2006-02, San José State University Library Special Collections and Archives.
Willard E. Schmidt Papers, MSS-2007-09-01, San José State University Library Special Collections and Archives.
Series I: Japanese-American San Jose State College Students 1935-1994 (bulk 1935-1942)
Physical Description: 1 folder
Series Scope and Content Summary
This collection was compiled in connection with the passage of the Japanese-American Reparation Act of 1988, which offered
financial reimbursement and a formal apology from the U.S. government for violations of the internees' civil rights. This
series documents the number of Japanese-American students attending San Jose State College prior to the internment. Photocopies
of student directories and lists of graduating students provide this information. Some photocopies of news clippings in this
series document activities of Japanese-American students at San Jose State College during the late 1930s and early 1940s.
This series is arranged chronologically.
Series II: Japanese-American Internment 1942-1996 (bulk 1993-1996)
Physical Description: 3 folders
Series Scope and Content Summary
This collection was compiled in connection with the passage of the Japanese-American Reparation Act of 1988, which offered
financial reimbursement and a formal apology from the U.S. government for violations of the internees' civil rights. The materials
in this series document the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II and the subsequent impact of internment policies
on public and political memory. The series consists of newspaper clippings, magazines, correspondence, memorabilia, brochures,
government reports, and photocopied excerpts from books and periodicals. Folder 1 includes brochures for the Japanese-American
National Museum and literature and mailings from the Nihonmachi Outreach Committee and the Tule Lake Committee, organizations
dedicated to preserving public memory of the internment. Folder 2 features many clippings from the
San Jose Mercury News and some editions of the West Magazine supplement. The clippings concern topics such as the personal stories of detainees,
the history of the Japanese-American Citizens League, the relocation and detainment of Japanese Peruvians in the United States,
and the story of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Folder 2 also includes two articles by Marjorie Fernandes, one entitled
From Salinas to Poston: One Woman's Journey and the other
Japanese-American Women: Immigration and Evacuation. (The publisher of these articles is unknown.) Folder 3 contains a published presidential message and reports and legislation
from the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the California Senate, all concerning the Japanese-Americans
and their forced resettlement.
The folders are arranged alphabetically by format, and the items within each folder chronologically.
Series III: Nisei Diploma Project at SJSU 2009-2010
Physical Description: 1 folder
Series Scope and Content Summary
The California State University Board of Trustees voted in September 2009 to award honorary bachelor's degrees to former Japanese-American
students whose education was disrupted by the forced internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. In October of
2009 the Governor of California signed AB 37, an Assembly bill that called upon California's higher education institutions
to honor this group of former students. The CSU worked with the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California
(JCCCNC) to locate Nisei students. San José State University presented honorary degrees to eighteen Nisei students during
Commencement of May 2010. This series documents the events described above, and includes materials that document SJSU's efforts
to locate and contact the former students. It includes samples of the application to receive the degree, SJSU memos communicating
progress on the project, spreadsheets compiling data on the former students, correspondence from the university to the students,
and photos of those awarded degrees during the Commencement ceremony.
This series is arranged chronologically.