Finding aid of the Japanese American Relocation Collection

Folders 1A-1D, 1Ea, 1Eb, 1Ec, 1Ed, 1F-1G

Series I: Letters and papers of Remsen Bird

Scope and Content

In the winter of 1942, shortly after the Pearl Harbor bombings and the proposed internment of over 110,000 Japanese Americans, President Remsen Bird of Occidental College became concerned with the educational prospects of thousands of college-age students who had their education involuntarily interrupted. A member of the Association of Colleges and Universities of the Pacific Southwest (later renamed Western College Association), Bird began a series of correspondence with members of the Association, other educators, and government officials, attempting to establish "a proper centralizing of authority and approach" (Letter to Earl R. Hedrick, April 1, 1942) to facilitate the relocation of students to colleges outside the military zones on the West Coast.

Folders 1Ea, 1Ec, 1Ed

Subseries 1: Concerning students, relocation, and return

Scope and Content

The earliest letter in the collection dates December 10, 1941. Barely three days after the Pearl Harbor attack, Occidental College student Sinpachi Kanow wrote to College President Bird, relating an incident of the previous day when his brother was prevented from boarding a bus in Los Angeles. Worried that what happened would not be an isolated case, Kanow decided to withdraw from school, noting that "I am bitterly disappointed in not being able to continue with my schooling". On December 11, Bird wrote Kanow back, urging him not give up his plans.

Throughout spring and early summer of 1942, hundreds of letters from Bird's office reached various individuals and organizations: To presidents of colleges in the interior inquiring whether they would accept Japanese American students; to the same groups recommending former students forced to leave Occidental; to former Occidental students sending messages of encouragement; to California Governor Culbert Olson urging further discussion on internment matters; to colleagues at the Western College Association and leaders at Christian education groups attempting to coordinate student relocation efforts.

Notably on April 4, 1942, E. R. Hedrick, provost of the University of California and chairman of the Committee on American-born Japanese and Aliens of the Western College Association, wrote to Bird and invited him to become a member of the Committee. Bird accepted the invitation four days later. On April 23, Bird wrote to Lieutenant General John DeWitt, Commander of the Western Defense Command, expressing an interest in assisting with student relocation. It can be surmised that Bird had high expectations of what Western College Association could accomplish and hoped to play a large role in that.

Folder 1Ea

Folder 1Ea: Concerning Japanese students

Folder 1Ec

Folder 1Ec: Internment/Relocation: 1942-1945

Folder 1Ed

Folder 1Ed: Bird's personal correspondence/misc.

Folders 1A-1D

Subseries 2: Establishing the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council

Scope and Content

In April 1942, the State Department held the Conference of Advisors of Foreign Students in Cleveland, where educators presented the relocation of students to colleges and universities outside the restricted zones as a possible solution. On May 5, 1942, Assistant Secretary of War John McCloy asked Clarence Pickett of the American Friends Service Committee to undertake, with other organizations, an extensive program of student relocation. On May 29, 1946 individuals representing the government, institutions of higher education, the Japanese American Citizens League, and other organizations gathered in Chicago to form the National Student Relocation Council (renamed the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council in March, 1943). Bird, in a May 18 letter to Pickett, expressed his regret for not being able to attend the meeting due to commencement at Occidental. On the same day, Bird also sent Guy Snavely of the Association of American Colleges a letter, stating, "I would not select them [American Friends Service Committee] as the agency through which college students should be relocated. I think this type of doing should come out of college administrations as such".

That the government had chosen the American Friends Service Committee to spearhead a student relocation program disappointed Bird, who might have felt that his and his colleagues' efforts were negated. In a May 27 letter to Pickett, Bird wrote, "I wish very much that Mr. Eisenhower [Milton Eisenhower, the first Director of the War Relocation Authority] had gone over the matter with the Western Association of Colleges and the Association of American Colleges in laying his plans, in that we were already 'on the alert'." However, he added, "This is no time to stand on any degree of sensitivity. It is a moment when all who believe in the American faith should put it in practice." In letter after letter, while commending the military's execution of the blanket evacuation order, Bird also stressed the importance of student relocation as a matter of principle, as a way of upholding "American democracy and faith".

Folder 1A

Folder 1A: National Japanese American Student Relocation Council

Folder 1B

Folder 1B: National Japanese American Student Relocation Council - printed matter

Scope and Content

This folder contains the following records:

"Directory of American Students of Japanese Ancestry in the Higher Schools, Colleges, and Universities of the United States of America". June, 1943.
"How to help Japanese American Student Relocation". September 1, 1943.
"Japanese American Student Relocation: An American Challenge". Circa 1943.
"The test of a free country: A talk given by Dr. Robert Gordon Sproul... on June 29, 1944".
"From Camp to College: The Story of the Japanese American Student Relocation". Circa 1945.

Folder 1C

Folder 1C: National Japanese American Student Relocation Council - minutes

Folder 1D

Folder 1D: National Student Relocation Council - war relocation

Folders 1Eb, 1F, 1G

Subseries 3: Establishing the collection

Scope and Content

The genesis of the collection can be traced to a letter Bird wrote to College Librarian Elizabeth McCloy some eight months after the Pearl Harbor attack, on August 18, 1942. Noting that "[s]omething tremendous is happening in our times of which we are all aware", Bird wrote, "I would like very much to keep as full a record as possible of all the documents and material dealing with this particular phase. Will you please help me?" McCloy and her staff honored this request, and from 1942 until 1947 the Occidental College Library collected a wide range of materials related to the Japanese American internment during World War II.

Folder 1Eb

Folder 1Eb: Library

Folder 1F

Folder 1F: Background for the Japanese relocation collection

Folder 1G

Folder 1G: Miscellaneous

Scope and Content

This folder contains the following:

A copy of the Los Angeles School Journal, vol. XXV, no 26, April 13, 1942, which contains an article entitled, "Evacuation Information".
"Nisei Students in Junior College: A Symposium", reprinted from Junior College Journal, September 1943, Vol. XIV, no. 1.
A map, entitled "Nisei Students in Colleges and Universities Outside Restricted Areas: 1941 and 1943", published by the Department of Sociology, University of Washington, circa 1943.
"Section of Anthropology", reprinted from Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences Series II, vol. 5, pp. 106-124, March 1943.
A newspaper clipping from the Pasadena Chronicle, Sept 29, 1944, which mentions Japanese-American student Esther Takei, and includes an article entitled: "What Shall be Done With the Nisei?"

Boxes 2, 3B, Folders 3B, 3C, 7A, 7B, 7D, 7E, 7G, 8B-8D

Series II: Contemporaneous publications

Scope and Content

After the attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, anti-Japanese sentiments surfaced in many spheres and Japanese Americans on the West Coast were confronted with confusion, fear, and hysteria. This would persist throughout the war and its immediate aftermath. However, many individuals and organizations took the opposite view, advocating and working for the rights as well as the well-being of a displaced people. The tenor of the times is reflected in the collection of newspaper clippings, magazine articles, pamphlets and other publications from civil liberties, community, as well as church organizations.

Boxes 2, 3B

Subseries 1: Newspaper clippings and magazines

Scope and Content

The collection contains an assortment of newspaper clippings and reprints of periodical articles. The majority of clippings are from the Los Angeles Times and the rest from other West Coast publications, including San Francisco Chronicle, Santa Barbara Star News-Press, Pasadena Star News, Sacramento Bee, San Diego Union, and others. The opposing sentiments and views regarding the Japanese American internment can be found in these clippings. The February 28, 1945 edition of the Los Angeles Times, for example, carry stories of "Bullets fired into home of returned Jap" and "Jap-American's war record given praise". Organizations such as the Anti-Japanese League and the Committee on American Principles and Fair Play, two groups on the opposing sides, are covered by newspapers in the collection.

Box 2

Box 2: Background for collection clippings

Scope and Content

Box 2 contains newspaper clippings organized in 34 envelopes; typed on the outside of each envelope is a list of items inside, designated by names of the articles. The number of items contained in each envelope range from 1 to 41. In all, the 34 envelopes contain approximately 760 items. The dates of clippings range from 1942 to 1947, with the bulk date being 1944 and 1945. The clippings are fragile, and many items are torn where the pages are folded.

Of note to the Occidental community is a May 17, 1944 article in Occidental titled "SPACtivity" by Urb Whitaker. SPAC (Student Political Action Committee), according to this short article, has taken on the merchants in the vicinity of York Boulevard and 42nd Avenue near campus. SPAC urges students to boycott merchants who have displayed the "We don't want the Japs back here, EVER" sign on their storefront windows.

Box 3B

Box 3B: Original copies of magazines

Scope and Content

Box 3B contains original copies of The American Legion Magazine, The American Magazine, Coronet, Collier's, Country Gentleman, The Intercollegian, The Commonweal, and The Wellesley Magazine. All have articles related to the Japanese American internment. Please see the citations below.

Murray, Frederick G. "Japs in Our Yard". The American Legion Magazine, June 1943: 12-13, 42, 46.
Sinclair, John A. "California: On the Alert!" The American Legion Magazine, April 1942: 28-29, 56-58.
Eddy, Don. "What Shall We Do with Our 150,000 Japs?" The American Magazine, March 1942: 14-15, 101-103.
Lin, Yutang. "The Chinese Gun at Nippon's Back", The American Magazine, March 1942: 24-25, 112-113.
Robinson, William. "Outcast Americans", The American Magazine, September 1942: 30-32, 96-98.
Evans, Michael. "Concentration Camp --- USA Style", Coronet, October 1942: 51-54.
Davenport, Walter. "Holy Harold", Collier's, 11 October 194: 13, 44, 49-50.
Marshall, Jim. "West Coast Japanese", Collier's, 11 October 1941: 14-15, 71.
Marshall, Jim. "The Problem People", Collier's, 15 August 1942: 50-52.
The Commonweal, 10 March 1944: vol. 39, no. 21.
Bird, John. "Our Japs Have Gone to Work", Country Gentleman, August 1942: 7, 22-24.
Fante, John. "Mary Osaka, I Love You!" Good Housekeeping, October 1942: 40-41, 167-178.
Reith, Marian. "Crisis on the West Coast", The Intercollegian, May 1943: 151-154.
Robinson, Marianne. "The War Relocation Authority, Tule Lake, California: Extracts of Letters by Marianne Robinson, '39", The Wellesley Magazine, February 1943: 147-149.

Folders 3B, 3C, 7A, 7B, 7D, 7E, 7G, 8B-8D

Subseries 2: Civil liberties, community, and church organization publications

Scope and Content

The collection contains publications from various organization involved in activities concerning first the internment and then the resettlement of Japanese Americans, including the American Friends Service Committee, the Japanese American Citizens League, Committee on American Principles and Fair Play, Home Missions Council of North America, and others. Throughout the war, many church organizations were involved in various activities related to the evacuation and resettlement of Japanese Americans; and publications became one of the means through which these organizations sought to convey their messages and carry out their mission.

Folder 3B

Folder 3B: The Japanese American Review

Scope and Content

This folder contains 7 issues of The Japanese American Review. It was established in 1900 and published by Nippon Publishing Co. Inc. in New York. The publication measures 11"-by-17 1/2" and runs from 8 to 14 pages. This folder has:

Vol. 41, No. 2116 (July 12, 1941)
Vol. 41, No. 2117 (July 26, 1941)
Vol. 41, No. 2118 (August 9, 1941)
Vol. 41, No. 2119 (August 23, 1941)
Vol. 41, No. 2120 (September 6, 1941)
Vol. 41, No. 2122 (October 4, 1941)
Vol. 41, No. 2122 (October 18, 1941)

The October 4 and October 18 edition share the same issue number.

Folder 3C

Folder 3C: The Open Forum

Scope and Content

This folder contains 46 issues of The Open Forum, which was published in Los Angeles by the Southern California branch of the American Civil Liberties Union. At one time, The Open Forum had noted writers Upton Sinclair and John Packard as its contributing editors. This publication is 11"-by-16", with each 2-page issue printed on both sides of a page. This folder has:

Vol. XX, Nos. 17-20, 27-29, 35, 44, 47-51. (April - December, 1943)
Vol. XXI, Nos. 2-3, 5-12, 14-15, 17, 21-24, 29-30, 32-33, 35-38, 47.(January - November, 1944)
Vol. XXII, Nos. 38-41, 47. (September - November, 1945)

Folder 7A

Folder 7A: Resettlement Bulletin (and Committee on Resettlement)

Scope and Content

Resettlement Bulletin was published in New York by the Home Missions Council of North America. For three years beginning in early 1943, the Committee on Resettlement of Japanese Americans put together this monthly paper (the first three issues were published bi-monthly and thereafter monthly) with George Rundquist and then Toru Matsumoto as its editors.

The paper is a collection of articles, announcements, and editorials concerning Japanese American resettlement. Contributors include representatives from the Japanese American Citizens League as well as church organizations, Dillon Myer (Director of the War Relocation Authority), Thomas Bodine (National Student Relocation Council), and relocation center residents/ evacuees.

This folder contains 18 issues of Resettlement Bulletin. Each issue measures 81/2"-by-11". The length varies from 8 to 16 pages. The following is a list of the issues.

Vol. I, No. 3 (June 1943)
Vol. I, No. 4 (July 1943) "Evacuees speak on resettlement" issue
Vol. I, No. 5 (September 1943) "Evacuees speak on resettlement" issue, part two
Vol. I, No. 6 (October 1943) "The Churchs role in resettlement" issue
Vol. II, No. 1 (January 1944)
Vol. II, No. 2 (February 1944) "To the 96". This refers to the 96 Japanese American soldiers killed, based on figures supplied by the War Department on January 20, 1943
Vol. II, No. 3 (March 1944). This issue devotes one page to "Japanese Canadians Today"
[Vol. II, No. 4] (April 1944)
Vol. II, No. 5 (June 1944)
Vol. II, No. 6 (July 1944)
Vol. II, No. 7 (September 1944)
Vol. II, No. 8 (October 1944) "Student Returnee Reports" by Frank T. Inouye. This is a summation of various students' experiences in their capacity as returnees to their relocation centers. The article mentions the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council
Vol. II, No. 9 (November 1944). "From Camp to Campus" by Thomas Bodine
Vol. II, No. 10 (December 1944)
Vol. III, No. 1 (January 1945)
Vol. III, No. 2 (March 1945)
Vol. III, No. 3 (May 1945)
Final Number (April 1946). "Towards the True Meaning of Democracy" by Dillon Myer.

Folder 7B

Folder 7B: Return to West Coast

Scope and Content

As the war progressed, it became increasingly clear to some government authorities that keeping over 110,000 Japanese Americans in confinement for prolonged periods of time would be undesirable. As early as March 1943, Dillon Myer, Director of the War Relocation Authority, wrote to Secretary of War Stimson recommending a relaxation in the West Coast exclusion orders. (This was rejected by Stimson.) Nevertheless, through leave programs selected evacuees were able to leave relocation centers for employment and college education outside the restricted zones.

The issue of resettlement became more urgent in December 1944, when Myer announced that all relocation centers would be closed before the end of 1945. In particular resettlement on the West Coast, where the overwhelming majority of evacuees had had their homes and properties, stirred much discussion and debates. This folder contains documents dealing with this topic, including views of both pro- and against- Japanese American resettlement.

This folder contains the following 18 items of varying formats and lengths.

Ford, Julia Ellsworth. "Something to Think About". Date unknown.
Ford, Julia Ellsworth. "Supplement to 'Something to Think About'". Date unknown.
Schuyler, Lambert. "The Japs Must Not Come Back!" Winslow, Wash: Heron House, 1944.
Lechner, John R. "Playing with Dynamite: The Inside Story of our Domestic Japanese Problem". Date unknown.
Lechner, John R. "Race Discrimination or not?" Los Angeles: Americanism Educational League. Date unknown.
"Community Preparation for Resettlement of Japanese Americans." New York: The Committee on Resettlement of Japanese Americans. Date unknown.
"A petition to restrict the rights of Japanese Americans." Sponsored by the Japanese Exclusion Association. Los Angeles: Japanese Exclusion Association. Date unknown.
"Resolution on the Return of American Citizens and Resident Aliens of Japanese Ancestry to the West Coast". Adopted by the Los Angeles CIO [Congress of Industrial Organizations] Council. 5 Jan. 1945.
"Brief Facts About the Japanese Americans". [Committee on Resettlement of Japanese Americans]. January 1943.
"War Department Views on Japanese Returning to Pacific Coast. Letter from Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy to William G. Merchant, President of the Down Town Association of San Francisco". Date unknown.
MacNair, Mary. "Report on Democracy in Action". Pasadena, CA: Friends of the American Way. Date unknown.
"Pasadena, CA: Friends of the American Way". Date unknown.
"Considerations Favoring the Release of Japanese Americans from Relocation Centers with Complete Freedom to Reestablish Themselves". Pasadena, CA: Friends of the American Way. Date unknown.
"Poulson Reports from Washington". June 3, 1943.
"The Return of Those of Japanese Ancestry to California - A talk given by Dr. Monroe E. Deutsch, Vice-President and Provost of the University of California, before the County Superintendents of Schools of this State, in the Courthouse, Oakland, California, on Wednesday, January 10, 1945".
"Keep the issue clear!", "Why this organized campaign of hatred of Americans", and "A personal word". Author unknown. Date unknown.
"America is raising questions about some Californians". Author unknown. Date unknown.
"Protecting newspapers?" and "District attorney disavows promptly, completely and emphatically!". Author unknown. Date unknown.

Folder 7D

Folder 7D: Committee on American Principles and Fair Play, Friends of the American Way

Scope and Content

This folder contains 15 items issued by the Committee on American Principles and Fair Play, mostly letters to members regarding issues such as housing for the tens of thousands of returnees. Most items measure 21 1/2 cm-by-28 cm, varying in length from 1 to 14 pages. Of note is a personal letter to Remsen Bird which included an October 9, 1944 Los Angeles Times article. The paper reports on a sermon delivered by a Reverend Bell in support of 19-year-old Esther Takei's enrollment at the Pasadena Junior College.

Folder 7E

Folder 7E: American Friends Service Committee

Scope and Content

This folder contains 9 items from the American Friends Service Committee, including news bulletin, correspondence, reports, and an "application for employment" (designed to help returnees secure employment). Most documents measure 21 1/2 cm-by-28 cm, varying in length from 1 to 4 pages. Of note is a letter from Esther Rhodes to Remsen Bird, expressing the wish for Bird to act as the chairman of a yet-to-be-formed coordinating committee which would replace the Southern California Student Relocation Committee.

Folder 7G

Folder 7G: Japanese American Citizens League

Scope and Content

This folder contains 16 items, including a three-part report called "The Dies Committee, the Hearst Press, and Their Japanese Nightmares", 7 "News Release", and an executive secretary's report. Two documents (a flier advertising a concert and a pamphlet called "Japanese People's Emancipation League") are from an organization called Japanese American Committee for Democracy; whether this organization is associated with the JACL is unclear. Most items measure 21 1/2 cm-by-28 cm, varying in length from 1 to 30 pages. Dates range from 1942 to 1944.

Folder 8B

Folder 8B: Miscellaneous pamphlets and printed matter

Scope and Content

This folder contains a miscellany of documents in various formats published by civilian organizations, including Post War World Council, Citizens Committee for Resettlement, and others. The following is a partial list.

"You Can Win the Peace Now". N.Y: Post War World Council, 1943.
"What we were fighting for". Salt Lake City: Japanese American Citizen's League. Date unknown.
Sproul, Robert Gordon. "The Test of A Free Country". Los Angeles: California Club, June 29, 1944.
"American Fighting Men Speak Out". Berkeley: Committee on American Principles and Fair Play, circa 1944.
"Town Meeting: Should All Japanese Continue to be Excluded from the West Coast for the Duration?" Bulletin of America's Town Meeting of the Air. Vol. 9, no. 11. Broadcast by Stations of the Blue Network, July 15, 1943.
"You Can Do something About It! 70,000 American Refugees". St. Louis: Citizens Committee for Resettlement. Date unknown.
"Text of American Legion Protest on Racial Discrimination". American Legion. Circa 1943.
Foote, Caleb. "The Third Evacuation?" Reprinted from Fellowship, June, 1945.
"Aliens in our Midst: A radio discussion by Ernest Colwell, Carey McWilliams, Louis Wirth". The University of Chicago: Round Table. May 10, 1942.
McWilliams, Carey. "What about our Japanese Americans?" NY: Public Affairs Committee. American Council, Institute of Pacific Relations, 1944.
The International Quarterly. NY: International House. Vol. 6, no. 4. Autumn 1942.
Provinse, John H. "Relocation of Japanese American College Students: Acceptance of a Challenge". Higher Education. Vol. 1, no. 8. April 16, 1945.
Pacific Pathfinder. Los Angeles. Vol. I, No I, June, 1944.
Foote, Caleb. "Outcasts! The Story of America's Treatment of Her Japanese American Minority". NY: Fellowship of Reconciliation. Date unknown.
Phinney, Milton C. "The Story of the Nittas: A Touching Human Document". Reprinted from NOW, through co-operation with the Congregational Committee on Christian Democracy from original manuscript supplied by the Reports Division of the War Relocation Authority, Los Angeles, July, 1945.
"The Japanese are Tough". By the Honorable Joseph C. Grew, Former United States Ambassador to Japan. A radio Address on August 30, 1942. Printed by the U.S. Government.
Fisher, Galen M. "Resettling the Evacuees". Far Eastern Survey. Vol. XIV no. 19, September 26, 1945.
Van Patten, Louise Merrick. "Japan: An American Problem". Far Eastern Survey. Vol. XIV No.9, May 9, 1945.
Bisson, T.A. "Japan Prepares for offensive". Far Eastern Survey. Vol. XIII No. 16, August 9, 1944.
Fisher, Galen M. "Japanese Evacuation from the Pacific Coast". Far Eastern Survey. Vol. XI No. 13, June 29, 1942.
"A Victorious New Year to You--America!" Manzanar Free Press. January 1, 1944.
"United we stand". Pasadena: Pacific Coast Committee on American Principles and Fair Play, 1943.
Shivers, Robert L. "Cooperation of Racial Groups in Hawaii During the War". Honolulu: Territorial Emergency Service Committees, 1946.
"American Refugees." Berkeley: Fellowship of Reconciliation. Date unknown.
"Emergency Service Committee". Honolulu: YMCA, Date unknown.
"Out of the Many - One: A plan for Intercultural Education". NY: Service Bureau for Intercultural Education. Date unknown.
Midpacifican. The Armed Forces Newspaper in the Pacific Ocean. Vol. III, no. 17. August 19, 1944.
"Evacuation! A selected Bibliography on the Japanese Evacuation". Berkeley: Fellowship of Reconciliation. January 22, 1943.
"Relocating a People". Printed by the U.S. Government. Date unknown.

Folder 8C

Folder 8C: Churches and religious organizations

Scope and Content

This folder contains a miscellany of 24 items in various formats published by church organizations, including Church Federation of Los Angeles, The First Methodist Church of Santa Maria, and others.

Folder 8D

Folder 8D: Churches and religious organizations II

Scope and Content

This folder contains 13 pamphlets published by church organizations, including Colorado Council of Churches, Council for Social Action of the Congregational Christian Churches, and others. The following is a partial list.

"A touchstone of Democracy: The Japanese in America". NY: Council for social action of the Congregational Christian Churches. 1943.
Douglass, Truman B. "70,000 American Refugees: Made in USA". St. Louis: Citizens Committee for Resettlement. Circa 1944.
"The Japanese in our Midst". Denver: Colorado Council of Churches, 1943.
"The Churches and the Japanese in America". NY: Commission on Aliens and Prisoners of War, March 30, 1942.
"How can Christians Help? Our Japanese-American Number". American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Envelope Series, Vol. XLV, no. 4. Oct, 1942.
Carlson, Kenneth A. "So I went to Manzanar". Sermon at Central Methodist Church in Glendale, CA, in May, 1944.
"The Japanese on the Pacific Coast: A factual Study of Events Dec. 7, 1941 - September 1, 1942 with Suggestions for the Future". Statement for the Los Angeles County Committee for Church and Community Cooperation. Prepared by the Executive Secretary, Dr. George Gleason. September, 1942.
"Planning Resettlement of Japanese Americans". NY: The Committee on Resettlement of Japanese Americans. July, 1943.
"Resettlement Handbook". NY: The Committee on Resettlement of Japanese Americans. December, 1942.
"The Concern of the Church for Christian and Democratic Treatment of Japanese Americans". NY: The Committee on Resettlement of Japanese Americans. April, 1944.
"Democracy Demands Fair Play for America's Japanese". NY: The American Baptist Home Mission Society. Circa 1944.

Boxes Box 6, 6B, Folder 7F

Series III: Assembly and relocation center publications

Scope and Content

In The Relocation Program: A Guidebook for the Residents of Relocation Centers, it is stated that "At all centers, the WRA encourages the evacuee residents to assume the fullest possible responsibility for publishing a newspaper that meets the community needs..." Indeed, residents of relocation centers produced numerous publications, describing and documenting their experience.

Box 6

Box 6: Relocation center publications I

Scope and Content

This box contains 20 publications from seven relocation centers (Gila River, Tule Lake, Poston, Rohwer, Jerome, Granada, and Manzanar) as well as the Santa Anita Assembly Center. They include high school yearbooks, newsletters, magazines, and others. Relocation center residents contributed personal essays, poems, editorials, and short stories. The following is a partial list of items.

Gila Rivers, Arizona, 1943 Calendar.
A Tule Lake Interlude: First Anniversary. May 27, 1942-1943.
The First Year: Story of the Red Cross in Poston. September 1, 1943.
The Service Division: Santa Anita Assembly Center. November, 1942.
'Lil Dan'l: One year in a Relocation Center. A Rohwer Outpost Publication. 1943.
Denson Magnet: Jerome Relocation Center. Vol. 1, no. 1. April, 1943.
Pulse. Granada Relocation Center. Circa 1943.
Amache. Granada Relocation Center. Circa 1943.
The Pen. Rohwer Relocation Center. November 6, 1943.
Graduation Exercises. Denson High School. Class of 1943.
Baseball: Tule Lake Center. Published by Newell Star Sports Department. December 31, 1944.
Manzanar Adult Education with Special Emphasis on Vocational Training: Spring Semester, 1943.
Tulean Dispatch Magazine. Vol. 1 no. 5. December, 1942.
Tulean Dispatch Magazine. Vol. 1, no. 7. February 1943.
Tulean Dispatch Magazine. Vol. 1, no. 11. July, 1943.
Second Year at Gila. Rivers, Arizona. July 20, 1944.
Santa Anita Pacemaker. 1942.
Condensor. Denison High School class of 1943.
A Newspaper without a Name. Santa Anita [Assembly Center]. Vol. I, No. A. April 18, 1942.

Box 6B

Box 6B: Relocation center publications II

Scope and Content

This box contains the following:

Year's Flight. Butte High School. Gila Rivers Relocation Center. 1943.
Year's Flight. Butte High School. Gila Rivers Relocation Center. 1944.
Year's Flight. Butte High School. Gila Rivers Relocation Center. 1945.
1944 Calendar. Compiled and drawn by Noborw Yamakoshi. Poston Chronicle.

Folder 7F

Folder 7F: Relocation centers

Scope and Content

This folder contains 7 items, including "By-laws of Gila River Cooperative Enterprises, Inc.", "Constitution" (Butte Community, Gila River Relocation Center), "Leadership Training: to the officers of the clubs and organizations and Nisei block leaders", a memorandum on the use of the terms "Japanese", "camps", and "internment", and a "Dear Friends" letter from a couple named Earl and Hazel describing their visit to the Poston camp.

Most documents measure 21 1/2 cm-by-28 cm, varying in length from 2 to 19 pages. Of note is an 83 cm-by-58 cm "Segregation" diagram illustrating the three possible outcomes for an evacuee: "Japan", "A Relocation Center", and "Relocation Into American Communities". Where an evacuee would end up is contingent upon, amongst other factors, his or her answer to the so-called loyalty question. The date and author or provenance of this diagram is unknown.

Box, Folders Box 4, Folders 3A, 5A-5E, 7C, 8A, Box, Folders Box 4, Folders 3A, 5A-5E, 7C, 8A

Series IV: War Relocation Authority and other U.S. government publications

Scope and Content

The War Relocation Authority (WRA) is a civilian agency created by Franklin Roosevelt on March 18, 1942 with the signing of Executive Order 9102. The agency is responsible for the relocation and internment of over 110,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. Milton Eisenhower served as WRA's Director for the first three months; after his resignation, Roosevelt appointed Dillon Myer to the post on June 17, 1942.

From beginning to end, about 3,000 people worked in the evacuation centers, regional offices, and the headquarters in Washington. The War Relocation Authority received appropriations of over $190 million, of which it spent $160 million. In February, 1944, Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9423 which transferred WRA to the Department of the Interior. The War Relocation Authority was officially terminated on June 30, 1946. In all, the agency was in charge of 10 relocation centers in 7 states.

Throughout its relatively brief existence, the War Relocation Authority authored studies, issued statements, and sponsored reprints of articles. Taken together, these publications aim to dispel misconceptions about Japanese Americans, raise public awareness of the bravery of Nisei soldiers, address issues concerning returnees to the West Coast, and state as well as explain the agency's policies in relocation centers.

Folder 3A

Folder 3A: Reprints of periodical articles

Scope and Content

The War Relocation Authority, in addition to authoring studies and surveys of conditions at relocation centers (see Box 4), appears to have also assembled, reprinted, and published articles from various journals, magazines, as well as newspapers. This folder contains the reprints of such articles.

In terms of newspaper reprints, this folder contains publications from every region of the country, including San Francisco Chronicle, Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Banner (Nashville, Tennessee), Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Salt Lake Tribune, Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York), and many more.

A group of newspaper reprints are devoted to the Hood River incident. In December 1942, the Hood River (Oregon) post of the American Legion removed the names of 16 Nisei soldiers from the post's roll of honor. The move sparked protests across the country; the resulting newspaper articles as well as editorials are part of this collection.

In all, this folder contains approximately 240 reprints of newspaper articles.

In terms of journal and magazine reprints, this folder contains 27 articles; the formats include pamphlets and newsletters, varying in lengths from 8 to 20 pages. The following is a list of the articles.

"Japanese Americans in Hawaii: The Story Behind the Nisei Combat Teams". Reprinted by special permission of Harper's Magazine. 1943.
Morimitsu, George. "These Are Our Parents". Reprinted by permission from the October, 1943, issue of Asia and the Americas.
"A voice that must be heard". Subtext: "Extracts from statements, regarding Americans of Japanese Ancestry, by: President Roosevelt, Hon. Henry L. Stimson, Hon. Joseph C. Grew, J. Edgar Hoover, Paul V. McNutt and others".
Malcolm, Roy. "Evacuation of the Japanese". Reprinted from The World Affairs Interpreter, January, 1943.
Malcolm, Roy. "The Japanese Problem in California". Reprinted from The World Affairs Interpreter, April, 1942.
Fisher, Galen M. "A Balance Sheet on Japanese Evacuation". Subtext: "Untruths about Japanese-Americans; Our two Japanese-American Policies; Are the Evacuees being Coddled?; What Race-Baiting Costs America". Reprinted from The Christian Century of August 18 and 25, and September 1 and 8, 1943.
"The Displaced Japanese-Americans". Published by the American Council on Public Affairs in Washington, D.C. The text of this pamphlet originally appeared in Fortune Magazine, April 1944, under the title of "Issei, Nisei, and Kibei".
"Issei, Nisei, Kibei". Subtext: "Fortune Magazine reviews the program of the War Relocation Authority and the problems Created by the Evacuation from the west coast of 110,000 people of Japanese descent". Fortune, 1944.
Myer, Dillon S. "Democracy in Relocation". Reprinted from Common Ground, Winter, 1943.
Davis, Maxine. "The Truth about Jap Camps". Reprinted from Liberty, August 7, 1943.
Wada, Yori. "Beyond the Horizon". Reprinted from California Monthly, December, 1943. (University of California Alumni Association.)
Yank: The Army Weekly. August 25, 1944. Vol. 3, no. 10.
Casey, Gene. "G.I. Japyank". Reprinted from Collier's from the issue of August 5, 1944.
"Ku-Kluxism on the West Coast". Colliers, July 14, 1945.
"Nisei Soldiers". Collier's, March 20, 1943.
O'Brien, Eileen. "Making Democracy Work: Hawaii's Handling of its Japanese Problem Sets and Example for the Entire World". Reprinted with permission of the Editors of Paradise of The Pacific. Article appeared in the Holiday issue.
Douglas, Henry H. "American Finances Japan's 'New Order'". Reprinted from Amerasia, July 1940.
McWilliams, Carey. "Japanese Evacuation: Policy and Perspectives". Reprinted from Common Ground, Summer 1942.
McEvoy, J.P. "Our 110,000 New Boarders." Condensed for Readers Digest from The Baltimore Sunday. The Readers Digest, March 1943,Vol. 43, no. 251.
Clark, Blake and Oland D. Russell. "Hail Our Japanese-American GIs!" Condensed for Readers Digest from The American Mercury. The Readers Digest, July 1945.
Clark, Blake. "The Japanese in Hawaii". Reprinted from The New Republic, September 14, 1942.
Rowell, Chester. "Much Hysteria About Japanese-Americans". Reprinted from San Francisco Chronicle. Date unknown.
Hall, Anton L. "Letter to the editor re: Japanese Americans". Reprint from Santa Ana Register, May 17, 1943.
Rundquist, George E. "Unfinished Business". New York: Committee on Resettlement of Japanese Americans. Reprinted from Christian World Facts. Date unknown.
Foote, Caleb. "Have We Forgotten Justice?" Reprinted from Fellowship, May 1942.
Fisher, Galen M. "Japanese Colony: Success Story". Reprinted from Survey Graphic, February 1943.
Anderson, Margaret M. "Get the Evacuees Out!" Reprinted from Common Ground, Summer 1943.

Box 4

Box 4: War Relocation Authority, Community Analysis Section, Project Analysis Series

Scope and Content

Largely as a result of protests at the Poston and Manzanar centers in late 1942, Director Dillon Myer appointed "community analysts" to study and compile data on the social structure of relocation centers. These analysts were for the most part social anthropologists who had no direct responsibilities for the administrative aspects of relocation centers. The War Relocation Authority hoped that their studies would point to the "most important trends of evacuee thinking" and "probable evacuee reactions to proposed policies" ( WRA: a story of human conservation, p. 187), thereby assisting the agency in formulating policies.

The resulting documents --- Community Analysis Report, Project Analysis Series, and Community Analysis Notes --- would "provide a wealth of highly valuable material for social scientists and others interested in studying the social patterns of a displaced minority in government-operated camps." ( WRA: a story of human conservation, p. 187)

This box contains 45 documents prepared by the Community Analysis Section of the War Relocation Authority, including 17 Community Analysis Report, 19 Project Analysis Series, 8 Community Analysis Notes, and 1 unidentified report. All documents are photocopies. They vary in length from 2 to 81 pages. The dates of documents range from 1943 to 1946, with the bulk being 1943 and 1944.

The following is a list of the documents. "CAR" denotes Community Analysis Report. "PAS" denotes Project Analysis Series. "CAN" denotes Community Analysis Notes.

CAR No. 2. Embree, John F. "Causes of Unrest at Relocation Centers". Date Unknown.
CAR No. 3. "Japanese Groups and Associations in the United States". March, 1943.
CAR No. 4. "Notes on Japanese Holidays". April 2, 1943.
CAR No. 5. "Evacuee Resistances to Relocation". June 1943.
CAR No. 6. "Nisei Assimilation." July 21, 1943.
CAR No. 7. "An Analysis of the Segregation Program". October 16, 1943.
CAR No. 9. "Buddhism in the United States". May 15, 1944.
CAR No. 10. "Labor Relations in Relocation Centers". October 28, 1944.
CAR No. 11. "Exploratory Survey of California Attitudes Toward the Return of the Japanese". April 4, 1945.
CAR No. 12. "Effect of the Housing Shortage on Central Valley, California: Attitudes Toward the Return of the Evacuees". May 14, 1945.
CAR No. 13. "Prejudice in Hood River Valley: A Case Study in Race Relations." June 6, 1945.
CAR No. 14. "Annotated Bibliography of the Community Analysis Section. Part I: Community Analysis Trend Reports From the Relocation Centers." November 19, 1945.
CAR No. 15. "Annotated Bibliography of the Community Analysis Section. Part II: Community Analysis Mimeographed Series." February 28, 1946.
CAR NO. 16. "Annotated Bibliography of the Community Analysis Section. Part III: Community Analysis Reports from the Central Utah, Jerome, Rohwer, Gila River, and Heart Mountain Relocation Centers." February 7, 1946.
CAR No. 17. "Annotated Bibliography of the Community Analysis Section. Part IV: Community Analysis Reports from Granada, Minidoka, and Manzanar Relocation Centers. April 23, 1946.
CAR No. 18. "Annotated Bibliography of the Community Analysis Section. Part V: Community Analysis Reports from Colorado River and Tule Lake Centers." Date Unknown.
CAR No. 19. "Annotated Bibliography of the Community Analysis Section. Part VI: Washington Community Analysis Section Reports." June 30, 1946.
PAS No. 1. Embree, John F. "Registration at Central Utah: 14-17, February, 1943". February 1943.
PAS No. 3. "Registration at Manzanar". April 3, 1943.
PAS No. 5. "Preliminary Evaluation of the Resettlement Program at Jerome Relocation Center". May, 1943.
PAS No. 6. "Report on an Unorganized Relocation Center". June, 1943.
PAS No. 7. "Notes on Some Religious Cults at Topaz". June 15, 1943.
PAS No. 8. "Factors Influencing Low Enrollment in Certain Adult Education Courses". July, 1943.
PAS No. 9. "Preliminary Survey of Resistances to Resettlement at the Tule Lake Relocation Center". June 23, 1943.
PAS No. 10. "English Words in Current Use at Minidoka Center That Have Been Given a 'Japanized-English' Pronunciation or Have Been Translated Into a Japanese Equivalent". July 1943.
PAS No. 11. "Notes on Evacuee Family Patterns". November 24, 1943.
PAS No. 12. "Studies of Segregants at Manzanar". February 3, 1944.
PAS No. 13. "A Preliminary Survey of the Boilermen's Dispute at Minidoka". March 3, 1944.
PAS no. 15. "The Reaction of Heart Mountain to the Opening of Selective Service to Nisei". April 1, 1944.
PAS No. 16. "The Significant Factors in Requests for Repatriation and Expatriation". April 19, 1944.
PAS No. 17. "Relocation at Rohwer Center. Part I: The Relocated Population". July 24, 1944.
PAS No. 18. "Relocation at Rohwer Center. Part II: Issei Relocation Problems". September 2, 1944.
PAS No. 19. "Community government in the Relocation Centers. Part I: One Year of Community Government at the Gila River Relocation Center". November 6, 1944.
PAS No. 20. Lantis, Margaret. "Relocation at Rohwer Center. Part III: Background for the Resettlement of Rohwer Farmers". February 7, 1945.
PAS No. 23. Brown, G. Gordon. "Final Report on the Gila River Relocation Center as of May 20, 1945". September 24, 1945.
PAS No. 24. McFarling, Ralph. "Stresses and Strains of Center Life". February 20, 1946.
CAN No. 1. "From a Nisei Who said 'No.'". January 15, 1944.
CAN No. 2. "Engagement and Marriage Customs in a Relocation Center". February 29, 1944.
CAN No. 3. "Traditional Japanese Therapeutics Practiced at Minidoka". April 7, 1944.
CAN No. 5. "A Nisei Requests Expatriation". November 10, 1944.
CAN No. 6. "Biography of a Nisei Celery Farmer from Venice, California". December 11, 1944.
CAN No. 7. "Nisei Report on their Adjustment to Tule Lake". December 20, 1944.
CAN No. 14. "West Coast Localities: San Joaquin County". April 16, 1945.
CAN No. 15. "A Lexicon of Center Terms". July 18, 1945.
Unidentifiable report about labor relations in the relocation centers.

Folder 5A

Folder 5A: War Relocation Authority

Scope and Content

This folder contains 35 documents prepared, assembled, reprinted, and/or released by the War Relocation Authority. They vary in length from 1 to 10 pages; most are mimeographs. The dates of most documents are unknown.

It includes several reprints from periodicals which have previously published accounts of Nisei soldiers. An excerpt of a story from the C.B.I. Roundup (Army newspaper of the China-Burma-India theater) is in this folder, quoting soldiers on their ordeals in battles. Another reprint is from an editorial in the New York Herald Tribune, asking, "What more conclusive test of patriotism is there?" Also in this folder is the text of "Presidential Citation to 100th Infantry Battalion", a unit comprised entirely of Japanese Americans who fought in Italy.

Also included is a copy of the statement issued by Major General H. C. Pratt on December 17, 1944, announcing the lift of blanket exclusion order for Japanese Americans on the West Coast. In response on December 18, Secretary of Interior Harold Ickes issued a statement outlining War Relocation Authority's roles to help the massive resettlement efforts. Ickes' statement is also in the folder.

After the last of the relocation centers closed at the end of 1945, the War Relocation Authority shifted its focus to the preparation of a series of special reports dealing with the various phases and functions of the agency. In all, 10 such reports were published. This folder has two: "Prospectus of Published Final Reports" and "Additional Information on WRA Final Reports".

Folder 5B

Folder 5B: War Relocation Authority II

Scope and Content

This folder contains 34 items prepared, assembled, reprinted, and/or released by the War Relocation Authority. They vary in length from 1 to 21 pages; most are mimeographs. The dates of most documents are unknown.

Materials in this folder are very similar in nature to those in folder 5A: statements, press releases, and reprints. Subject matters covered include Nisei soldiers and policy statements.

In addition, this folder contains the mimeograph of a 4-page War Relocation Authority form titled "Request for Transportation of Property". This is an example of an official War Relocation Authority form in the collection.

A mimeographed copy of Executive Order 9102, which establishes the War Relocation Authority, is also in this folder.

Folder 5C

Folder 5C: War Relocation Authority pamphlets

Scope and Content

This folder contains 15 items, mostly pamphlets published by the War Relocation Authority. They vary in lengths from a postcard to a 57-page document. Many are in fragile condition. The following is a list of the documents.

"Questions and Answers for Evacuees". Circa 1942.
"Pertinent Facts About Relocation Centers and Japanese-Americans". Date unknown.
"What We're Fighting For: Statements by United States Servicemen about Americans of Japanese Descent". Circa 1944.
"Relocation of Japanese Americans". May 1943.
"The Relocation Program: A guidebook for the Residents of Relocation Centers". May, 1943.
"Relocating Japanese Americans". May, 1945.
"Relocation Communities for Wartime Evacuees". September, 1942.
"Challenge to Democracy." (An advertisement for a film produced by the WRA on the subject of the Japanese Relocation, circa 1943.)
"Nisei in Uniform". Circa 1944.
"Nisei in the War against Japan". April 1945.
"Myths and Facts about the Japanese Americans: Answering Common Misconceptions Regarding Americans of Japanese Ancestry". April 1945.
Postcard. "I desire to serve as a member of the Eagle Rock Chapter [of Friends of the American Way] and pledge the sum of".
"Pertinent facts about relocation centers and Americans of Japanese ancestry".
"Issei, Nisei, Kibei: Fortune Magazine reviews the program of the WRA and the problems created by ...."
Ringle, K. D. "The Japanese Question in the United States: A Compilation of Memoranda". Date unknown.

Folder 5D

Folder 5D: House Un-American Activities Committee

Scope and Content

In May of 1943, the House Committee on Un-American Activities (popularly known as the Dies Committee) appointed a three-member sub-committee to conduct a special investigation of the War Relocation Authority and its programs at the relocation centers. The Sub-Committee held hearings in Los Angeles and visited relocation centers; and subsequently the Committee heard testimonies of top officials of the War Relocation Authority in Washington D.C.

Throughout the investigation, the War Relocation Authority believed that a large volume of false and misleading statements about the agency were regularly making rounds at the nation's press. In order to counter these charges, the agency prepared a series of informational materials for use at the Washington hearings.

This folder contains 18 items from the series and the Dies Committee reports, varying in length from 1 to 24 pages. All items are in fragile condition.

Folder 5E

Folder 5E: Dillon S. Meyer

Scope and Content

Dillon S. Myer succeeded his friend Milton Eisenhower as the Director of the War Relocation Authority on June 17, 1942. He would serve as the Director until the agency's termination in June, 1946. The items in this folder are records of some of the speeches and statements made by Myer throughout his tenure. It contains 16 mimeographed items, varying in length from 1 to 13 pages. All items are in fragile condition.

Folder 7C

Folder 7C: Miscellaneous letters, addresses, etc.

Scope and Content

Contents in this folder can be divided into two major categories: statements and letters made or written by government officials (mostly from the Department of War), and letters and statements from individuals. A few documents are authored by non-government organizations.

The government statements deal mostly with issues related to the creation of Japanese American combat teams, internees' return to the West Coast, and the question of loyalty. Individual statements are concerned with more personal matters, such as an internee's first impression of an assembly center and a Nisei soldier's letter to his father.

This folder contains 45 items, varying in length from 1 to 16 pages and most of them mimeographed. Some are in fragile condition and are hard to read.

Folder 8A

Folder 8A: Government publications

Scope and Content

This folder contains a miscellany of 21 government publications from the Western Defense Command, the Senate of the State of California, the United States Senate, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and others.

An item of note is a 51cm-by-71cm poster issued by the War Information Office. With the image of an eagle on top, the poster features the text of a statement made by President Roosevelt on February 3, 1943. It includes this famous line, "Americanism is not, and never was, a matter of race or ancestry."

Collection Contents