Inventory of the J. Ralph McFarling Collection SPC.2011.005

Finding aid prepared by Michele McKinnon Fricke

California State University Dominguez Hills, Gerth Archives and Special Collections

University Library South -5039 (Fifth Floor)

1000 E. Victoria St.

Carson, CA 90747

archives@csudh.edu

URL: https://www.csudh.edu/libarchives/

Contributing Institution: California State University Dominguez Hills, Gerth Archives and Special Collections

Title: McFarling (J. Ralph) Collection

Creator: McFarling, Joseph Ralph

Identifier/Call Number: SPC.2011.005

Physical Description: 1 box

Physical Description: .5 Linear Feet

Date (inclusive): 1943-2007

Date (bulk): 1943-1946

Abstract: This collection contains materials generated by J. Ralph McFarling, a Community Analyst for the War Relocation Authority, documenting the Amache Incarceration Camp in Granada, Colorado where Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II. Some of this collection has been digitized and is available online.

Language of Material: English .

Access

There are no access restrictions on this collection.

Publication Rights

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts 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.

Preferred Citation

For information about citing archival material, see the Citations for Archival Material guide, or consult the appropriate style manual.

Acquisition Information

The materials were donated by Eileen Neill to the California State University Archives at California State University, Dominguez Hills in 2011.

Processing Information

Collection processed by Gregory Williams and Michele McKinnon Fricke, 2011.

History

Joseph Ralph McFarling was a Community Analyst for the War Relocation Authority at Granada (Amache) incarceration camp in Amache, Colorado during the war. He was born in Rock Port, Missouri on May 11, 1901 attending the Univeristy of Missouri, Methodist College in Cameron, the University of Chicago, Moody Bible Institute and University of Denver. He was the deputy Postmaster in Rock Port. Later, he worked at the boy's reformatory in Jefferson City and a welfare worker for Atchison County. After the war, he was transferred to Seattle, Washington to help establish communities for relocated Japanese Americans. He died in Seattle on October 9, 1977. While at Granada incarceration camp, he reported to John H. Provinse and Edward Spicer, two noted anthropologists.

Scope and Content

This collection contains materials generated by J. Ralph McFarling documenting the Granada (Amache) incarceration camp in Amache, Colorado where Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II. It contains a ten page typescript memoir entitled The Day the Ban was Lifted by McFarling describing conditions in the camp, weekly reports written by McFarling to the War Relocation Administration, namely his supervisors John H. Provinse and Ned (Edward H.) Spicer (1944-1945), memos and other data relating to camp management, letters from former prisoners who discuss their resettlement throughout the United States, a "resettlement" handbook and guides to the Amache camp published at the camp. There is also a Smithsonian pamphlet entitled The Japanese published in 1943, a pamphlet entitled The Displaced Japanese-Americans published by the American Council on Public Affairs and a pamphlet entitled Japan by the editors of Fortune Magazine, 1944. Other materials include four camp photographs and three watercolor paintings of concentration camp barracks and their desert surroundings by Hajime Takata.

Arrangement

Materials are arranged in chronological order.

Related Materials

This collection is part of the California State University Japanese American Digitization Project. For related materials please consult: CSU Japanese American Digitization Project.

Availability of Digitized Materials

Some of the collection has been digitized and is available at the CSU Japanese American Project site: J. Ralph Mcfarling Collection.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Japanese Americans

Japanese Americans -- Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945

Amache (Colo.)

McFarling, Joseph Ralph

Provinse, John Henry , 1897-1965

Spicer, Edward H., 1906-1983

United States. War Relocation Authority

Granada (Amache) Incarceration Camp

box 1, folder 1

Book: The Japanese by John F. Embree [Smithsonian] January 23, 1943