Simpson (William B.) World War II Pacific Theater collection, 1935-1994

Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Title:
Wiliam B. Simpson World War II Pacific Theater collection
Dates:
1935-1994
Creators:
Simpson, William Brand
Abstract:
Emeritus Professor of Economics (Claremont Graduate School, Ph. D., 1971), William Brand Simpson served as Special Agent in the Counter Intelligence Corps, U.S. Army during World War II, mainly in the Philippines and Japan. The manuscript and published materials contained within this collection were collected and assembled by Simpson and consist of newspapers, periodicals, correspondence, maps, military documents, including declassified items, and a variety of publications - government, military and other - relating to the Pacific Theater during Word War II, specifically the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, the establishment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and the American return to the Philippines, and the American occupation of Japan and Korea. Post-war materials document the treatment of Chinese forced labor in Japan, the Japanese war crime trials, and the post-war economies of the Philippine Islands, Japan and Korea.
Extent:
4.0 boxes
Language:
Languages represented in the collection: Chiefly in English ; some in Japanese , Chinese , Tagalog , and Spanish .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], William B. Simpson World War II Pacific Theater collection. Special Collections, Honnold Mudd Library, Claremont University Consortium.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection contains newspapers, periodicals, correspondence, maps, military documents, including declassified items, and a variety of publications - government, military and other - relating to the Pacific Theater during World War II, specifically the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, the establishment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and the American return to the Philippines, the American occupation of Japan and Korea, the Japanese war crime trials and the post-war economies of the Philippine Islands, Japan and Korea. Of particular note is Simpson's 161-page documentation of the investigation into the atrocities at Chusan Camp, Hanaoka, Akita-Ken.

Biographical / historical:

Emeritus Professor of Economics (Claremont Graduate School, Ph. D., 1971), William Brand Simpson served as Special Agent in the Counter Intelligence Corps, U.S. Army during World War II, mainly in the Philippines and Japan. He was called back to Japan in 1947 to assist the Legal Section of SCAP (Supreme Commander of Allied Powers) in Tokyo in the Japanese war crime trials. Simpson advised Japan Public Television (NHK) in 1993 on a documentary of the treatment of Chinese forced labor in Japan during World War II. In 1994 he assisted a group in Japan seeking reparations for Chinese survivors of Japanese prison camps. Simpson died in January 1995.

The manuscript and published materials contained within this collection were collected and assembled by Simpson, who gifted the collection to Pomona College in 1992.

Acquisition information:
Gift of William B. Simpson, 1992.
Processing information:

Arranged and processed by Special Collections staff. Simpson's original order has been retained where possible; exceptions have been made, however. Items removed from his original order were done so based on size or fragility.

Arrangement:

Series 1: Japanese occupation of the Philippines

Series 2: Commonwealth of the Philippines and American return to Philippines

Series 3: Publications by U.S. military for civilian population

Series 4: Manila civilian newspapers

Series 5: American occupation of Japan and Korea

Series 6: Post-war, regarding war crimes

Series 7: Miscellaneous documents relating to the Philippine economy

Series 8: Miscellaneous documents relating to the Japanese economy

Series 9: Miscellaneous documents relating to Korea

Series 10: Atlas and maps

Accruals:

No additions to the collection are anticipated.

Physical location:
Please consult repository.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Finding created by Russell Michalak, 2008; Modified by Lisa L. Crane, 2012
Date Prepared:
© 2012
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2012-05-08T14:35-0700

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to Special Collections.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], William B. Simpson World War II Pacific Theater collection. Special Collections, Honnold Mudd Library, Claremont University Consortium.

Location of this collection:
800 N. Dartmouth Ave.
Claremont, CA 91711, US
Contact:
(909) 607‑3977
specialcollections@claremont.edu
Website