Collection Guide
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Flaherty (John M.) Collection of Japanese Internment Records
MSS.2006.05.02
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
SJSU Special Collections & Archives
Title: John M. Flaherty Collection of Japanese Internment Records
source:
Flaherty, John Melvin, Jr.
Identifier/Call Number: MSS.2006.05.02
Physical Description:
6 boxes
(9 linear feet)
Date (bulk): 1921-1966 (bulk 1942)
Abstract: This collection consists of documents and photographs relating to the establishment and administrative workings of the Western
Defense Command (WDC), the War Relocation Authority (WRA) and the Wartime Civilian Control Administration (WCCA) for the year
1942. It includes administrative policies, orders, manuals, correspondence, statistics, posters, photographs and newspaper
clippings. Though the materials collected cover 1921-1966, the bulk of this collection documents the activities of 1942.
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to the San José State University Library Special Collections & Archives. All requests for
permission to publish or quote manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Special Collections. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of the Special Collections & Archives as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader. Copyright restrictions
also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files from or derived from these collections
is restricted to research and educational purposes.
John M. Flaherty Collection of Japanese Internment Records, MSS-2006-05-02, San José State University Library, Special Collections
& Archives.
Processing and guide prepared by Russell Rader, reviewed by Danelle Moon. Guide encoded by Russell Rader, 2006
Biography / Administrative 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.
Though the initial exclusion plan put forth by General Dewitt included both German and Italian citizens, the Japanese Americans
bore the brunt of Executive Order 9066.
Willard E. Schmidt Papers, MSS-2007-08-01, San José State University Library Special Collections and Archives.
Scope and Content of Collection
This artificial collection consists of documents and photographs relating to the establishment and administrative workings
of the Western Defense Command (WDC), the War Relocation Authority (WRA) and the Wartime Civilian Control Administration (WCCA)
for the year 1942. It includes administrative policies, orders, manuals, correspondence, statistics, posters, photographs
and newspaper clippings. The bulk of this collection documents the activities of 1942 but materials in series IV cover other
time periods.
This collection is organized into five series: Series I. War Relocation Authority; Series II. Wartime Civilian Control Administration;
Series III. Western Defense Command; Series IV. Printed Matter; and Series V. Japanese Internment Photograph Album.
Within each series, folders have been given titles that often use abbreviations in place of full organizational names.
- ATD: Alaska Travel Division
- CAD: Civil Affairs Division
- EOD: Evacuation Operations Division
- OCG: Office of the Commanding General
- SSB: Special Services Branch
- WCCA: Wartime Civilian Control Administration
- WDC: Western Defense Command
- WRA: War Relocation Authority
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War, 1939-1945 -- California
Japanese Americans -- Evacuation and relocation -- 1942-1945
World War, 1939-1945 -- Evacuation of civilians
United States -- Army -- Western Defense Command
United States -- Wartime Civil Control Administration
United States -- War Relocation Authority
Fullerton, Colonel Hugh T.
Flaherty, John Melvin, Jr.