Collection Summary
Information for Researchers
Administrative Information
Scope and Content
Collection Summary
Collection Title: War Relocation Authority Photographs of Japanese-American Evacuation and Resettlement
Date (inclusive): circa 1941-1947
Collection Number: BANC PIC 1967.014--PIC
Photographer:
War Relocation Authority Staff
Extent:
88 volumes and 8 boxes (ca. 7000 photographic prints) : black and white; various sizes
317 Kodachrome slides : black and white and color
57 negatives : film, black and white
7040 digital objects
Repository:
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
Abstract: Photographs document the evacuation of Japanese Americans and their life in various Relocation Camps across the United States.
Post-war resettlement activities are also recorded.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in
English
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information
on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection stored, in part, off-site. Advance notice required for use. Restricted negatives. Use of negatives only by permission
of the Curator of Pictorial Collections, The Bancroft Library.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction
of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research
and educational purposes.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], War Relocation Authority Photographs of Japanese-American Evacuation and Resettlement, 1942-1945,
BANC PIC 1967.014--PIC, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Related Collections
Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Records, BANC MSS 67/14 c
Records of the War Relocation Authority, 1942-1946: Field Basic Documentation Located at the National Archives...[microform],
BANC FILM 1932
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945--Photographs
Japanese--United States--History--20th century--Photographs
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The Japanese-American Evacuation and Resettlement Photographs were originally part of the War Relocation Authority (WRA) portion
of the Japanese-American Evacuation and Resettlement Papers. The WRA designated the University of California, Berkeley Library
as the prime depository for WRA record materials outside the National Archives on September 7, 1945. The photographs were
transferred with the papers to The Bancroft Library July 3, 1963.
Processing Information
Processing completed by project staff of the Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Project. Finding aid completed
by project staff of the California Heritage Digital Image Access Project.
This project was funded, in part, by a grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Japanese American
Confinement Sites Grant Program. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are
those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Organizational Note
WRAs original organization has been maintained for Series 1-17. Within the container listing,
Volume refers to the physical location where the Library has stored each photograph. Use this number when requesting an original
or group of original photographs. Volumes "AX1" and "AX2" refer to oversize enlargements (see above) and should be requested
as "BANC PIC 1967.014--AX box 1" (or box 2).
Section refers to the WRA drawer number where the photographs were originally stored. Letters A-J (except I) were used and correspond
to Series 1-17 as follows:
Section A: Series 1-4
Section B: Series 5-7
Section C: Series 8-9
Section D: Series 10-11
Section E: Series 12
Section F: Series 13
Section G: Series 14
Section H: Series 15
Section J: Series 16-17
WRA no. refers to WRA's original alpha-numeric numbering system. This alpha-numeric combination is written on the front of the photographs
and used to arrange them within the volumes.
Series 18 (Slides) was not numbered by WRA and therefore has only volume and item numbers within each of four sub-series.
Scope and Content
The War Relocation Authority (WRA) records represent the official documentation of the United States agency created to assume
jurisdiction over the Japanese and Japanese Americans evacuated from California, Oregon, and Washington by the Western Defense
Command, the Fourth Army, and the Wartime Civilian Control Administration (WCCA) during January/February of 1942. During its
existence from March 1942 to 1946, the WRA controlled the administration of the relocation centers, administered an extensive
resettlement program, and oversaw the details of the registration and segregation programs. Included in their records are
administrative files, official publications, reports and surveys, legal papers, correspondence, and photographs and scrapbooks.
All of the records except the photographs have been cataloged as BANC MSS 67/14 c.
It is important to note that the photograph collection, as the official documentation of the WRA, reflects the point of view
that the WRA wanted to present to the citizens of the United States during World War II. A number of photographs exist in
5 x 7 format and as enlargements that one assumes were made for public exhibition. The photographs, presumably created for
public exhibition, and the captions accompanying them written by WRA staff, present an idealistic view of the relocation centers
which clashes greatly with the harsh realities detailed by many survivors and historians in the decades following the internment.
The collection contains approximately 7000 photographs and 317 Kodachrome slides which have been arranged into 18 series (described
below). Series 1-6 and 8-11 document day-to-day life and activities in $individual relocation centers in California, Arizona,
Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Arkansas as captured by WRA photographers. The remaining series cover pre-evacuation activities
in California only; relocation of evacuees in various states; assembly centers in California; and resettlement activities,
primarily in California cities. Most of the photographs are well captioned with information on the photographer, place, date,
people, and activities featured in the photographs. Series 18 consists of Kodachrome slides for the WRA lecture "The Wrong
Ancestors", and slides of the Granada and Central Utah relocation centers.
Among the WRA photographers is Dorothea Lange. There are 691 photographs by Lange in the collection, 209 of the Manzanar Relocation
Center (Series 8), and 482 of pre-evacuation activities in California cities (Series 14). Other WRA photographers include
Francis Stewart, Hikaru Iwasaki, Joe McClelland, Tom Parker, Charles E. Mace, Gretchen Van Tassel, and others.
The bulk of the photographs are 5 x 7 inch black and white prints that are housed in 88 volumes. One additional box contains
oversize enlargements. In the container listing these enlargements are referred to as being in volume "AX1". Seven additional
boxes (stored off-site) contain oversize enlargements duplicating photographs in the volumes.
There is currently no concordance for these oversize duplicates.