Mass removal ("evacuation")

On March 2, 1942, Public Proclamation No. 1 began to appear on telephone poles and buildings. This was the first official notice Japanese Americans had of their immediate removal from the West Coast. The notices stated that they had six or seven days to prepare, and were to take only what they could carry. They were not told where they would be taken. People rushed to sell or store, in one week, property and belongings acquired over a lifetime. Some families tucked their valuables away in their attic or basement and locked the door, hoping to return soon. On the appointed "evacuation" day, thousands of Japanese Americans gathered at designated locations, with the numbered identification tags they had been issued tied to their coats. Watched by curious onlookers, they were met by armed soldiers and transported in buses, private cars, and trains to sixteen temporary "assembly centers" in California, Washington, Oregon and Arizona.

World War II (231)
Mass removal ("evacuation") (668)

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668 items

doc Pacific Citizen, Vol. 95, No. 4 (July 23, 1982) (ddr-pc-54-29)

Selected article titles: "U.S. Appellate Court Rules INS Raids Violate Constitutional Rights" (pp. 1, 3), "Kokekokko: 'Japanese Camps'" (p. 6), "Inouye's 6 Steps to Reduce Tensions for War" (p. 8), and "Chief Justice Warren and the Japanese Detention Cases" (pp. 8, 12).

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-pc-54-29/

doc Pacific Citizen, Vol. 95, No. 10 (September 3, 1982) (ddr-pc-54-35)

Selected article titles: "Revised WW2 History Becomes Japanese Foreign Policy Issue" (pp. 1, 8), "Lobbying Effort Sought to Keep 5th Preference in Immigrant Law" (pp. 1, 8), "After 40 Yrs., Fresno Bee Takes New Stand on WW2 Evacuation" (p. 2), and "From Happy Valley: In Praise of Issei Women" (p. 4).

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-pc-54-35/

doc Pacific Citizen, Vol. 95, No. 18 (October 29, 1982) (ddr-pc-54-43)

Selected article titles: "Coroner Noguchi's Case Due Final Oral Arguments" (p. 1), "Portuguese-Japanese Festa-Matsuri Slated Nov. 19-20" (p. 3), and "Warren and the Newspapers" (p. 5).

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-pc-54-43/

doc Pacific Citizen, Vol. 95, No. 21 (November 19, 1982) (ddr-pc-54-46)

Selected article titles: "Census Director Denies Stats Were Used to Intern Nikkei" (pp. 1, 5), "Payment for Fired Nikkei L.A. County Workers Passes" (p. 1), "Another 'Relocation'" (pp. 4-5), and "From the Frying Pan: Memorializing the Heart Mountain Camp" (p. 5).

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-pc-54-46/

doc Pacific Citizen, Vol. 88, No. 2046 (June 8, 1979) (ddr-pc-51-22)

Select article titles: "Ruled as 'Adequate Rep' in Class Action Suit vs. WSU" (pp. 1, 5), "Plaque Dedicated at Tule Lake Campsite" (p. 1), "JACL Suports Boycott of Squibb to Fight 'Opium'" (pp. 1, 7), and "Echoes from Shiroyama: Kashiwabara: Was the Evacuation Good or Bad?" (p. 5).

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-pc-51-22/

doc Letter from An American Mother to Rev. Wendell L. Miller, May 2, 1942 (ddr-csujad-20-1)

Vociferous indictment of the Ladies aid of the Methodist Church for holding a luncheon picnic for "Japanese leaving Santa Anita," and similar efforts, stating that such overtures to "entertain enemies of their native land" are "traitor[ous]" and "disgrace the good sense of American woman hood." See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-20-1/

doc Letter from George Yoshioka to Rev. [Wendell L.] Miller, [September 11, 1942] (ddr-csujad-20-6)

Personal letter written from Santa Anita Assembly Center. Yoshioka discusses the start of "movement to Relocation Centers," naming Parker Dam; Wyoming; Granada, Colorado; Arkansas; and Gila, Arizona, along with locations from which people are being removed, including San Diego, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Long Beach, and other Southern California locations. He also mentions that his family has …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-20-6/

doc Giri: kodomo no tame ni = For the sake of the children (ddr-csujad-23-1)

Interview transcripts from oral histories with Sonoma County Japanese American families. Conducted by Sonoma County JACL Oral History Project. The book was published in 2003. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: lp041-01-012

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-23-1/

img Japanese newspaper clipping (ddr-csujad-38-18)

A Japanese newspaper clipping about the outbreak of World War II. It reports that Japanese prime minister, Koiso, declared the war and encouraged the people to fight against Allies of World War II. The caption reads: I still do not know why General Tojo started the war on the U.S., attacking the Pearl Harbor. President Roosevelt' …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-38-18/

Letter from B.Y. Read, Colonel, AGD, Adjutant General, Office of the Commanding General, Headquarters Western Defense Command, to George Naohara, September 4, 1945 (ddr-csujad-38-568)

doc Letter from B.Y. Read, Colonel, AGD, Adjutant General, Office of the Commanding General, Headquarters Western Defense Command, to George Naohara, September 4, 1945 (ddr-csujad-38-568)

A letter from Office of the Commanding General, Headquarters Western Defense Command, to George Nobuo Naohara incarcerated at the Tule Lake camp, California. It notifies him of Public Proclamation no. 24 and the rescission of exclusion. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: nao_05_13_021

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-38-568/

doc Card from Margaret Elizabeth Toy to Mitzi Naohara, March 1942 (ddr-csujad-38-405)

A birthday card from Margaret Elizabeth Toy to Mitzi Masukawa Naohara for her 19th birthday on March 16. The caption reads: On my 19th birthday from Margaret just before evacuating from Long Beach, together with a necklace, 1942. An item from: Mitzi Naohara scrapbook (csudh_nao_0400), page 32. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-38-405/

doc Personality cards (ddr-csujad-26-43)

Journal entries written by high school students discussing their observations and perspectives on a variety of topics including family interactions, memories, homesickness, friendships, social interactions, school, self-reflection, juvenile delinquency, peer behaviors, death, religion, opinions, and worldviews. Each entry includes the full date and student name. The entries were part of a class assignment and collected for …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-26-43/

doc Victim of the Japanese Evacuation and Resettlement Study (JERS) (ddr-csujad-26-31)

An affidavit written to invalidate purported distortions and false accusations made against the author in two books published using research material collected by Rosalie Hankey Wax during de Cristoforo's incarceration at Tule Lake. The books are "Doing Fieldwork: Warnings and Advice" by Rosalie H. Wax and "The Spoilage" by Dorothy Swaine Thomas and Richard S. Nishimoto …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-26-31/

doc Tule Lake monograph (ddr-csujad-26-1)

Unpublished manuscript includes a collection of diary entries, letters, and essays written by school students incarcerated at the Tule Lake camp and collected through the Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Study (JERS). The writings include first-person descriptions of travel to the Tule Lake camp, adapting to camp, limitations of camp, day-to-day camp life, family life, community …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-26-1/

doc American refugees (ddr-csujad-48-47)

American refugees, June 1942. Appeal opposing the Japanese American mass removal from the U.S. west coast. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_wells_0047

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-48-47/

doc Memory of evacuation (ddr-csujad-48-20)

Assignment by Henry Haruda for period VIII World Geography and History class taught by Mr. Harry Bentley Wells, a teacher at Manzanar High School. Henry recounts needing to leave his dog Scrappy behind when his family left Los Angeles. He tells a story of Scrappy stealing bacon from the grocery store and getting into the neighbor's …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-48-20/

doc Chronology of evacuation and relocation (ddr-csujad-48-109)

Title: "A Chronology of Evacuation and Relocation." This document describes in detail the chronology of "evacuation and relocation" after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Report No. 6-1879-BU-COS-WP. Transcription is found in item: ecm_wells_9918. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_wells_0918

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-48-109/

doc Background for the relocation program (ddr-csujad-48-110)

Titled as: The background for the relocation program (prepared for information of Staff of the War Relocation Authority). It also describes the early Japanese migration to the United States and some of the economic and social aspects of American Japanese life. Transcription is found in item: ecm_wells_9919. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-48-110/

doc Day the war came home (ddr-csujad-49-264)

Article titled, "The Day the War Came Home," by Tom Hennessy. An item from: page 130 and the inner back cover of the Sue Kato scrapbook (gfb_skc_001). See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2019_002_001_080_08

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-49-264/

Letter from Kaz Oka, President, Japanese American Citizens League Monterey Peninsula Chapter to Mrs. E. Hill, U.S. Employment Department, February 26, 1942 (ddr-csujad-44-4)

doc Letter from Kaz Oka, President, Japanese American Citizens League Monterey Peninsula Chapter to Mrs. E. Hill, U.S. Employment Department, February 26, 1942 (ddr-csujad-44-4)

Letter from Kaz Oka, President of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) Monterey Peninsula Chapter to Mrs. E. Hill at the United States Employment Department thanking her for her assistance with "the Japanese aliens in the recent evacuation." The letter also thanks Mrs. Hill for assistance with the "special problems" of Mrs. Hasegawa and Mr. Tani. …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-44-4/

doc Letter from Fumi Yaki to Japanese American Citizens League member chapters, April 3, 1942 (ddr-csujad-46-5)

Letter describing Fumi Yaki's leave of position due to first mass removal in California. She states turning her work over to Miss Mary Louise K. Seo. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: csus_nac_0005

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-46-5/

doc Japanese American Citizens League Northern California District Council special meeting minutes, March 10, 1942 (ddr-csujad-46-25)

Japanese American Citizens League, northern California district council, special meeting minutes discussing budgets, dues, assessments, treasury announcements, and forced evacuation information. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: csus_nac_0025

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-46-25/

doc Letter from Tsuneo Iwata to members, March 29, 1942 (ddr-csujad-46-17)

Letter from Tsuneo Iwata, president of the Turlock Social Club to Turlock Social Club members in regards to mass removal preparation, Turlock Social Club meetings, and the status of the Social Hall. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: csus_nac_0017

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-46-17/

doc Turlock Social Club meeting minutes, April 5, 1942 (ddr-csujad-46-24)

Turlock Social Club meeting minutes in regards to the mass removal including the discussion of the status of the Turlock Social Club Hall, the J.A.C.L division, writing "letters of appreciation," dues, and general announcements. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: csus_nac_0024

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-46-24/

doc Student Relocation (ddr-csujad-19-72)

This article by Robert W. O'Brien discusses about the relocation of thousands of students in colleges throughout the United States to resume their studies, "a year after the mass evacuation of the West Coast Japanese American people into inland camps." See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: WRA_02-23_02

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-19-72/