Registration and the "loyalty questionnaire"

To help administer the military draft and work release program, the U.S. Army and the War Relocation Authority (WRA) produced "loyalty questionnaires" for all Japanese Americans seventeen years of age and older. The questionnaires contained two questions that caused confusion and controversy. Despite serious problems with the wording and meaning of the questions, government officials and others generally considered those who answered "no" to these two questions to be "disloyal" to the United States, and they were transferred to the Tule Lake concentration camp which was designated a segregation camp. "Yes" answers to these questions made Japanese Americans eligible for service in the U.S. Army, and some became eligible for release and resettlement in areas outside of the West Coast exclusion zones.

World War II (231)
Administration (216)
Registration and the "loyalty questionnaire" (275)

Related articles from the Densho Encyclopedia :
Japanese American Joint Board, Loyalty questionnaire, Segregation

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275 items
Letter from Chimata Sumida to War Relocation Authority (ddr-densho-379-740)
doc Letter from Chimata Sumida to War Relocation Authority (ddr-densho-379-740)
Chimata Sumida asks to not be transferred from the Rohwer incarceration Camp to the Tule Lake Segregation Center under the guidelines indicated in Leeland Barrows letter to Edward J Ennis of the Alien Enemy Control Unity. Due to the loss of his original repatriation application, he was unable to retract that original application. Chimata Sumida details …
Letter from Ray D. Johnston to D.S. Myer (ddr-densho-379-742)
doc Letter from Ray D. Johnston to D.S. Myer (ddr-densho-379-742)
Ray D. Johnston, project director, writes to D.S. Myer to communicate that the whole adult population of Rohwer does not want Chimata Sumida to be transferred to Tule Lake. Sumida cancelled his repatriation request too late, but he is too valuable at Rohwer to allow him to be transferred.
Letter from Ray D. Johnston to D. S. Myer (ddr-densho-379-739)
doc Letter from Ray D. Johnston to D. S. Myer (ddr-densho-379-739)
Ray D. Johnston requests that Chimata Sumida not be transferred from the Rohwer incarceration Camp to the Tule Lake Segregation Center. Both camp officials and other incarcerees highlight Chimata Sumida's positive effect on the community of Rohwer and request his transfer to Tule Lake be cancelled.
Letter from Leland Barrows to Edward Ennis (ddr-densho-379-738)
doc Letter from Leland Barrows to Edward Ennis (ddr-densho-379-738)
Leland Barrows writes to Edward Ennis concerning what is to happen to Japanese Americans who either requested repatriation or answered no to the loyalty questionnaire. All people both citizen and alien will be taken to the segregated area of Tule Lake. Their immediate families could either accompany them to Tule Lake or staying in one of …
Teletype message from Elmer M. Rowalt to Ray D. Johnston (ddr-densho-379-744)
doc Teletype message from Elmer M. Rowalt to Ray D. Johnston (ddr-densho-379-744)
Elmer Rowalt sends a teletype message replying to Ray D. Johnston's letter. He states that Chimata Sumida will not be transferred to Tule Lake.
Message from E.M. Rowalt to R. D. Johnston (ddr-densho-379-745)
doc Message from E.M. Rowalt to R. D. Johnston (ddr-densho-379-745)
Rowalt replies to Johnston's letter from September 10th and grants his request that Chimata Sumida not be transferred to Tule Lake.
Letter from Rohwer incarcerees to War Relocation Authority (ddr-densho-379-743)
doc Letter from Rohwer incarcerees to War Relocation Authority (ddr-densho-379-743)
Ten members of the Rohwer community write to the War Relocation Authority to ask that Chimata Sumida not be transferred to Tule Lake. They praise his work at Rohwer as an Events speaker as well as his position on the Resettlement Board.
Letter from N.R. Griswold and J.B. Hunter to Ray D. Johnston (ddr-densho-379-741)
doc Letter from N.R. Griswold and J.B. Hunter to Ray D. Johnston (ddr-densho-379-741)
A letter in support of Chimata Sumida staying at Rohwer and not being sent to Tule Lake. Mr. Griswold and Mr. Hunter detail the work Chimata Sumida has done with the night school and his positive impact on camp morale. Mr. Sumida also was a strong voice in favor of relocating and helped many people to …
Torakichi Nishioka Form 26 (ddr-densho-292-52)
doc Torakichi Nishioka Form 26 (ddr-densho-292-52)
The Form 26 Individual Record contains information about education, employment, religion, military service, addresses before and at camp, and other demographic information.
Frank Nishioka Form 26 (ddr-densho-292-50)
doc Frank Nishioka Form 26 (ddr-densho-292-50)
The Form 26 Individual Record contains information about education, employment, religion, military service, addresses before and at camp, and other demographic information.
Yoshiko Nishioka Form 26 (ddr-densho-292-51)
doc Yoshiko Nishioka Form 26 (ddr-densho-292-51)
The Form 26 Individual Record contains information about education, employment, religion, military service, addresses before and at camp, and other demographic information.
Oral history of Morris and Cherry Abe (ddr-csujad-28-3)
av Oral history of Morris and Cherry Abe (ddr-csujad-28-3)
Oral history Interview of Morris and Cherry Abe. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: csuci_vcc-jic_0005
An Oral History with Woodrow Odanaka (ddr-csujad-29-14)
av An Oral History with Woodrow Odanaka (ddr-csujad-29-14)
Impressions of a Nisei concerning pre-World War II family produce business in Los Angeles, California; removal to Santa Anita Assembly Center in California, and the Granada incarceration camp in Colorado; wartime college experiences in Minnesota; and Army military intelligence duties in the Philippines and occupied Japan. This oral history was conducted for the Japanese American Oral …
Letter (with envelope) to Molly Wilson from June Yoshigai (March 21, 1943) (ddr-janm-1-82)
doc Letter (with envelope) to Molly Wilson from June Yoshigai (March 21, 1943) (ddr-janm-1-82)
Handwritten letter to Molly Wilson from June Yoshigai (March 21, 1943). Envelope is postmarked March 22, 1943 from the Gila River Incarceration Camp in Rivers, Arizona.
Letter to Yuri Domoto from Yoshito Shibata (ddr-densho-356-259)
doc Letter to Yuri Domoto from Yoshito Shibata (ddr-densho-356-259)
Letter to Yuriko Domoto Tsukada from Yoshito Shibata in which he talks about the difficulties of writing on a train by candlelight, his recent assignment to a Marine unit, responses to a letter Yuri wrote to him, facts about trains in Australia, his feelings on question 28, and inquires if the Domoto family has plans to …
Message from the President of the United States on the Segregation of Loyal and Disloyal Japanese in Relocation Centers (ddr-densho-356-1037)
doc Message from the President of the United States on the Segregation of Loyal and Disloyal Japanese in Relocation Centers (ddr-densho-356-1037)
Formal message from President Franklin Roosevelt to the Senate regarding Senate Resolution 166 on the segregation of loyal and disloyal Nikkei in camps.
Letter to Yuri Domoto from Sadame Nomi (ddr-densho-356-356)
doc Letter to Yuri Domoto from Sadame Nomi (ddr-densho-356-356)
Letter to Yuriko Domoto Tsukada from Sadame Nomi in which Sadame details her life in Denver include her work as a translator for the WRA loyalty questionnaire interviews. Item tied together with all objects between ddr-densho-356-321 and ddr-densho-356-413.
Relocation problems and policies (ddr-densho-381-24)
doc Relocation problems and policies (ddr-densho-381-24)
An address delivered by War Relocation Authority Director, Dillon S. Myer, to the Tuesday Evening Club. Myer discusses a variety of topics, including the creation of the War Relocation Authority, managing the camps, and plans for relocation.
Report and minority views of the Special Committee on Un-American Activities on Japanese War Relocation Centers (ddr-densho-381-55)
doc Report and minority views of the Special Committee on Un-American Activities on Japanese War Relocation Centers (ddr-densho-381-55)
A report submitted by John M. Costello to the House of Representatives discussing concerns with the War Relocation Authority's management of the concentration camps.
Letter from Kathleen Koga Uchiyama to Alvin Uchiyama (ddr-densho-406-34)
doc Letter from Kathleen Koga Uchiyama to Alvin Uchiyama (ddr-densho-406-34)
Future plans, discusses a friend who was a no-no boy and was sent to Tule Lake, asks about loyalty questionnaire. With envelope front and back.
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