Fred Korematsu

Fred Korematsu was a welder who lost his job after the attack on Pearl Harbor when the Boilermakers Union expelled all Japanese American members. Korematsu decided to resist the mass removal orders, and planned to leave the state. On May 30, 1942, Korematsu was arrested for violating the exclusion order after failing to report to Tanforan Assembly Center. When Korematsu was contacted by an ACLU lawyer looking for a test case, he decided to fight the evacuation order. Korematsu lost his Supreme Court case in 1944. In the early 1980s, his case was reopened after the discovery of a crucial document indicating that in the original 1944 case, the federal government had lied to the high court. The conviction was vacated by U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel in 1983.

World War II (231)
Resistance and dissidence (84)
Supreme Court cases (16)
Fred Korematsu (77)

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77 items

vh Fred Korematsu - Kathryn Korematsu Interview Segment 2 (ddr-densho-1000-181-2)

Making the decision to resist incarceration order

Due to technical difficulties and conditions at the time of taping, there is loud background noise in this interview.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-181-2/

vh Fred Korematsu - Kathryn Korematsu Interview Segment 15 (ddr-densho-1000-181-15)

Beginning to talk about Fred's wartime conviction

Due to technical difficulties and conditions at the time of taping, there is loud background noise in this interview.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-181-15/

vh Fred Korematsu - Kathryn Korematsu Interview Segment 4 (ddr-densho-1000-181-4)

Being approached by ACLU attorney Ernest Besig

Due to technical difficulties and conditions at the time of taping, there is loud background noise in this interview.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-181-4/

vh Fred Korematsu - Kathryn Korematsu Interview Segment 7 (ddr-densho-1000-181-7)

Not talking about World War II case

Due to technical difficulties and conditions at the time of taping, there is loud background noise in this interview.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-181-7/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 16 (ddr-densho-1000-141-16)

Feeling anger upon reading Korematsu v. U.S. in law school

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-16/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 41 (ddr-densho-1000-141-41)

The day of the hearing: Korematsu's conviction is reversed

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-41/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 38 (ddr-densho-1000-141-38)

Presenting Fred Korematsu's case in a larger political context: "this is an American story about civil rights"

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-38/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 27 (ddr-densho-1000-141-27)

First impressions of Fred Korematsu; Fred's initial concern over the legal team's youth, lack of experience

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-27/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 42 (ddr-densho-1000-141-42)

Impact of the Korematsu coram nobis case, historically and personally

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-42/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 39 (ddr-densho-1000-141-39)

Hearing on the petition before Judge Marilyn Hall Patel; writing the argument to be presented the following day

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-39/

vh Dale Minami Interview Segment 40 (ddr-densho-1000-141-40)

The government's repeated attempts to delay Korematsu's coram nobis case

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-141-40/

vh Peter Irons Interview II Segment 14 (ddr-densho-1000-127-14)

Volunteering to testify before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians; assembling legal team, contacting Fred Korematsu, Gordon Hirabayashi and Min Yasui

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-127-14/

vh Peter Irons Interview II Segment 19 (ddr-densho-1000-127-19)

Facing resistance and hostility from the government's attorney, Victor Stone

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-127-19/

vh Peter Irons Interview II Segment 12 (ddr-densho-1000-127-12)

Discovering the "smoking gun": evidence of government misconduct in the "internment cases"

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-127-12/

vh Peter Irons Interview II Segment 21 (ddr-densho-1000-127-21)

Judge Patel vacates Fred Korematsu's forty-year-old conviction; reaction to Judge Patel's opinion: "I just felt overjoyed at what had happened"

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-127-21/

vh Peter Irons Interview II Segment 20 (ddr-densho-1000-127-20)

An emotional hearing: Fred Korematsu makes a "powerful" statement in court

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-1000-127-20/

vh Saburo Masada Interview Segment 21 (ddr-manz-1-157-21)

Witnessing Fred Korematsu's coram nobis hearing

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-manz-1-157-21/