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
Hasegawa Family (ddr-csujad-8-16)
doc Hasegawa Family (ddr-csujad-8-16)
Oral history interview with the Hasegawas, including Ray, Helen, Peter, Yoshino, Becky and George Hasegawa. Information on the oral history project is found in: csuf_stp_0012A; Glossary in: csuf_stp_0014. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: FCPL Hasegawa Family
Letter to a Nisei man from his brother (ddr-densho-153-47)
doc Letter to a Nisei man from his brother (ddr-densho-153-47)
Excerpt: "We've been receiving yours letters steady and as you mentioned in your last letter, we will send you more letters and much steadier." Sent from Manzanar concentration camp, California, to Chicago, Illinois.
Letter to a Nisei man from his brother (ddr-densho-153-28)
doc Letter to a Nisei man from his brother (ddr-densho-153-28)
Excerpt: "Being a very poor correspondent, it has taken all this time to write you again." Sent from Manzanar concentration camp, California, to Chicago, Illinois.
doc "Proposed Questions" (ddr-densho-67-29)
Document of proposed questions for determining "loyalty" based on answers to questions 27 and 28 of the so-called "loyalty questionnaire."
Telephone conversation between Colonel Bendetsen and Colonel Watson (ddr-densho-67-122)
doc Telephone conversation between Colonel Bendetsen and Colonel Watson (ddr-densho-67-122)
Transcript of telephone conversation between Colonel Bendetsen and Colonel Watson on the loyalty investigations. Bendetsen grapples with the contradictions of determining loyalty. They discuss labor needs and that General DeWitt should give a public statement on loyalty investigations.
doc "WRA Interview Questions" (ddr-densho-67-31)
Questions asked by War Relocation Authority officials when evaluating applications for persons of Japanese ancestry to leave the concentration camps.
Conversation between Colonel Bendetsen and Mr. Braum (ddr-densho-67-123)
doc Conversation between Colonel Bendetsen and Mr. Braum (ddr-densho-67-123)
Transcript of conversation between Colonel Bendetsen and Mr. Braum regarding the "loyalty investigations." Braum has been working on a public statement on loyalty -- explaining why the government waited to determine loyalty. Bendetsen is concerned about justifying internment and the loyalty investigations.
doc "Leave Clearance Interviews: Suggested Topics for Questioning" (ddr-densho-67-30)
Questions for government officials to ask when interviewing persons of Japanese ancestry who were applying to leave the concentration camps.
Two memos regarding Manzanar concentration camp, California (ddr-densho-67-14)
doc Two memos regarding Manzanar concentration camp, California (ddr-densho-67-14)
The subject of these memos is the identification of suspected pro-Japanese individuals.
Conversation between Colonel Bendetsen and Captain Hall (ddr-densho-67-124)
doc Conversation between Colonel Bendetsen and Captain Hall (ddr-densho-67-124)
Transcript of conversation between Colonel Bendetsen and Captain Hall regarding loyalty investigations and relocation. Bendetsen expresses his concern with internment, especially with the public relations aspect. Gives numerous ways internment could be interpreted as a "mistake."
Memo from Dillon S. Myer to John J. McCloy (ddr-densho-67-62)
doc Memo from Dillon S. Myer to John J. McCloy (ddr-densho-67-62)
Memo from Dillon S. Myer to John J. McCloy on Hawaiian-Japanese evacuees. Asks McCloy to inform General Emmons to stop evacuation to the mainland. Describes situation at Jerome where Hawaiian Japanese have been difficult -- unwilling to work, answering "no" on the loyalty questionnaire. Also, there are no additional resources to provide the evacuees. Myer suggests …
Letter to the Secretary of War from President Roosevelt (ddr-densho-67-94)
doc Letter to the Secretary of War from President Roosevelt (ddr-densho-67-94)
Letter to the Secretary of War from President Roosevelt regarding the formation of all-nisei combat teams. Roosevelt discusses loyalty and Americanism as being "a matter of mind and heart," not about "race or ancestry." Roosevelt views this as a way for Japanese Americans to be included in showing their ultimate loyalty to the U.S.
Envelope and letter to Dr. Keizaburo
doc Envelope and letter to Dr. Keizaburo "Kei" Koyama from Teru Koyama (ddr-one-5-40)
Slightly yellowed envelope addressed to Dr. Keizaburo Koyama in Camp Livingston from his wife, Teru Koyama, at Minidoka. Postmarked October 19, 1942. Along the top 10-23-1942 is written in red pencil. On the left side of the envelope is a purple "Censored" stamp. Inside the envelope is a letter dated October 17, 1942. Teru writes about …
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