ddr-densho-67 — Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians Collection

Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians Collection

ddr-densho-67

This collection consists of selected papers collected by the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC), which was created on July 30, 1980 by an act of Congress. Formed mainly to investigate matters surrounding the incarceration and to recommend appropriate remedies, the CWRIC had no power to correct grievances and was viewed as a "copout" by those fighting for more immediate redress. Still, hearings were conducted in 20 cities across the nation beginning in 1981, and in 1982 the CWRIC issued its report 'Personal Justice Denied.' It was an exhaustive work that combined the testimonies of former camp inmates given at the hearings and research conducted by a team led by Aiko Yoshinaga Herzig. Herzig and legal historian Peter Irons discovered declassified documents verifying that the government had withheld information showing that there was no military necessity in the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans. Ultimately, the CWRIC recommended, among other things, $20,000 individual compensation to those incarcerated and a formal government apology. This recommendation would be the basis for the many redress bills that were to follow. The collection also includes a selection of written testimonies submitted to the Commission in 1981 for the Seattle, Washington, and Washington, D.C., hearings. Also included are selected written testimonies submitted for hearings on the Civil Liberties Act of 1983, H.R. 4110 and S. 2116.

c.1940s-1980s

c.1940s and 1980s

353 documents

Densho

Courtesy of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians

This work is free of known copyright restrictions.

352 Objects

doc "Today And Tomorrow: The Fifth Column On The Coast" (ddr-densho-67-1)

Article written by Walter Lippmann for the Washington Post. Calls on the U.S. government to take action against persons of Japanese ancestry in military zones, aliens and citizens alike.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-1/

doc Memo, John L. DeWitt to John McCloy (ddr-densho-67-2)

Memo, John L. DeWitt to John McCloy, regarding mixed marriages and resettlement of Japanese Americans upon release from concentration camps. Includes McCloy's previous memo to DeWitt suggesting reexamination of DeWitt's policy denying return of mixed-marriage couples to the West Coast. Suggests considering requests on the basis of loyalty. In DeWitt's response, he objects to proposed changes, …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-2/

doc C.B. Munson's "Report and Suggestions Regarding Handling Japanese Question on the Coast" (ddr-densho-67-5)

Suggestions in this report include accepting nisei into the war effort and defense industries, and putting responsibility for behavior and food production on nisei groups and leaders.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-5/

doc "Memorandum on Summary of West Coast and Honolulu Reports by Munson, etc." (ddr-densho-67-7)

Memorandum by John Franklin Carter.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-7/

doc Memo: "Summary of Report on Loyal West Coast Japanese" (ddr-densho-67-8)

Memorandum from John Franklin Carter summarizing Curtis Munson's reports regarding the Japanese Americans on the West Coast.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-8/

doc Lt. K.D. Ringle's "Report on the Japanese Question" (ddr-densho-67-9)

Report by Lt. K.D. Ringle, of of the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI). Opinions: the vast majority of nisei are loyal to the U.S.; less than 3% possibly could act as saboteurs or agents, and are already known to FBI and ONI; nisei should be encouraged to participate in war effort; kibei are most dangerous, should …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-9/

doc Letter to Berkeley Professor Edward Barnhart from K.D. Ringle, Captain of the Navy (ddr-densho-67-10)

In this letter, Ringle expresses reticence to condemn specific Japanese organizations, reiterating instead his belief that the incarceration was based on race, and that it disregarded the American citizenship of the Nisei.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-10/

doc "Memorandum on C.B. Munson's Report 'Japanese on the West Coast'" (ddr-densho-67-11)

Memorandum written by John Franklin Carter. Contains passages quoted from C.B. Munson's report. Munson states that there is no Japanese 'problem' on the Coast, and that Japanese in the U.S. are not any more disloyal than any other racial group from a country with which the U.S. is at war.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-11/

doc Memo from Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Secretary of War (ddr-densho-67-13)

Memo regarding the encouraging of Americanization in the Army. FDR states separate, race-based battalions or units should be formed on a case-by-case basis, and limited to cases where political advantages are to be gained.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-13/