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

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.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-14/

doc National Emergency Conference report (ddr-densho-67-15)

Japanese American Citizens League report from a conference addressing internal security in Manzanar concentration camp, California. Report warns of internal strife, danger of pro-Japan groups, reports on judicial system, fire and police protection, and illicit activities. Includes an account of an attack on a Japanese American camp police officer, and description of "gangs" within camp.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-15/

doc War Department memorandum (ddr-densho-67-16)

Confidential memo regarding surveillance of Rev. Herbert V. Nicholson. Details his involvement in the American Friends Service Committee, and a letter to the editor of the Des Moines Register-Tribune criticizing the U.S. government's wartime decisions.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-16/

doc "Confidential Report on the Okamoto Case" (ddr-densho-67-17)

Tule Lake Community Analysis Staff's confidential report on the Shoichi Okamoto shooting incident. Contains three accounts of the incident and its effect on Tule Lake residents. Residents are asking that military guards be removed from interior fences. There were numerous other incidents with MPs leading up to the shooting.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-17/

doc "Murder in Camp Manzanar" (ddr-densho-67-18)

Document written by J.Y. Kurihara. Account of incident in which Harry Ueno, a kitchen worker, was accused of assaulting Fred Tayama, JACL member and accused "informant." Kitchen Workers Union members and Manzanar residents went to administration to demand the release from jail of Ueno and soldiers fired on crowd, killing one person. Members of the Kitchen …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-18/

doc Memo: "Reported Bombing and Shelling of the West Coast" (ddr-densho-67-19)

Memo to the Attorney General from J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI. Refutes statements made in J.L. DeWitt's Final Report that there was espionage activity conducted by Japanese on the West Coast immediately following Pearl Harbor. The FBI investigated all allegations, and found no evidence to support such claims.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-19/

doc Memorandum from J. Edgar Hoover to Francis M. Shea, Assistant Attorney General (ddr-densho-67-20)

Memorandum from J. Edgar Hoover to Francis M. Shea, Assistant Attorney General regarding "alien enemies" and internal security. Hoover states his belief that there should be an identification and registration process for all "alien enemies" in the U.S. He recommends that there should be an authority permitted to apprehend citizens and aliens under suspicion. States that …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-20/

doc Memo: "Japanese Relocation Centers, Activities of Inmates" (ddr-densho-67-21)

Memo from District Intelligence Officer D. Dwight Douglas to the Director of Naval Intelligence. Informing the Director of Naval Intelligence of information regarding pro-Japanese activities in camps provided by informants within the camps. Urges stronger action by the Naval Intelligence in reviewing "enemy alien" cases, involvement in camp administration.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-21/

doc Letter from John J. McCloy, Assistant Secretary of War, to Dillon S. Myer (ddr-densho-67-22)

Letter from John J. McCloy, Assistant Secretary of War, to Dillon S. Myer, Director of the War Relocation Authority, regarding transfer of family members to join issei in Department of Justice internment camps. McCloy wary of such transfers, as he believes they would subject Nisei to "issei contamination." Favors instead paroling Issei out of internment camps …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-22/

doc Letter from John J. McCloy, Assistant Secretary of War, to Dillon S. Myer (ddr-densho-67-23)

Letter from John J. McCloy, Assistant Secretary of War, to Dillon S. Myer, Director of the War Relocation Authority. Reporting recommendations of Dr. Dedrick, head of the Statistical Division of the Wartime Civil Control Administration. Urges segregation of the "pro-Japan" Kibei and Issei, and expresses fear of internal security incidents in the camps, and "contamination" of …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-23/

doc Letter by John L. DeWitt: "Separation of Kibei from Nisei" (ddr-densho-67-24)

Letter written by John L. DeWitt, Lieutenant General, U.S. Army, to Chief of Staff, U.S. Army. DeWitt's conclusions: co-mingling of Kibei with Nisei is dangerous, and Kibei are a threat to national security. Recommends that the War Department institute a policy which would separate the Kibei from the Nisei, forfeit the U.S. citizenship of the Kibei, …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-24/

doc Letter by John L. DeWitt: "Separation of Kibei from Nisei" (ddr-densho-67-26)

Letter written by John. L. DeWitt, Lieutenant General U.S. Army, to Chief of Staff, U.S. Army. Recommends the segregation of Kibei and Issei from Nisei, and steps taken toward the eventual repatriation of some of the Kibei and Issei.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-26/

doc Letter by John L. DeWitt: "Retention of Japanese Evacuees in War Relocation Projects" (ddr-densho-67-27)

Letter written John L. DeWitt, Lieutenant General, U.S. Army, to Chief of Staff, U.S. Army. Recommends separation of the "potentially dangerous" persons within the concentration camps, as well as acquisition of data about the Japanese as a race, to be used in actual and psychological warfare. Also recommends that the War Department retain persons of Japanese …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-27/

doc Letter by John L. DeWitt: "Separation of Kibei from Nisei" (ddr-densho-67-28)

Letter written by J.L. DeWitt, Lieutenant General, U.S. Army, to the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army. Urges segregation of the Kibei and Issei from the Nisei in the concentration camps, citing deteriorating morale in the camps and influence of "disloyal" sentiment.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-28/

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."

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-29/

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.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-67-30/

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

Filters