Japanese American Alumni during WWII Records, 1884-2003

Through grant funding obtained from the Washington Civil Liberties Public Education Program and the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of Washington State, Whitworth College completed an oral history documentary entitled "From Coast and Camp to the Inland Empire: Japanese-American Evacuation and Relocation to Eastern Washington during World War II" in April 2003. "From Coast and Camp to the Inland Empire" is the story of Japanese Americans living in Western Washington who were affected by evacuation, internment and relocation during World War II, yet were not incarcerated for a significant amount of time, if any. Funding for this project occurred from July 1, 2002 through June 30, 2003. Project Director was Janet Hauck, Whitworth College Archivist, and Project Assistant was Rose Sliger, '02.

This audio documentary compiles oral history interviews, narration and music to chronicle the journeys of Japanese Americans from the West Coast to Eastern Washington. It seeks to educate students and the community about historical violations of civil rights, in order to ensure that similar civil rights violations will be prevented in the future.

Utilizing college and university archives, high school and college yearbooks, and the Spokane Japanese American community, about thirty people were interviewed in the fall and winter of 2002. People interviewed came from four different groups of people: Japanese Americans who voluntarily evacuated to the Inland Empire; Japanese Americans who were evacuated and interned, eventually leaving camp to come to the Inland Empire; Native Inland Empire Japanese Americans; and Caucasians living during the World War II era.

Products created from this project include an audio documentary on compact disc and on-line curriculum materials for middle and high school teachers, photograph slide shows, and an on-line exhibit. Programming occurred mainly in April 2003 with activities during Japan Week in Spokane.