"From 1942-1946, some 125,000 individuals (over 77,000 American citizens of Japanese ancestry and over 43,000 Japanese nationals, most of whom were permanent U.S. residents,) were summarily deprived of liberty and property without criminal charges and without trial of any kind. Several persons were also violently deprived of life. All persons of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast were expelled from their homes and confined in desolate, inland camps, often referred to euphemistically as 'internment camps.' The sole basis for these actions was ancestry; citizenship, age, loyalty, and innocence of wrongdoing did not matter. Japanese Americans were the only group singled out for mass incarceration." Japanese American Citizens League National. (2011)
Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this Collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.
The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library's
Reproductions of the microfilm are not allowed.
Box 17, folders 1-4 were purchased from Ken Sanders Rare Books in 2016.
Box 17, folder 5 was purchased from McBride Rare Books in 2019.
Collection Name, Collection Number, Box Number, Folder Number. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.
Processed in 1978.
Box 17 was processed by Betsey Welland in 2020.
This finding aid was revised by Special Collections staff in 2026 to update outdated or euphemistic descriptive language. During that revision, the Summary, Historical Note, Content Description, folder titles, and folder descriptions were updated. References to Japanese American "relocation," "evacuation," or "internment" during World War II were removed and replaced with terminology recommended by the Japanese American Citizens League and Densho. The legacy finding aid is available upon request.
Folder titles or item descriptions were revised to enclose original, creator-suplied titles or captions in quotation marks or italics. This collection contains creator-supplied or original language located in item captions or titles that may be outdated. The processor retained the original description of the materials to preserve the historical context of the materials' creation.
Forms part of the Mitsugi M. Kasai Memorial Japanese American Archives.
In addition to any books and magazine articles written about Topaz, the Western Americana section of the University of Utah library contains an additional copy of the Topaz literary magazine, Trek (December, 1942), and two theses dealing directly with Topaz: "Caucasian Attitudes Toward the Japanese in Metropolitan Salt Lake City," (1946) by Douglas Hardy, and "Desolate Keep: A Study of the Physical Environment of Topaz, Utah," (1963) by Colleen Elizabeth Cox.
The manuscripts division also contains two oral histories that are related to Japanese American forced removal. First, Ron Rainger interviewed Joy (Mrs. Edward J.) Hashimoto, who was in high school during World War II and whose was forcibly removed to the Amache Incarceration Camp in Granada, Colorado. She described her experiences with and feelings about forced removal and life in the camp. Second, John Pitts interviewed Joyce Matsumo, who described life as a Japanese American living in Salt Lake City. Although she was born in the American concentration camp in Heart Mountain, Wyoming, she remembered nothing of forced removal. She recounts her parents' memories and feelings about their experiences.
The interviews may be found in the
The Japanese American forced removal collection (1941-1945) is divided into five series: the WRA, the Tule Lake Incarceration Camp, the Topaz Incarceration Camp, the Heart Mountain Incarceration Camp, and the
The WRA papers contain materials issued by the agency, such as policy statements, quarterly reports, newsletters, and pamphlets.
The Tule Lake section (the largest series in the collection) contains correspondence, quarterly reports, special project reports, statistics, histories, and studies of forced removal produced by the WRA as well as materials created by incarcerees, including paintings, cartoons, magazines, and copies of the
The Topaz papers likewise contain WRA materials associated with forced removal, including maps, financial information, bulletins, pamphlets, and a number of studies and papers, many of which deal with the educational system that was established at Topaz. They also include a near-complete collection of the
Lastly, the collection includes a microfilm that contains transcriptions of 70 oral histories recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Some of the interviewees are former incarcerees who describe their experiences, or those of their family members, with forced removal and incarceration, including being held in the Merced, Fresno, and Santa Anita temporary detention centers and being incarcerated at American concentration camps in Manzanar, California; Poston, Arizona; Heart Mountain, Wyoming; Amache, Colorado; Rowher, Arkansas; and Jerome, Arkansas. Most of the interviewees, however, are white men and women lived near the American concentration camps.
In addition to containing material relating to life in American concentration camps, the collection also contains papers dealing with more specific problems and policies. Included are materials from the US Subcommittee on Un-American Activities (The Dies Committee) investigating the WRA, the establishment of the WRA segregation policy of separating "loyal" from suspected "disloyal" incarcerees, and the problems and violence associated with the resistance to the Selective Service registration program.
The attempt in the organization of the material in this collection was to make the Topaz section as complete as possible. Consequently, general material on relocation and the WRA, including information on the Dies Committee and the Segregation Policy, can be found in both the Topaz and WRA boxes.
Broadsides issued by the Western Defense command and Fourth Army pertaining to Japanese exclusion and evacuation from the west coast may be found in the map case. Included are Civilian Exclusion Orders for July 4 and 22, 1942 are specific instruction for the evacuation of all Japanese-Americans from these areas.
Additional material pertaining to Japanese Relocation, and specifically the role of the Federal Reserve Bank, may be found in the Marriner S. Eccles Collection. These papers contain suggested programs for the Federal Reserve Bank in dealing with the property of the evacuees. These materials include reports pertaining to the functions and operations of such a program and the Executive Order establishing the Office of Alien Property Custodian, as well as press releases, correspondence, and reports on the progress of evacuation. These papers may be found in Bx 38 Fds 17-19 of the Marriner S. Eccles Papers.
See also the
This folder contains documents with the original titles "Evacuee Property Holdings," "Relocation and the Constitution," and "Memorandum on Rumors and Rumor-Control Groups." There is also a radio interview script with Dillon S. Myer, director of the WRA, discussing forced removal. There are job descriptions of the WRA positions of Reports Officer and Associate Information Specialist. There is also a WRA policy statement about providing food for American concentration camps and a WRA newsletter.
These memoranda are internal WRA documents containing information about Japanese holidays and culture, the formation of American concentration camps, and WRA policies regarding the production and circulation of information in the Japanese language. There are also policies regarding Japanese social, economic, religious, and military groups and associations in the US. This folder also contains part of K. D. Ringle's "The Japanese Question in the United States," which is a compilation of memoranda summarizing Japanese culture and offering recommendations for a segregation program and for American concentration camps, and documents with the original titles "Japanese Americans in Relocation Centers" and "Japanese Groups and Associations in the United States."
This folder contains documents with the original titles: "Administrative Instruction No. 100," which outlines the policy of separating incarcerees "of doubtful loyalty" from "loyal" incarcerees, and designates Tule Lake as the illegal detention center for "disloyal" incarcerees; "Tule Lake Project," which is a list of "loyal" incarcerees' objections to being forced to leave Tule Lake; "Summary Notes on Segregation Conference of WRA Officials," which is a booklet that contains reports delivered at the conference; "Report on the Director's Telegram of July 13, 1943," which estimates the number of incarcerees to be forcibly removed to Tule Lake; "Segregation of Evacuees;" and "Manual of Evacuee Transfer Operations," which is a detailed report outlining procedures for forced removal that includes budgets, schedules, and flow charts. There is also an untitled report on the formation of a special committee to conduct interviews with incarcerees to determine loyalty, and an agenda for the Segregation Conference.
This folder contains a document with the original title "Minority Report of the Honorable Herman P. Eberharter," which expresses support of the WRA and includes a summary of the majority report outlining the charges of incompetence brought against the WRA. There is also a press release from Dillon S. Myer, director of the WRA, responding to the Dies Committee Charges. This folder also contains Public Law 139, detailing Congressional appropriations for the WRA.
This folder contains abstracts of magazine articles dealing with forced removal. The majority of the articles support the WRA's forced removal of Japanese Americans, but a few authors are highly critical and reject the entire concept. This folder also contains a 57-page document titled "The Japanese Question in the United States: A Compilation of Memoranda by Lt. Com. K. D. Ringle."
This folder contains newsletters issued by the WRA that summarize news items and articles in local and national papers about the forced removal of Japanese Americans. The newsletters only cover the weeks of 20 April, 26 May, 17 June, and 1 September 1943.
This folder contains the first and second WRA quarterly reports. The first contains a chronology of events regarding the forced removal of Japanese Americans to temporary detention centers and a history of the selection and construction of American concentration camps, including their organization, facilities, prospects for incarceree employment, and community life. The second details the continued progress of forced removal efforts, including a chronology of events during this period, a report on the transfer of incarcerees from temporary detention centers to American concentration camps, and the development of all aspects of life at the incarceration camps, such as incarceree employment, self-government, education, consumer enterprises, internal security, agricultural production, religious activities, welfare programs, and problems encountered by the incarcerees. Both reports also contain summary updates of the development of each American concentration camp, located in: Manzanar, California; Colorado River, Arizona; Tule Lake, California; Gila River, Arizona; Minidoka, Idaho; Heart Mountain, Wyoming; Granada, Colorado; Central Utah (Topaz), Utah; Rohwer, Arkansas; and Jerome, Arkansas.
This folder contains reports with the original titles "Report and Minority Views of the Special Committee on Un-American Activities on Japanese War Relocation Centers," "Code of Wartime Practices For the American Press," "National Defense Migration: Fourth Interim Report," and "National Defense Migration: First Interim Report."
The majority of these correspondence were issued from the incarceration camp at Tule Lake, and were written by John D. Cook, Reports Officer, and Harvey M. Coverly, Projects Director. The correspondence includes general thank-you letters for services rendered; replies to requests for information on Tule Lake from a variety of individuals, including librarians, researchers, newspapermen, and interested citizens; official correspondence with the WRA; letters concerning the Tule Lake newspaper, the
This folder contains John D. Cook's personal correspondence received from Japanese Americans who had been incarcerated in the Tule Lake illegal detention center and were either focibly removed to another incarceration camp, or outside the incarceration camp. The letters are personable, displaying great fondness and respect for Cook. The incarcerees thank him for his interest and kindness, praise him for being a good administrator, and express wishes to meet again under more pleasant circumstances. They also contain descriptions of life in the American concentration camps known as Topaz, Minidoka, and Heart Mountain.
This folder contains additional letters from former incarcerees describing their experiences after leaving the illegal detention center at Tule Lake, including enjoying traveling and moving freely, and facing discrimination while seeking housing and employment. The letters also contain suggestions for improving the WRA's forced removal program.
This document, with the original title "Charter of Tule Lake Relocation Project," describes the establishment of the community council, a judiciary committee, and community laws.
This folder contains a document with the original title "Block Managers Manual" that describes the duties, conduct, and responsibilities of the liaison officer between administration and incarcerees. The folder also contains a report that discusses suggestions for improved administrative organization.
This folder contains documents with the original titles "Breakdown by States of Colonists Received," "Complete List of Evacuees Up to Date," "Age Distribution of Persons Received," "Age Distribution of Colonists," "Number of Colonists Employed," and "Analysis of Form 126 Revised," as well as several prelimary reports. The statistics in these documents provide a breakdown of the population in the Tule Lake illegal detention center according to age, sex, marital status, country of birth, years of schooling in Japan, and occupation. This folder also contains a statistical analysis of the answers to the registration forms and a list of male US citizens refusing to register.
This folder contains correspondence written in Japanese, some of which is from Japan. It also contains correspondence written in English from those refusing to register.
This folder contains reports detailing the status of each department in the illegal detention center and any changes that have been made that quarter. The reports relate to all aspects of community life, including education, health services, building construction and maintenance, employment, community government, cooperative enterprises, internal security, administration, and problems relating to forced removal. The report from January-March 1943 discusses the organized resistance to the Selective Service and Indefinite Leave Registration Programs.
This folder contains reports and memoranda from John D. Cook to Project Chiefs concerned primarily with the activities and problems related to the daily lives of the incarcerees. Sample reports include information on the births, deaths, transfers, and health of incarcerees; special problems or incidents in the illegal detention centers, such as riots, robberies, arrests, trials, fires, and employee strikes; reports on Japanese festivals and celebrations; the organization of the Red Cross; reports on how different groups view life inside the American concentration camp; sample letters from beet workers on how they were treated outside the illegal detention center; a report on prevalent fears among incarcerees; and an interview with Walter Tsukamoto, delegate to the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) Conference in Salt Lake City. A sizable portion of the reports deal with the resistance movement and incidents associated with the registration program.
This folder contains memoranda discussing War Savings Bonds, problems of segregation, and compiled answers to a questionnaire to former incarcerees asking about their experiences since being released from the illegal detention center. There are also additional reports on incidents and problems in the American concentration camp at Tule Lake.
This folder contains registration forms for the Selective Service and Leave Clearance Programs at the Tule Lake illegal detention center. It also contains reports describing the resistance to forced removal and actions taken by the American concentration camp, the FBI, and the army.
This folder contains reports concerning the arrest of an intoxicated incarceree and the physical abuse he received from the Military Police.
This folder contains documents with the original titles "Chapter 1," "The Control Program," "Evacuee Groups Affiliated with National Organizations," and "The Economic and Political Argument." They constitute studies of Japanese forced removal in general and the Tule Lake illegal detention center in particular, and include: a statistical history of incarcerees and a chronology of forced removal; a study of Japanese economics and probable causes of anti-Japanese sentiment; the history of and living conditions in Tule Lake; and a study of various clubs and associations at Tule Lake.
The annotated manuscript in this folder discusses the similarities and differences of the Issei, Nisei, and Kibei, and includes the original chapter titles "The Issei: Physical Characteristics, Health, and Peculiarities of Dress," "The Nisei," "Health," "Japanese Industry," "Kibei," "Religion," "The Nature and Difference of Moral Behavior," and "Nature and Differences of Social and Recreational Activities." The manuscript also describes the history of Japanese immigrants in the United States and includes a study of the psychological effects of forced removal and incarceration. John D. Cook may be the author of this manuscript.
This folder contains a similar, but more complete draft of the manuscript found in box 4 folder 2.
This folder contains high school graduation speeches and subjective and objective papers written by student incarcerees on various aspects of forced removal. They include the original titles "Life in Camp," "My Last Day Home," "Disadvantages of Camp Life," "Victims of War," "My First Day in Camp," "Race Tensions: Second Phase," "The Consumer Cooperative Movement in the Tule Lake Project," "Proposition: Photography in Tule Lake," "Women on the Project with Children," "How Retired Men and Unemployed Women Spend Their Time in Tule Lake," "The Psychology of Spending at Tule Lake," "After the War," and "The Psychology of Spending Among the Evacuees in Tule Lake Project."
This folder contains newspaper articles and editorials of Western papers expressing primarily negative views toward Japanese Americans and the WRA's administration of the illegal detention centers. It includes articles with the original titles "Much Hysteria About Japanese-Americans," "Something is Rotten," "Plan for Evacuee Release Shaping, Charges Senator," and "Plenty for Involuntary Guests."
This folder contains press releases from the WRA and the illegal detention center at Tule Lake to local and national newspapers. One press release includes the original title "Japanese Resettlement Creates California's Fastest Growing City."
This folder primarily contains scans of newspaper clippings from the
This folder contains a personnel chart illustrating the organizational hierarchy of the WRA staff at the illegal detention center at Tule Lake; graphs of the age distribution, educational levels, and employment divisions of incarcerees; and graphs of operating costs, including expenses and consumption.
This folder contains books and pamphlets issued by various organizations in the Tule Lake illegal detention center with the original titles
This folder contains pamphlets with the original titles "Instructions to All Persons of Japanese Ancestry," "Democracy in Relocation," "Get the Evacuees Out!", and "Town Meeting." It also contains a U.S. Forest Service bookmark and a document with the original title "Bibliography of Japanese in America."
This is a semimonthly magazine section of a daily newspaper containing literary and art pieces by incarcerees.
This is a daily newspaper.
One oversize painting has been moved to Box 12 for preservation purposes.
This folder contains excerpts from Yamato Ichihashi's
This folder contains copies of newspaper articles about the JACL national convention held in Salt Lake City. The convention dealt with illegal detention centers, incarceree resettlement programs, and other problems the Japanese American community faced.
This folder contains bulletins on statistics concerning Japanese Americans in Arizona, California, Oregon, and Washington, including population totals by nativity, citizenship, sex, and age; the number of Japanese American farm operators; and Japanese American workers in other major industry groups.
This folder contains a first and second quarterly report.
This folder contains statements from Dillon S. Myer and the WRA in response to allegations, made by the Dies Committee and the press, of mismanagement of illegal detention centers.
This folder contains documents with the original titles "Evidences of Americanism Among Japanese-Americans," a statement by Dillon S. Myer; "Summary Notes on Segregation Conference of WRA Officials," a booklet containing reports delivered at the Segregation Conference; "Questions and Answers for Governing Administration and Policy of the Segregation Center;" "Administrative Instruction No. 100," which outlines the policy of separating incarcerees of "doubtful loyalty" from "loyal" incarcerees; a report estimating the number of incarcerees to be segregated; and an agenda.
This folder contains articles with the original titles "The Japanese Mind is a Dark Corner," "Nebraska-Born Japanese Sgt. Mans Lib Guns Against Nazis," and "Business Portrait: Hito Okada," as well as brochures with the original titles "Planning Resettlement of Japanese Americans" and "'A Voice That Must Be Heard': A Quotation from Secretry of War Henry L. Stinson." It also contains WRA documents with the original titles "Your Job as Reports Officer," "The Relocation Program: A Guidebook for the Residents of Relocation Centers," "Relocation Communities for Wartime Evacuees," and "The War Relocation Work Corps."
This is a literary magazine published in Topaz.
See also Box 16, Folder 12.
This is a literary magazine published in Topaz.
This is a scan of an academic paper that includes a short history of forced removal to Topaz, living conditions at the illegal detention center, and the personal experiences of an incarceree. The paper was written in 1974, but there is no listed date for when the photocopy was created.
This academic paper is an overview of the type of education received by students in the incarceration camps. The paper was written in 1974, but there is no listed date for when the photocopy was created.
This folder contains a scan of notes on Robertson's report, which addresses education, living conditions, and activities at the illegal detention center. The year "1943" is written in pencil on the top of the scan and appears to have been written by an archivist. There is no listed date for when the photocopy was created.
This is a scan of an academic paper containing a brief history of Topaz from forced removal to the end of the war. The paper was written in 1963; there are no listed dates for when the photocopy was created.
This folder contains clippings from the
This folder contains an annotated article written in the late 1940s on the number of Japanese Americans remaining in Utah since the war, and possible reasons as to why many left.
This is a collection of basic statistical data on the movement and settlement of people of Japanese ancestry in the Salt Lake area. Designed as a source book for agencies involved in forced removal, it includes information about economics, living conditions, social life, and racial attitudes.
This report describes the elementary and secondary schools and the vocational and adult education programs in Topaz, including specific subjects taught and the aims and purposes of education in an incarceration camp.
This WRA-produced book documents the history of various educational programs in the Topaz illegal detention center.
This folder contains scans of a census recorded primarily in Japanese. Some of the information, including the names and positions of various incarceration camp administrators, is listed in both Japanese and English.
These broadsides were issued by the Western Defense Command and Fourth Army, and pertain to Japanese American exclusion and forced removal from the West Coast. Included are the Civilian Exclusion Orders directing all persons of Japanese ancestry in specified areas of California to report to a Civil Control Station. The broadside with the original title "Instructions to All Persons of Japanese Ancestry" contains specific instructions for the forced removal of all Japanese Americans from these areas to incarceration camps.
Each volume is missing several issues, with a bulk of 1944 missing.
This folder contains bulletins and correspondence written by WRA administrators.
This folder also contains a document with the original title "Relocation Manual," written by WRA Project Director Charles F. Ernst.
The
The
See also Box 10, Folder 1.
This folder contains documents with the original titles "Delta Canal Company Analysis of Receipts and Disbursements for the Year 1941" and "Supplemental Data to be Attached to Appraisal Reports of Tracts Within the Abraham Internment Camp, Delta, Utah." It also contains a copy of a letter to Samuel Y. Taylor; retention copies of letters to William P. Stephens of the War Department; retention copies of meeting minutes; retention copies of a list of stockholders of Abraham Irrigation Company; and a newspaper clipping of a
This folder contains Community Council meeting minutes and several ordinances, including the incarceration camp's criminal code. Matters under discussion are sanitation, food, the keeping of fowl, and myriad other small problems of daily life. A memo of January 20, 1945 provides the minutes of a special session convened in honor of A.L. Wirin, a lawyer who defended Japanese Americans, that focused primarily on escheat law. Among other things, the question of reclamation of the incarcerees' confiscated property was raised: "Question was brought up by K. Hatchimonji concerning the right of Japanese Aliens to bring suit for property losses on the West Coast. According to Mr. Wirin, the Supreme Court made a decision that an Alien, who is not arrested, has the same rights as a citizen as far as the court is concerned." This folder also contains a Block Coordinator job description and WRA bulletins with the original title "Washington Daily News Digest," which provide a daily synopsis of the news for the week in Japanese script.
This microfilm contains, per its original front matter, "a series of 70 oral histories micropublished as part of the California State University, Fullerton Japanese-American Oral History Collection." These oral histories were recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s; the microfilm of transcriptions was created in 1977. Some of the interviewees are former incarcerees who describe their experiences, or those of their family members, with forced removal and incarceration, including being held in the Merced, Fresno, and Santa Anita temporary detention centers and being incarcerated at American concentration camps in Manzanar, California; Poston, Arizona; Heart Mountain, Wyoming; Amache, Colorado; Rowher, Arkansas; and Jerome, Arkansas. Most of the interviewees, however, are white men and women lived near the American concentration camps.
Reproductions of the microfilm are not allowed.