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Inventory of the Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Records,
1930-1974 (bulk 1942-1946)
BANC MSS 67/14 c
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Title: Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Records,
Date (inclusive): 1930-1974
Date (bulk): (bulk 1942-1946)
Collection number: BANC MSS 67/14 c
Extent: Microfilm: 379 reels
Originals: Number of containers: 336 boxes, 84 cartons, 36 oversize volumes (folios), 6 oversize folders
Linear feet: 250.5
Originals: Number of containers: 336 boxes, 84 cartons, 36 oversize volumes (folios), 6 oversize folders
Linear feet: 250.5
Repository: The
Bancroft Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Shelf location: For current information on the location of
these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Abstract: Consists of surplus copies of U.S. War Relocation Authority documents,
including publications, staff papers, reports, correspondence,
memoranda, press releases, and a few photographs. Also includes
material collected and/or generated by the Japanese-American
Evacuation and Resettlement Study, University of California, Berkeley,
including evacuee diaries and letters, and staff correspondence,
reports, and studies.
Language:
English.
The Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Records are comprised of two separate
donations. The War Relocation Authority (WRA) designated the University of California,
Berkeley library as the prime depository for WRA record materials outside the National
Archives on September 7, 1945. The records of the Japanese American Evacuation and
Resettlement Study (JERS) were deposited in the University Library by Dorothy Swaine
Thomas, Director, in August 1948. In 1954-1955, Edward N. Barnhart integrated the two
collections and created an inventory; the resulting collection was transferred to The
Bancroft Library on July 3, 1963. Additions were made in October 1977 (by Conrad Taeuber,
Director) and in 1988 (by Ann R. Miller) of materials recovered after Dorothy Thomas's
death from her office at the Center for Population Research in Washington, D.C.
Microfilm preservation, processing, rehousing, and the creation of a new finding aid for
the collection and additions were funded by a Library Services and Construction Act
(LSCA), Title III: Networking, Preservation and Statewide Resource-sharing grant from the
California State Library, 1994-1996.
The collection is open for research with the following restrictions:
- Microfilm is to be used instead of originals.
- Use of originals is permitted only by written permission of the curator.
- Identity of evacuees mentioned in diaries and other personal documents created by employees of the Japanese Evacuation and Resettlement Study (JERS) are protected until 2015 or the death of the person named. Such restricted materials are indicated in the finding aid by a double asterisk.
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to
publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public
Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the
owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the
copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
[Identification of Item], Japanese American evacuation and resettlement records, BANC MSS
67/14 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
The
Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Records resulted from
the integration of two major collections: the records of the War Relocation Authority
(WRA) and the records of the Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Study (JERS)
at the University of California, Berkeley. Edward N. Barnhart combined the two
collections in 1954-1955. While the resulting combination provides an unprecedented
picture of the Japanese-American evacuation, relocation, incarceration, and resettlement
during World War II, the collection's size and organization is complex. For help with
Barnhart's organizing principles, please read the
Overview of
Arrangement
and the
Description of Parts and Sectionsbeginning on page xi.
WAR RELOCATION AUTHORITY (WRA) RECORDS
The War Relocation Authority (WRA) records represent the official documentation of the
United States agency created to assume jurisdiction over the Japanese and Japanese
Americans evacuated from California, Oregon, and Washington by the Western Defense
Command, the Fourth Army, and the Wartime Civilian Control Administration (WCCA) during
January/February of 1942. During its existence from March 1942 to 1946, the WRA
controlled the administration of the relocation centers, administered an extensive
resettlement program, and oversaw the details of the registration and segregation
programs. Included in their records are administrative files, official publications,
reports and surveys, legal papers, correspondence, and occasionally, photographs and
scrapbooks. Divisions and offices represented encompass the Washington, D.C. head office,
Western Field Office, district and area resettlement offices, the ten relocation centers,
Leupp isolation center, and the Bureau of Sociological Research. Also included are
miscellaneous materials from other Federal and State agencies involved with the
internment, including the Western Defense Command and WCCA.
Although Bancroft's WRA records were originally thought to be duplicates of The National
Archives' collection,
Records of the War Relocation Authority, 1942-1946: Field
Basic Documentation,
the two collections are not identical. The Bancroft Library
holds a copy of the National Archives (NARA) microfilm (cataloged as BANC FILM 1932). The
materials in the
Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Recordscollection have been compared with the NARA film in order to prevent microfilm
duplication of documents. In cases where the National Archives film included materials in
the Bancroft's collection, the container listing notes their location on the NARA film
inside bold square brackets
[NARA Reel __, Folder __]following the item
description.
The War Relocation Authority photographs were transferred to the Pictorial Collections of
The Bancroft Library and are cataloged as:
War Relocation Authority Photographs:
Evacuation and Resettlement
(BANC PIC 1967.014). The photographic collection
contains approximately 7000 photographs covering pre-evacuation, evacuation, assembly
centers, relocation, life in the "relocation centers," segregation, and the resettlement
program. These photographs have been digitized and will be available online in the Heller
Reading Room of The Bancroft Library.
THE JAPANESE AMERICAN EVACUATION AND RESETTLEMENT STUDY (JERS) RECORDS
The Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Study (JERS) was established at the
University of California, Berkeley in early 1942. Directed by Dorothy Swaine Thomas, the
Study monitored the sociological, political, economic, and legal dimensions of the
relocation program. Evacuees, hired to document their own and others' experiences,
reported on both specific situations and life in general during their stays in the
assembly and relocation centers. Their often extensive accounts of camp life come in the
form of journals, diaries, and field reports. In addition, they compiled case histories,
conducted interviews with evacuees and WRA staff, studied group behavior, and performed
statistical surveys. The JERS administrative records contain extensive correspondence
with field workers, staff, evacuees, and others.
Throughout the collection are gatherings of primary and secondary research materials
collected by Dorothy Swaine Thomas, and her staff, particularly Rosalie Hankey Wax and
Morton Grodzins. These include reports, surveys, theses, and other writings.
Correspondence indicates that at least two persons gave significant amounts of material
to the Study. Galen M. Fisher sent Dorothy Thomas material concerning his work with
Japanese American student relocation and with organizations concerned about the human
rights issues surrounding internment; the Galen M. Fisher files comprise Part II, Section
13. Alexander H. Leighton sent the Study his office files from the Bureau of Sociological
Research at Poston in October of 1944; the Bureau's files (formerly cataloged as BANC MSS
72/233) follow the JERS material in Part II, Section 5: Poston Relocation Center.
Several separately catalogued segments of the collection have been identified during
processing and microfilming and have been reincorporated into the collection at
appropriate places. Part II, Section 5: Poston includes a set of seven high school
scrapbooks (formerly BANC MSS C-A 195). Part V includes former BANC MSS 89/46 c, which
contained the original typescript copies of Rosalie Hankey Wax's field notes and
miscellaneous reports done by Hankey for JERS; and, former BANC MSS 78/53 c consisting of
miscellaneous correspondence and research regarding the Study. Both collections were
given to The Bancroft Library after Dorothy Thomas's death.
When Edward N. Barnhart integrated the War Relocation Authority Records and the Japanese
American Evacuation and Resettlement Study Records in 1954-1955, he divided the combined
collection into Parts and Sections. The Part divisions were primarily event-related;
Section divisions were subject or organization based. Folders within each Section were
assigned an arbitrary letter/number classification. To facilitate the transition from the
Barnhart inventory of original material to the new finding aid linked to the microfilmed
materials and based on a reprocessed, expanded, and rehoused collection, we have
endeavored to retain Barnhart's arrangement and numbering system.
In general, documents are still located under their original Part and Section
designations. However, identical material appearing in more than one place in the
collection was retained in the most appropriate Section or, if not readily apparent, in
the folder in which it first appears.
Letter/number designations within the Sections may be significantly different from the
Barnhart inventory. Folder contents may have been split into two or more numbers to
permit a more accurate description of material including office of origination, name of
author, title, and date of creation if the information is available. Multiple numbers for
a single type of material were often eliminated by using multiple folders under one
number. Examples of these include minutes of a particular organization, such as block
managers meetings. Divisional closing reports have been pulled together and listed as
"final reports," usually at the end of the WRA segment for each center.
Folder numbers eliminated (due to duplication of material) in processing have sometimes
been reassigned to other material and new numbers have been created in order to insert
material at appropriate places. Part V (W's), which consists of material received after
Barnhart's inventory was created, has been arranged into Parts, Sections, and assigned
arbitrary letter/number designations to correspond with Barnhart's system. Within
folders, material is arranged chronologically when appropriate.
Throughout the Container Listing, real names of individuals have been listed rather than
the pseudonyms used extensively by the Study, if available. Much of the material
containing real names is restricted and is so identified by a double asterisk **. Access
is provided to these item(s) with the understanding that the identity of evacuees
mentioned therein will not be disclosed by the researcher without the express permission
of the evacuee. This restriction is in effect until 2015 or until the death of the
evacuee named, whichever occurs first. Notice: This material may be protected by
copyright law (Title 17 U.S. Code).
Materials Cataloged Separately
- Printed materials have been transferred to the book collection of The Bancroft Library.
- Photographs have been transferred to Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library.
- Videotapes, sound recordings, and motion pictures have been transferred to the Microforms Collection of the Bancroft Library.
- Maps have been transferred to the Map Room of the Main Library.
- Selected government documents may have been transferred to the Main Library.
Title: War Relocation Authority Photographs,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC PIC 1967.014
Title: Records of the War Relocation Authority, 1942-1946: Field Basic Documentation Located at the National Archives...[microform],
Identifier/Call Number: BANC FILM 1932
Title: Wayne M. Collins Papers,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 78/177 c
Title: Morton Grodzins, Political Aspects of the Japanese Evacuation,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 71/169 c
Title: Rosalie H. Wax Papers Regarding Tule Lake Relocation Center,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 83/115 c
Title: Culbert L. Olson Papers,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS C-B 442
Title: California Attorney General's Office,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS C-A 172
Title: Carey McWilliams Papers,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS C-H 46
Title: Pacific Coast Committee on American Principles and Fair Play,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS C-A 171
Title: Galen Merriam Fisher Correspondence,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 86/179 c