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During the nineteenth century, Anti-Asian hostility and the fear of "cheap" Asian labor led to the call for the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which suspended the immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years.
A Cartoon from The Wasp Magazine of 1893, vol. 30, pp. 10-11 reads: THE QUESTION Of THE HOUR: Uncle Sam: "Gosh ! I've got this critter lassoed right enough but how in thunder am I going to get him over thar to China? [from Ron Takaki, Iron Cages]
During WWII Anti-Asian hostility was directed against the Japanese, while Chinese became the "good" Asians. There was a concerted effort to try to distinguish Japanese from Chinese, even by using "physical anthropology." Here is one example:
A look back at Life magazine of December 1941:
Even Chinese and Koreans tried to distinguish themselves from Japanese by wearing "I am Chinese" or "I am Korean" buttons. See the story "Wiltshire Bus" By Hisaye Yamamoto, in Seventeen Syllables
In reaction to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans were interned in "relocation camps" as suspected Alien enemies. For more on this subject see the internment homepage.
Contemporary Asian America is a mutltiplicity of identities and images:
Stay tuned for more information or check out these sites:
Asian American Statistics and Stereotypes
Yahoo Asian American Home Page ...May it serve as a constant reminder of our past so that Americans in the future will never again be denied their constitutional rights and may the remembrance of that experience serve to advance the evolution of the human spirit...
- Plaque at the Poston Relocation Center1
How could such a tragedy have occurred in a democratic society that prides itself on individual rights and freedoms?... I have brooded about this whole episode on and off for the past three decades...
- Milton S. Eisenhower , in The President Is Calling3
In the entire course of the war, 10 people were convicted of spying for Japan, all of whom were Caucasian.2
Contents
Pre-War Intelligence Updated: 4/15/96
The Politics Updated: 2/3/97
An Exclusion Poster Updated: 4/22/96
The Camps Updated: 10/6/97
Memories Updated: 1/13/97
Shootings Updated: 3/17/01
Disillusionment Updated: 2/2/97
Timeline Updated: 7/10/00
Glossary Updated: 11/23/96
Gallery Updated: 6/3/96
Contributions & Requests Updated: 7/15/02
Terry Janzen Updated: 11/15/01
Web Sites
The Japanese American Legacy Project from
Heart Mountain Relocation Camp from the
A Japanese American Memorial for All from
The Nikkei Page by
Heart Mountain Digital Preservation Project from
Japanese American Exhibit and Access Project by
Internment Experience, an On-Line Exhibit by
The Museum of the City of San Francisco by
WRA Camps in Arizona, 1942-1946 from the University of Arizona Library
Nikkei Heritage Online from
Conscience and the Constitution from
Children of the Camps by
Rabbit in the Moon from
Japanese American Internment Experience by
Internment of Japanese Americans by
by and J. E. Fallon
The 442nd Go for Broke by
Japanese-American Veterans' Association from
An Abridged History of The United States by
Hirasaki National Resource Center from
Civil Liberties Public Education Fund from
Japanese Relocation during World War II from the
Fort Missoula, Federal Detention Center from
Poston Arizona Gallery by
Manzanar Relocation Camp from
Manzanar Project by and D. Lockett
Our World, Manzanar by
Ansel Adams: Born Free and Equal by
Japanese Farmers in California by
History by
Mothers Who Think: Breaking the Silence with Rahna Reiko Rizzuto
Dorothea Lange from
from
Beyond Heart Mountain by
An Internment Experience from by
The Japanese American Network at
Web Documents
Ex parte Mitsuye Endo, 323 U.S. 283 from
Excerpts from Personal Justice Denied from
Questions 27 and 28 by George Takei
A Stolen Youth by Julian Guthrie
Seabrook: Long a spot for starting life over by
Seabrook Cultural & Education Center from
Ghostly Camps, Alien Nation by Lawson Fusao Inada
Military Necessity or Racial Prejudice? by Tatiana A. Klimova
The Decision to Evacuate by Stetson Conn
The Construction of Race by
Free to Die for Their Country by Eric Muller
Snow Falling on Cedars from Random House
Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy from the Moynihan Commission
Japanese Canadian Historical Timeline from Japanese American Internment from Mindscape
Japanese-American Internment by
After 50 years, bitter memories endure by Corey Takahashi
Racism after internment by David Foster
When Americans were treated as traitors by Don Kazak
A fight for freedom by Sarah Reid
Poignant Memories by Stefanie Asin
Pawns in a Game: Latin Americans During War from Reuters News Service
The WW2 Japanese American Experience from
Miyatake: Documenting Disgrace from
Forum to give first-hand look into Japanese internment by Cindy Long
The Manzanar Project: Towards a Solution to Hunger by
Indexes & Directories
Asian American Film.com
"The purpose of AsianAmericanFilm.com is to build an engaged, involved, active, and excited audience for Asian American films."
Asian American Journalists Association
Asian Pacific American Resources at the Smithsonian
"This brochure was published by the Smithsonian's Office of Public Affairs, April 1997.
Asian-Nation
The Landscape of Asian America
"...your one-stop information source on the historical, political, social, economic, and cultural elements and issues that make up today's diverse Asian American community. You can almost think of Asian-Nation as an online version of 'Asian Americans 101.'"
Sections include: Culture ; History ; Immigration ; Issues ; Links ; Viet Nam
Association of Asian American Studies
Beginning Library Research on Asian American Studies
A Stanford University Libraries online guide but contains a bibliography of standard academic resources and a useful listing of Library of Congress subject headings that makes subject searching on online library catalogs easier.
Chinese Organizations in the USA (includes Hawaii)
Internet Resources on Asian Americans
From East & Southeast Asia: An Annotated Directory of Internet Resources
Sections include: Multiculturalism ; The Wen Ho Lee Case ; Communities ; Culture & the Arts ; Japanese Internment ; Immigration & Asylum ; General Information ; Political & Social Issues ; Media ; History.
Japanese American Citizens League
Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC)
Japanese American National Museum
Japanese American Network
Sections include: History ; Community Directory ; Public Policy ; Little Tokyo, Los Angeles ; Arts & Culture ; Social Services ; News & Events ; Just for Fun.
Based in Los Anglese
Korean American Historical Society
Korean American Media
Korean American Museum
National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium
Nikkei Home Page
By R. Russell Nakatsu
Organization of Chinese Americans
Preliminary Guide to Resources on Asian Pacific American Artists at the Archives of American Art
Smithsonian Archives of American Art
Recommended Asian American Websites
"This list includes selected Asian American web resources useful for academic research and information purposes...Only Web sites that are reflective of Asian American realities were considered; sites that are exclusively Asian in origin or focus are only rarely included. Recommended Web sites listed below were evaluated for breadth, perceived authority, stability, usefulness, and accuracy
By Susan A. Vega Garcia, Diversity & Ethnic Studies, Iowa State University
Selected Laws and Governmental Policies Affecting Asian-Pacific Americans
From the Race and Racism in American Law page
University of Dayton School of Law
Taiwanese American Citizens League
Teaching Asian American Studies: A Selected Bibliography
"This bibliography is only a small selection from the nearly 10,000 articles and books produced over the last 20 years in Asian American Studies. It is only meant to provide the users with the beginning points in their search for lecture and teaching materials on Asians in America. This was compiled by ICenyon S. Chan (Asian American Studies, California State University, Northridge) and Shirley Hune (Urban Planning, UCLA), 1995."
UCLA Asian American Studies Center
University of Southern California - Korean Heritage Library
Digital Library
ADE Bulletin
Association of Departments of English
Asian America
"The only American TV program on Asian issues broadcast in English on PBS"
Asian American Film & Video Database
From Asian American Film.com
AsianWeek.com
"The Voice of Asian America"
AsiaSource - Asia Today
Japanese American National Museum - "Dear Miss Breed- Letters from Camp"
"This digital exhibit highlights the Museum's collection of letters written to San Diego librarian Clara Breed by Japanese Americans interned in World War II concentration camps." - "The Life and Work of George Hoshida- A Japanese American's Journey"
"This Web site honors the spirit and talent of George Hoshida (1907-1985), an incarcerated artist who documented camp life with pencil and brushwork in a series of notebooks he kept between 1942 and 1945." - "Finding Family Stories Gallery"
"This electronic gallery features artists previously involved in Finding Family Stories. Working with the Korean American Museum, The Watts Towers Arts Center and Plaza de la Raza has enabled the Japanese American National Museum to initiate an ongoing dialogue about the "purity" of ethnic communities by examining the historic and contemporary crossovers and exchanges between the Japanese American, African American and Latino communities in Los Angeles."
KoreAm Journal
"...was launched in April 1990 as an English-language Korean American publication serving the greater Los Angeles area. KoreAm's intent then and today is to provide quality coverage on issues impacting the community and to report on the achievements of Korean descendants in America.
Korean American Digital Archive
"The Korean American Digital Archive includes materials that document the record of the Korean American community during the period of resistance to Japanese rule in Korea. Over 11,000 pages of documents, over 1,800 photographs, and several oral history sound recordings reveal the organizational and private experience of Koreans in America between 1903 and 1965."
From Libraries @ USC [University of Southern California]
Little Saigon Online
The Philippine Reporter
Selected Laws and Governmental Policies Affecting Asian-Pacific Americans
From the Race and Racism in American Law page
University of Dayton School of Law
Southeast Asian Archive
Sections include: General ; Cambodian ; Hmong ; Lao ; Vietnamese
University of California, Irvine Libraries
U.S. Census Bureau
University of Southern California - Korean Heritage Library
WRA Exhibit - Text of Executive Order No. 9066
Order that led to the the internment of 110,000 Japanese Americans
The Online Archive of California (OAC)
- Japanese American Relocation Digital Archive (JARDA)
"Curators from the eight participating OAC members selected a broad range of primary sources to be digitized, including: photographs, documents, manuscripts, paintings, drawings, letters, and oral histories. Over 10,000 digital images have been created complimented by 20,000 pages of electronic transcriptions of document and oral histories."
Camp Harmony Exhibit
"This exhibit tells the story of Seattle's Japanese American community in the spring and summer of 1942 and their four month sojourn at the Puyallup Assembly Center known as "Camp Harmony."
University of Washington Libraries
Colorado State Archives
Conscience and the Constitution
" In World War II, a handful of young Americans refused to be drafted from an American concentration camp. They were ready to fight for their country, but not before the government restored their rights as U.S. citizens and released their families from camp. It was a classic example of civil disobedience -- but the government prosecuted them as criminals and Japanese American leaders and veterans ostracized them as traitors. CONSCIENCE AND THE CONSTITUTION delves into the heart of the Japanese American conscience and a controversy that continues today. Experience the choice faced by any group when confronted by mass injustice -- whether to comply or to resist."
PBS Online
Heart Mountain Digital Preservation Project
"...features documents and photographs from the Heart Mountain Relocation Center Collection at the John Taggart Hinckley Library. The complete contents of the Collection will soon be available on this WEB-site and on CD-ROM at the John Taggart Hinckley Library."
Sections include: Photographs ; Documents ; Events ; History ; The Project.
Northwest College, Powell, Wyoming
Heart Mountain Relocation Camp
From the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation
The Japanese American Internment
An extensive listing of reports, letters, web sites and web documents.
By John Yu
Japanese-Americans Internment Camps During World War II
An online exhibit from the Special Collections Department, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, and Private Collections
Japanese American National Museum - "Dear Miss Breed- Letters from Camp"
"This digital exhibit highlights the Museum's collection of letters written to San Diego librarian Clara Breed by Japanese Americans interned in World War II concentration camps."
Japanese American Relocation Digital Archive (JARDA)
"...will serve as a gateway to the archival and manuscript holdings of numerous California archives and museums featuring online finding aids, digital images, electronic texts and oral histories. JARDA contains personal diaries, letters, photographs, and drawings. The digital archives also contain WRA materials: camp newsletters, final reports, photographs, and other documents relating to the day-to-day administration of the camps. Finally, the oral histories document the lives of persons who lived in the camps as well as the administrators who created and worked in the camps. For the first time, these primary resources -- physically preserved at seven geographically separate repositories -- will be integrated through a single point of access."
Japanese-Americans Internment Camps During World War II
An online exhibit from the Special Collections Department, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, and Private Collections
Manzanar - America's Concentration Camp
Includes a selection of images
From Mt. Whitney Packers & Owns Valley History [California] Site
Manzanar Portraits
Manzanar Ringo-En
Materials Related to the Japanese American Incarceration
"Included in the collection are such materials as: personal papers and correspondence; photographs; drawings; diaries; camp newsletters and newspapers; transcripts of interviews; official documents, forms and instructions from the United States War Relocation Authority (WRA)"
An inventory and guide for the researcher not an online database
Manuscripts & University Archives, University of Washington Libraries
A More Perfect Union
Japanese Americans & the U.S. Constitution
"This site explores a period of U.S. history when racial prejudice and fear upset the delicate balance between the rights of a citizen versus the power of the state. Focusing on the experiences of Japanese Americans who were placed in detention camps during World War II, this exhibit is a case study in decision-making and citizen action under the U.S. Constitution."
National Museum of American History, Smithsonian
Museum of the City of San Francisco - Internment of San Francisco Japanese
Evacuation and Internment of San Francisco Japanese 1942
Includes a large collection of San Francisco News articles from March and April, 1942.
National Park Service: Confinement and Ethnicity
An Overview of World War II Japanese American Relocation Sites
Publications in Anthropology 74 1999 (rev. July 2000)
Sections include: Essay ; Brief History ; Gila River ; Granada ; Heart Mountain ; Jerome ; Manzanar ; Minidoka ; Poston ; Rohwer ; Topaz ; Tule Lake ; Isolation Centers ; Isolation Centers ; Additional Facilities ; Assembly Centers ; Prisons
Rabbit in the Moon
A Memoir/Documentary by Emiko Omiri
A Companion Web site to the film.
"...a documentary about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. You are about to begin a journey that further explores the issues addressed in the film. At points, you will walk in the shoes of various characters from the film and experience the emotional impact of the internment. Other moments will address a more historical and political perspective on this chapter of American history. We invite you to respond to the film itself as well as to the questions and scenarios presented on this site...uncovers a buried history of political tensions, social and generational divisions, and resistance and collaboration in the camps. With fascinating archival and recently recovered home movies, Omori and her older sister Chizuko, who were children when they went to the camps, also confront their own family secrets especially the silence surrounding the death of their mother only a year after the family's release..."
PBS POV Online
Remembering Manzanar
By Chuck Thstlethwaite
"Suffering Under a Great Injustice"
Ansel Adams's Photographs of Japanese-American Internment at Manzanar
"...the Prints and Photographs Division at the Library of Congress presents for the first time side-by-side digital scans of both Adams's 242 original negatives and his 209 photographic prints, allowing viewers to see his darkroom technique and in particular how he cropped his prints."
American Memory, Library of Congress
Topaz Camp
Opened September 1942 in Millard County, Utah
By Jane Beckwith
War Relocation Authority Camps in Arizona, 1942-1946
"This Exhibit features images from approximately forty photographs taken for the War Relocation Authority and vividly depicts life in Arizona's two camps."
University of Arizona Library's Special Collection
History
Asian American Oral History Site
" It features multimedia oral histories, topics related to Asian-American families, and creative works, all cross-listed under various indices, including a clickable graphic view of the entire oral history database."
Compiled by the Students of Asian American Studies 150, University of California, Berkeley
Asian American Women's History - Chronology
By Teresa Huang
Asian-Nation
The Landscape of Asian America
"...your one-stop information source on the historical, political, social, economic, and cultural elements and issues that make up today's diverse Asian American community. You can almost think of Asian-Nation as an online version of 'Asian Americans 101.'"
Sections include: Culture ; History ; Immigration ; Issues ; Links ; Viet Nam
Chinese American History Timeline
From Interactive Chinese American History - A Project of Asian American Studies 121, University of California, Berkeley
Chronology of Asian American History
Source: Sucheng Chan, Asian Americans, an Interpretive History, 1991, Twayne Publishers, Boston.
From the MIT Asian American Studies Homepage by Emma Teng
Densho: The Japanese-American Legacy Project
"The Densho Project is a non-profit educational endeavor, preserving the history of Japanese Americans and bringing it into classrooms and libraries around the world...The Project digitally videotapes individuals describing their lives, and telling the stories of their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. Preserved are descriptions on everything from their families' immigration, to the incarceration of the Japanese American community during World War II, to discussions of what it means to be 'an American.' ... Moreover, in addition to this videotape archive, the Densho Project has digitally scanned over a thousand photographic images, rare documents, and private memorabilia."
Internet Resources on Asian Americans
From East & Southeast Asia: An Annotated Directory of Internet Resources
Sections include: Multiculturalism ; The Wen Ho Lee Case ; Communities ; Culture & the Arts ; Japanese Internment ; Immigration & Asylum ; General Information ; Political & Social Issues ; Media ; History .
Japanese American History Archives (San Francisco)
"...is an extensive, growing collection of books, periodicals, documents, maps, photographs, art and film relating to the Japanese experience in the United States from the mid-1800s, when the first Japanese pioneers set foot on American soil, to the present."
Japanese American National Museum
The Japanese American Network - History
Sections include: References ; Japanese American Internment Websites ; War Veteran Websites ; Japanese Americans in Hawaii ; Other Japanese American History Websites ; Education Resources.
The Japanese American World War II Experience
"The Japanese-American World War II Experience electronic library is devoted to the collection and display of documentation one of our Nation's most Constitutionally challenged periods."
Korean American Historical Society
Korean American Museum
A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans and the Constitution
Smithsonian travelling exhibit
Museum of Chinese in the Americas
"...is the only professionally-staffed museum in the United States dedicated to preserving Chinese American history.
National Japanese American Historical Society
Nikkei Home Page
By R. Russell Nakatsu
A Short Chronology of Japanese American History
Adapted from Japanese American History: An A-to-Z Reference from 1868 to the Present. Edited by Brian Niiya (New York: Facts-on-File, 1993).
University of Hawai'i at Manoa - Digital Archive Collection - Hawaii War Records Depository (HWRD)
"...was created in 1943 to document the impact of the war upon Hawai'i and its populace. HWRD showcases approximately 1,325 photographs of which 300 are clearly identified from Hawaii's two major English newspapers and have been scanned with permission."
University of Southern California - Korean Heritage Library
Wing Luke Asian Museum (Seattle)
"A pan-Asian Pacific American Museum devoted to the collection, preservation and display of Asian Pacific American culture, history and art, our programs are inspired and created by the combined efforts of museum professionals and grassroots community members."
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