japanese american internment assignment

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U.S. History

Teaching Japanese-American Internment Using Primary Resources

Rarely seen photos of japanese internment.

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By Marjorie Backman and Michael Gonchar

Dec. 7, 2017

The day after the early-morning surprise assault on Pearl Harbor, on Dec. 7, 1941, the United States formally declared war on Japan and entered World War II. Over the next few months, almost 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, over 60 percent of whom were American citizens, were removed from their homes, businesses and farms on the West Coast and forced to live in internment camps. Why? The United States government feared that these individuals, simply because of their ethnicity, posed a national security threat.

More than 40 years later, Congress passed legislation mandating apologies and reparations for violations of the civil liberties and the constitutional rights of those incarcerated during the war. “It’s not for us today to pass judgment upon those who may have made mistakes while engaged in that great struggle,” said President Ronald Reagan, on signing the 1988 legislation. “Yet we must recognize that the internment of Japanese-Americans was just that, a mistake.”

In this lesson, students use original Times reporting and other resources to investigate the forced internment of Japanese-Americans — and track how the government has gradually apologized for some of its actions over the decades. Students will also have the opportunity to look for echoes in today’s world of this difficult chapter in American history.

Arrests, Roundups and Internment

Primary sources: newspaper articles and editorials

Background: Over time, almost 120,000 Japanese-Americans, regardless of whether they were immigrants or had been born in the United States, were evacuated from their homes and brought to temporary assembly centers before being confined to one of several remote internment camps.

Students will square these events with the sobering findings of this 1983 government report : “All this was done despite the fact that not a single documented act of espionage, sabotage or fifth column activity was committed by an American citizen of Japanese ancestry or by a resident Japanese alien on the West Coast.”

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Japanese American Internment
(see )
11-12
:
What would it feel like to have neighbors and friends from school suddenly disappear because of their race? In this lesson, students will experience the internment of Japanese Americans from San Francisco's Fillmore neighborhood. By connecting local experiences with national events, students will understand both the constitutional issues at stake and the human impact of this government policy.

PROGRAM SEGMENTS:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
MATERIALS:
:
PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITIES:	and click on the link to the war poster. What does the poster announce? Who printed it? When? Who was intended to read it? Why?
FOCUS FOR VIEWING:
VIEWING ACTIVITIES:
POST-VIEWING ACTIVITIES:	and interpret the rationale for interning Japanese Americans and the community reaction for class discussion. being evacuated and in internment camps. Choose one photo that moves you. Try to find out who the person(s) was. Write a letter to him/her in the camp. What thoughts and feelings would you like to convey about their situation? How do you feel about them being locked up while you are free to continue living where you do, continue going to school, etc.? and identify the number of Japanese Americans imprisoned.Students could create a map of internment camps locations.
EXTENSIONS:	- or /). Quoting text from the Constitution, have students draft a 1-page argument supporting or denying the constitutionality of the order.
ASSESSMENT:
STANDARDS:	.

EL Education Curriculum

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ELA 2019 G8:M4

Lessons from Japanese American Internment

In this module, guiding questions and big ideas, content connections, technology and multimedia, optional: community, experts, fieldwork, service, and extensions, performance task, texts and resources to buy, module-at-a-glance, you are here:.

ELA 2019 Grade 8

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In Module 4, students learn about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. They study the experiences of survivors of internment, focusing most centrally on the experiences conveyed in the anchor text, Farewell to Manzanar . This memoir, told through the eyes of Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, chronicles the experiences of her and her family at the Japanese American internment camp Manzanar. Through close examination of this text and of other supplemental texts that provide context about the impact of internment, students deepen their understanding of this dark time in history and of the lessons that can be learned from it.

In Unit 1, students are introduced to the anchor text. They analyze how the text makes connections among and distinctions between important individuals, ideas, or events, tracking these connections and distinctions in a note-catcher. They also begin to develop an anchor chart to highlight significant ideas that emerge from the text, including the ways in which Jeanne and her family members are impacted by internment. To further develop the background knowledge needed to interpret the events described in the text, students examine images and primary source documents that center on other Japanese American internment experiences. Also in Unit 1, students watch two segments of the Farewell to Manzanar film. They focus on key moments, noting the extent to which the film stays faithful to or departs from the text. Students also examine how significant ideas from the text are conveyed in the film. The assessments of the unit evaluate students’ abilities (a) to analyze the connections and distinctions made in a new chapter of the text and (b) to discuss the causes and impacts of Japanese American internment in a collaborative discussion.

In the first half of Unit 2, students finish reading the anchor text and watch the two final segments of the Farewell to Manzanar film. They continue analyzing connections and distinctions, identifying significant ideas, and evaluating the film’s depiction of events in the text. They also analyze the points of view of different individuals in the text. The Mid-Unit 2 Assessment challenges students to demonstrate these analytical skills with a new chapter of the text. In the second half of Unit 2, students revisit the Painted Essay® structure to analyze a model literary argument essay that addresses the following prompt: One significant idea in the text Farewell to Manzanar is that Jeanne’s youth impacts her understanding of events in the text. How effectively does the film Farewell to Manzanar convey this significant idea? Using a similar prompt about the significant idea that Papa feels conflicted loyalties to both the United States and Japan, students write collaborative argument essays that prepare them to produce their own independent argument essays during the end of unit assessment. These essays work with the same question but invite students to choose a different significant idea on which to focus.

In the first half of Unit 3, students engage with supplemental texts that help them better understand the impact and legacy of internment. First, students read about the efforts of some Japanese Americans to seek redress, or reparations, for their incarceration. Then, they read about the negative psychological effects of internment and about the protests of internment survivors against modern-day migrant detention centers. With these supplemental texts as well as the anchor text in mind, students develop a list of “lessons from internment”: enduring understandings that can be taken away from the study of Japanese American internment. For the Mid-Unit 3 Assessment, students collaboratively discuss these lessons from internment and how they are embodied by the redress movement. In the second half of Unit 3, students apply this learning to their own communities. They conduct research about and then interviews with activist organizations whose work embodies, in some way, these lessons of internment. Students present their findings during the End of Unit 3 Assessment.

For their performance task, students participate in small group discussions during the “Activist Assembly.” With classmates and members of the local community, students discuss the best ways to apply lessons from internment to their own communities, using evidence from their research of local organizations to support their ideas.

Notes from the Designer

Farewell to Manzanar conveys the first-hand experiences of young Jeanne Wakatsuki, who was imprisoned at a Japanese American internment camp with her family. The experiences described may be upsetting for students or challenging for them to process. Teaching notes throughout the lessons provide suggestions for how best to support students as they make sense of difficult content. Preview the text in advance, and speak with students and families in advance.

Note that this module uses the term internment to describe the imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II. This term may conflict with some ideas of how to name this time in history most appropriately. Some recent debates have asserted that the word internment is too specific and thus not inclusive enough of the distinct types of Japanese American imprisonment during this time. Suggestions for alternative terms have been proposed; these include incarceration or concentration camp . EL Education recognizes the importance of appropriately naming sensitive topics and wishes to do so with sensitivity. In this case, the term internment was selected because it reflects the language choices of the authors of the anchor text. Note, however, that when the authors of supplemental texts read in Unit 3 begin using the term incarceration , the curriculum materials begin to use this term as well. If productive, discuss with students the issue of naming, examining how the way in which we name someone or something can validate or undermine the subject’s perceived worth. As an extension, consider inviting students to conduct further research into the debate surrounding the naming of internment and allowing them to determine, based on their research, which term would be most appropriate to use in this module.

What were the causes and impacts of Japanese American internment camps?

Japanese American internment camps were ordered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II to incarcerate hundreds of thousands of Japanese Americans in the western United States. These camps were established out of fear and prejudice toward Japanese American people after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Internment camps uprooted people from their homes and communities, stripped them of their rights, confiscated their personal property, and forced them to live and work as prisoners.

What are the main lessons that can be learned from Japanese American internment?

It is wrong to view entire populations as homogeneous.
Upholding the rights of other human beings is critical work.
In times of terrible struggle, people can draw strength from their identities and communities.

How can people effectively apply the lessons of internment to their own communities?

The Redress Movement, which began in the 1970s, has aimed to restore the rights of, issue an apology to, and/or monetarily compensate the survivors of internment.
Local organizations can uphold human rights, celebrate diversity, and support community.

This module is designed to address English language arts standards and to be taught during the literacy block. But the module intentionally incorporates social studies content that may align to additional teaching during other parts of the day. These intentional connections are described below.

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards

D4.3.6-8. Present adaptations of arguments and explanations on topics of interest to others to reach audiences and venues outside the classroom using print and oral technologies (e.g., posters, essays, letters, debates, speeches, reports, and maps) and digital technologies (e.g., Internet, social media, and digital documentary).
D4.6.6-8. Draw on multiple disciplinary lenses to analyze how a specific problem can manifest itself at local, regional, and global levels over time, identifying its characteristics and causes, and the challenges and opportunities faced by those trying to address the problem.
D2.His.1.6-8. Analyze connections among events and developments in broader historical contexts.
D2.His.3.6-8. Use questions generated about individuals and groups to analyze why they, are the developments they shaped, are seen as historically significant.
D2.His.4.6-8. Analyze multiple factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras.
D2.His.6.6-8. Analyze how people's perspectives influenced what information is available in the historical sources they created.
D2.His.14.6-8. Explain multiple causes and effects of events and developments in the past.
D2.Civ.1.6-8. Distinguish the powers and responsibilities of citizens, political parties, interest groups, and the media in a variety of governmental and nongovernmental contexts.
D2.Civ.6.6-8. Describe the roles of political, civil, and economic organizations in shaping people's lives.
D2.Civ.10.6-8. Explain the relevance of personal interests and perspectives, civic virtues, and democratic principles when people address issues and problems in government and civil society.
D2.Civ.12.6-8. Assess specific rules and laws (both actual and proposed) as means of addressing public problems.
D2.Civ.13.6-8. Analyze the purposes, implementation, and consequences of public policies in multiple settings.
D2.Civ.14.6-8. Compare historical and contemporary means of changing societies and promoting the common good.
Online word processing tool : Students complete their note-catchers and write their essays and narratives online.
S peech-to-text/text-to-speech tool : Aids students in reading, writing, and note-taking. Students listen to audio (or text-to-speech) versions of texts to assist with fluency and comprehension. They also use speech-to-text technology to assist with writing and note-taking.
Many newer devices already have this capability; there are also free apps for this purpose.
Online Densho archives : Students can explore archived images and written documents to build background knowledge and better understand the experiences of Japanese American internment survivors.

Refer to each Unit Overview for more details, including information about what to prepare in advance.

Widen the audience for the Activist Assembly by creating opportunities for students to conduct mini presentations in other classrooms of their school. These mini presentations can highlight ways for people to apply the lessons from internment to their own schools and communities.
Support links between ELLs’ home languages and countries and major tasks of the module. Ways to do this may include the following:
Helping students locate activist organizations that serve populations who do not speak English as a first language.
Inviting class research into the language-specific experiences of Japanese American internment. This research could center around questions like “Were prisoners allowed to speak Japanese in Japanese American internment camps?” or “How did language differences among older and younger Japanese American prisoners affect feelings of community within the camps?”
Inviting bilingual figures from the community to share their module-related expertise (e.g., about Japanese American internment, about local activism).
Reach out to an organization like Densho ( http://eled.org/0263 ), whose mission is to preserve the stories of interned Japanese Americans. See if a representative of the organization would be willing to host a webinar or in-class Skype call to answer students’ questions about Japanese American internment. This exchange could be formatted as an interview to serve as a model for the interviews students conduct during Unit 3.
Research local exhibits centered on Japanese American internment, and arrange opportunities for students to visit and reflect upon exhibit material. Challenge students to conduct additional research to contextualize their understanding of the exhibit.
In Unit 3, students identify the best ways to get involved with the local activist organizations they interview. If feasible, set up an opportunity for students to get involved themselves (i.e., through a class volunteer day at one of the organizations).
Challenge students to work with the school librarians to develop book displays or reading lists of texts about Japanese American internment. Refer to the Recommended Texts list for suggestions.
Support and challenge students’ understanding of the ways in which a text’s significant ideas can be represented in a film version of the text. Students can, for homework, read a popular text and watch and analyze its film version. Invite students to track the strategies they use for comparing the film to the text and analyzing the film’s representation of key ideas in the text. These strategies can be applied to the work of Unit 2.
Encourage triads to transform their Activist’s anchor charts into a more artistic visual piece that can be displayed in a public area at the school or elsewhere in the community. Students can include, or build off of, the visuals they created for the End of Unit 3 Assessment presentations.
With support, students can conduct research about modern-day internment, both in the United States and abroad. Students can apply their understanding of Japanese American internment—its causes and impacts—to the new contexts that they investigate. Make sure that students are drawing responsible, evidence-based conclusions and upholding the distinct and personal experiences of different interned populations.

Each unit file includes supporting materials for teachers and students, including guidance for supporting English language learners throughout this unit.

ELA 2019 G8:M4:U1

Build background knowledge: lessons from japanese american internment, ela 2019 g8:m4:u2, write a literary argument: significant ideas in farewell to manzanar, ela 2019 g8:m4:u3, investigate, discover, and apply lessons from japanese american internment.

Each unit in the 6-8 Language Arts Curriculum has two standards-based assessments built in, one mid-unit assessment and one end of unit assessment. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize students' understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

Activist Assembly

This performance task gives students the opportunity to participate in an activist assembly to share, negotiate, and refine ideas for meaningful engagement in their own communities. The ideas that students develop should embody and apply lessons learned from Japanese American internment and aim to contribute to a better world.

Texts and resources that need to be procured. Please download the Required Trade Books and Resources Procurement List for procurement guidance.

Text or Resource	Quantity	ISBNs
	one per classroom
	one per student

Each module is approximately 6-8 weeks of instruction, broken into 3 units. The Module-at-a-Glance charts, available on the grade level landing pages, provide a big picture view of the module, breaking down the module into a week-by-week outline. It shows how the module unfolds, the focus of each week of instruction, and where the six assessments and the performance task occur.

View the module-at-a-glance chart

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National Archives News

Japanese American Internment

San Pedro, California. Trucks were jammed high with suitcases, blankets, household equipment, garden tools, as well as children, all bearing registration tags... (National Archives Identifier 536782)

The National Archives has extensive holdings including photos, videos, and records that chronicle the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Many are online in the National Archives Catalog , including thousands of photographs .

Featured Article

News Feature Article: Correcting the Record on Dorothea Lange's Japanese Internment Photos

Prologue Magazine

How an eagle feels when his wings are clipped and caged: Relocation Center Newspapers Describe Japanese American Internment in World War II

The Past Recaptured? The Photographic Record of the Internment of Japanese-Americans

Return to Sender: U.S. Censorship of Enemy Alien Mail in World War II

A "New" FDR Emerges: Historians, Teachers, Authors Take a Fresh, Sometimes Critical, Look at Roosevelt

U.S. Censorship of Enemy Alien Mail in World War II

Nationwide and Online Exhibits

Japanese American Internment, 1942

Boarding trains for Manzanar relocation, 1942. Japanese Americans arrive at Santa Anita (California) .

War! Japanese American Internment

Japanese Americans arrive at the Santa Anita (California) Assembly Center before being moved inland to an internment camp.

Japan Surrenders

The Japanese envoys sign the Instrument of Surrender on board the U.S.S. Missouri. Record Group 80-G General Records of the U.S. Navy

Righting a Wrong

The exhibition will explore this history through the Executive Order 9066 document on loan from the National Archives

Japanese American National Museum , Los Angeles, California.

Exhibition “Instruction to All Persons: Reflections on Executive Order 9066” featuring the original Executive Order authorizing WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans, on loan from National Archives.

Boeing Learning Center, National Archives, Washington, DC

Wednesday, February 1, 2017 through February 28, 2017 - 10:00am to 4:00pm

Seventy-five years ago, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1941, and put into motion the process of Japanese Internment. Stop by the Boeing Learning Center this month to engage in hands-on activities and immerse yourself in a world of spies and suppressed evidence to solve the mystery of how the National Archives helped right the wrongs of Japanese Internment.

Press Releases

Press Release: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library Japanese Internment Photo Exhibition

Press Release: Smithsonian Marks 75th Anniversary of Executive Order 9066

Top of page

Lesson Plan Japanese American Internment: Fear Itself

What was the World War II experience like for the thousands of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast? The activities in this lesson are designed to provide a window into the war years. Using primary sources, students will explore a period in United States history when 120,000 Japanese Americans were evacuated from the West Coast and held in internment camps.

Students will be able to:

evaluate documents and photographs from Library of Congress online collections.
explain how major events are related to each other in time.
recognize point of view in print and visual materials.
draw upon primary sources to create a presentation reflective of the Japanese American internment experience.

Time Required

Lesson preparation.

Primary Source Analysis Tool
Warren Tsuneishi
Norman Ikari
Japanese-American child who is being evacuated with his parents to Owens Valley
Japanese-American Evacuation from Los Angeles
FDR Signing the Declaration of War
Dorothea Lange
Teacher's Guides

Lesson Procedure

Activity one - evacuation day (30 minutes).

Introduce students to the lesson using Photograph 1 (Japanese-American child who is being evacuated with his parents to Owens Valley) on-line, on a handout, or overhead transparency. Students analyze the photograph, recording their thoughts on the Primary Source Analysis Tool . Before the students begin, select questions from the teacher’s guide Analyzing Photographs and Prints to focus and prompt analysis and discussion.

Engage in a whole-class discussion based on student observations of the photograph and prior knowledge of World War II.

Activity Two - "A Date That Will Live in Infamy" (30 minutes)

Team students in groups of 2-4 and have them brainstorm the connection between:

Item 1 (Dispatch announcing bombing of Pearl Harbor);
Item 2 (FDR signing the Declaration of War);
Item 3 (Prelude to the Japanese Exodus, Dorothea Lange , Women Come to the Front, Library of Congress on-line exhibit).

Each group should write a one sentence explanation of the connection(s) they see between the three documents. Bring the groups together and have them share their sentences.

Picture Day (30 minutes)

Team students in groups of 2-4. Give them a copy of Photograph 2 (Japanese-American Evacuation from Los Angeles), project it on the overhead, or have students access it online.
Allow time for them to brainstorm and analyze the photograph, recording their thoughts on the Primary Source Analysis Tool . Before the students begin, select questions from the teacher's guide Analyzing Photographs and Prints to focus and prompt analysis and discussion.
Ask students to create a tableau (a scene frozen in time and space) in which they become the personalities in the photograph. They must assume the same pose as the person whose role they have taken. Students remain frozen until you tap them. At that time, they will answer in the "first person" any questions you might have for them.

Two Sides to Every Story: Poetry for Two Voices (2 class periods)

A poem for two voices is a two-column format that allows writers to juxtapose two contrasting ideas, concepts, or perspectives. Alternating lines indicate opposing view points and are read by an individual voice. Adjacent lines represent agreement or compromise and are therefore read in unison.

Have students pair up. Distribute copies of Franklin Roosevelt's "A Date Which Will Live in Infamy" speech and materials selected from the Veterans History collections of Warren Tsuneishi or Norman Ikari . As they read through FDR's speech, they should highlight phrases that might explain why the US government chose to imprison Japanese-Americans. As they read through the selected interview, they should highlight phrases that explain what internment was really like from the perspective of a former camp internee.

In their own words and/or using words from the speech and interview, students will use the poetry for two voices format to create a two-column poem on Japanese internment.

Students should illustrate their poems and mount them on construction paper.

Newspaper Article

Have students write a newspaper article in response to a photo in this gallery of Japanese American internment photographs . This evaluation could be assigned as an in-class writing prompt or as homework. Before assigning the article:

discuss the prompt (reflect on and respond to an internment photograph) and the guidelines
write rough drafts
edit (independently or with peers and/or teacher)
publish final draft of article

If you are using this lesson as an introduction to reading a World War II novel, assign this activity after students have completed their reading.

Lesson Evaluation

Student work can be scored with a class-generated rubric or according to teacher specifications.

Gail Desler

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Make sure you look through the bibliographies of secondary sources, which can lead you to other secondary sources and to primary sources.

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More about the writing of papers:

The Craft of Research (e-book)

This classic book on writing a college research paper is easily skimmed or deep enough for the truly obsessed researcher, explains the whole research process from initial questioning, through making an argument, all the way to effectively writing your paper.

Reading, Writing, and Researching for History: A Guide for College Students Professor Patrick Rael [a Berkeley PhD] has written a comprehensive but easy to skim web guide to writing history papers. Recommended by History Dept faculty.

There are two ways to connect to library resources from off-campus using the new library proxy:

Links to online resources on library websites, such as UC Library Search, will allow you to login with CalNet directly.
To access library resources found via non-UCB sites, such as Google or Google Scholar, you can add the EZproxy bookmarklet to your browser. Then, whenever you land on a licensed library resource, select your EZproxy bookmarklet to enable CalNet login.

More information is on the EZproxy guide .

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Stanford University

Teaching about Japanese-American Internment

Introduction

Civil rights issues

Japanese immigration

Media perspectives

Question of “loyalty”

Redress and reparations

Resources and methods

Recommended sources

Although many state and national U.S. history standards include the Japanese-American internment experience, more often than not it is a topic that is treated without nuance. Because of spatial considerations, many U.S. history textbooks condense this historical episode into no more than a few pages, at best. As a result, textbooks are forced to emphasize certain historical themes and to abandon others. This digest offers suggestions on the teaching of Japanese-American internment as a supplement to current textbook offerings on the subject.

Introduction.

Most American students are probably at least somewhat familiar with the African-American struggle for equal rights. However, students may not be at all familiar with the Asian-American struggle for equal rights. Asian-American civil rights have also been challenged and/or denied throughout the history of Asians in the United States. For example, the Chinese Exclusion Act, passed by Congress in 1882, barred further immigration from China. This was an unprecedented act directed at a specific ethnic group. Furthermore, although Asian immigrants have made significant contributions to U.S. society since the mid-nineteenth century, Japanese immigrants, for example, were denied naturalization rights until 1952.

When the United States entered World War II following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Japanese immigrants and their descendants, including those born in the United States and therefore citizens by birth, were placed in a very awkward situation. The immigrants were resident aliens in the United States, a country at war with their country of birth.

Amid the hysteria following the U.S. entry into World War II, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. This order authorized the War Department to prescribe military areas from which any group of people could be excluded. This served as the legal basis for the evacuation and internment of over 110,000 Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans from the West Coast. Most were forced to sell their homes and businesses and suffered huge losses. Schooling and careers were completely disrupted.

Even more than 55 years after the closing of the camps, the Japanese-American internment experience continues to deeply affect the Japanese-American community. Below are six suggestions for teaching about Japanese-American internment.

Set the context for Japanese-American internment through an examination of civil rights.

Students should discuss the definition of “civil rights” and consider the importance of civil rights in their lives. They should also consider the U.S. Constitution as a document that describes the basic rights of U.S. citizens. Particular attention should be given to the Bill of Rights and selected amendments, e.g., XIII, XIV, and XV. Point out that the denial of due process to Japanese Americans was the central civil rights violation in their experience with internment. Due process refers to a course of legal proceedings carried out regularly and in accordance with established rules and principles.

Introduce the Japanese immigration experience in the early twentieth century.

Like the historical experiences of many other ethnic groups in the United States, the Japanese-American historical experience was, at its core, the story of an ethnic minority struggling to find its place within U.S. society. Unlike European immigrants, all Japanese immigrants to the United States were considered “aliens ineligible to citizenship” until 1952. Because of this, they could not vote. Asian Americans also experienced segregated schools. In 1906, the San Francisco Board of Education ordered 93 Japanese Americans to attend a segregated “Oriental School” with Chinese and other Asian Americans. Laws such as the Alien Land Law of 1913 in California were directed at Asian immigrants to prohibit them from purchasing land. The Immigration Act of 1924 barred further immigration from Asia.

Introduce perspectives on Japanese Americans from the media following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Japanese Americans were thrust into a precarious position following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor; this is an important issue to present to students. The U.S. media would often make no distinction between Japanese Americans and Japanese imperial soldiers. For instance, one edition of the San Francisco Examiner , published around the time of the evacuation of Japanese Americans from the West Coast, declared in a headline, “OUSTER OF ALL JAPS IN CALIFORNIA NEAR!” That same front page contained an article on the battles that were being waged in Indonesia. The title of the latter article read “Thousands of Allies Face Japs in Java.” This racial fear and prejudice combined with other forces such as desire for economic gain, hysteria generated by sensationalist journalism, political opportunism, and a sincere concern for national safety. The result was a complex mixture of motives that impelled the U.S. government to forcibly intern over 110,000 people of Japanese descent from the West Coast, two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens, into concentration camps located in isolated regions of the United States. It is also very important to point out that some non-Japanese-American groups, such as the Quakers, did speak out against internment. While the Japanese American Citizens League, a civil rights organization, urged compliance with the internment orders, several Japanese Americans protested and/or deliberately violated one or more of the evacuation orders. These violations were attempts to test the legality of the evacuation in the courts.

Introduce perspectives on the question of “loyalty.”

In February 1943, after the internment of Japanese Americans from the West Coast had been completed, the War Department and the War Relocation Authority required all internees 17 years of age and older to answer a questionnaire. This questionnaire presumably tested their “loyalty” to the United States. Two questions proved to be particularly vexing. Question #27 asked, “Are you willing to serve in the armed services of the United States on combat duty, wherever ordered?” Question #28 asked, “Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United States of America and faithfully defend the United States from any and all attack by foreign or domestic forces, and forswear any form of allegiance to the Japanese Emperor or any other foreign government, power, or organization?” Response to this questionnaire was mixed. Out of this confusion emerged three noteworthy groups of individuals: those who answered “yes-yes” and served in the armed forces, those who answered “yes-yes” (or provided qualified responses) but refused to serve in the military from concentration camps, and those who answered “no-no.” Introduce not only the experiences of the Japanese Americans who served in the military in Europe (100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team) and those who served in the Pacific War (primarily in the Military Intelligence Service as translators and interrogators of Japanese prisoners of war), but also those who answered “no-no” and those who became known as “draft resisters of conscience.” The “draft resisters of conscience” refused to serve in the military until their rights as U.S. citizens were restored. Most of those who answered “no-no” were segregated at Tule Lake concentration camp; many “resisters” were sent to prison from the camps.

Introduce redress and reparations.

The redress and reparations movement refers to efforts by the Japanese-American community to obtain an apology and compensation from the U.S. government for wrongful actions towards Japanese Americans during World War II. Arguments for and against this movement should be presented as well as the final outcome. Redress payments of $20,000 along with letters of apology (signed by President George Bush in 1990) were presented to approximately 60,000 survivors of the Japanese-American internment.

Present diverse perspectives on the Japanese-American internment experience.

Extensive primary and secondary sources exist on Japanese-American internment. Consider incorporating some of the following as a way of expanding upon the limited coverage of internment in textbooks.

utilizing a U.S. government newsreel called Japanese Relocation from 1943 that presents the government’s rationale for internment
accessing information from the Japanese American National Museum
incorporating art and poetry from the concentration camps
showing the video, Days of Waiting , which analyzes the internment experience of a Caucasian woman married to a Japanese American
incorporating literature, such as No-No Boy by John Okada or Journey Home by Yoshiko Uchida
examining Japanese-Latin American perspectives on internment (2,264 members of the Japanese community in Latin America were deported to and interned in the United States during World War II)

Recommended Sources:

Crost, Lyn. Honor by Fire: Japanese Americans at War in Europe and the Pacific. Novato, California: Presidio Press, 1994.

Daniels, Roger, Sandra C. Taylor, and Harry H. L. Kitano, eds. Japanese Americans: From Relocation to Redress. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1986. Rev. ed. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1991.

Days of Waiting , a film by Steven Okazaki, 1990. Available from: NAATA Distribution, http://www.naatanet.org/

Gardiner, C. Harvey. Pawns in a Triangle of Hate: The Peruvian Japanese and the United States. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1981.

Hill, Kimi Kodani, ed. Topaz Moon: Chiura Obata’s Art of the Internment. Berkeley: Heyday Books, 2000.

Ichioka, Yuji. The Issei: The World of the First Generation Japanese Immigrants, 1885-1924. New York: Free Press, 1988.

Japanese American National Museum, Manabi and Sumi Hirasaki National Resource Center, http://www.janm.org/nrc/

Japanese Relocation , newsreel, 1943. Available from: Zenger Media, http://www.zengermedia.com/

Okada, John. No-No Boy. Tokyo: Charels E. Tuttle Company, 1957; Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1981.

Uchida, Yoshiko. Journey Home. New York: Atheneum, 1978.

Weglyn, Michi. Years of Infamy: The Untold Story of America’s Concentration Camps. New York: Morrow Quill Paperbacks, 1976.

Gary Mukai is Director of the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) , and an advisory board member of the National Clearinghouse for U.S.-Japan Studies.

Portions of this Japan Digest were summarized from the curriculum module “Civil Rights and the Japanese- American Internment,” SPICE , Stanford University, 2000.

Japanese American Internment: Start Here

Primary Resources
DUQ Reads 2017 This link opens in a new window

Photo of Evacuation order which reads "Instructions to all persons of Japanese ancestry"

An official evacuation order issued on April 1, 1942 in San Francisco, CA.

Available as an eBook .

Available at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

Available at Gumberg Library .

Available at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

This guide is intended to provide users with resources on the Japanese American internment in the United States during World War II. In 1942, President Roosevelt authorized the deportation of over 120,000 ¹ mainland Japanese Americans to assembly centers and internment camps. Japanese American citizens were forced to live in these internment camps until the closing of Tule Lake, the final s egregation center, in 1946. ²

Books offered in the Gumberg library catalog, accessible research articles and databases, as well as the primary research documents that help teach on this subject will be featured in this guide.

Use the tabs at the top of the page to navigate towards:

Primary research
S cholarly research
DUQ Reads 2017 (Julie Otsuka's When the Emperor was Divine )

A black-and-white photograph of Japanese Americans in front of notices about the internment order

Learn more through our Gumberg guides:

Displaced Persons Displaced persons are often forced to leave their home country because of war, persecution, or natural disaster.
DUQ Reads 2017: When the Emperor Was Divine Gumberg's campus-wide reading program selected Julie Otsuka's novel, inspired by her family's history with the Japanese American internment during WWII.
Finding Government Documents & Information Locate government documents, statistics and facts through resources on this guide page.
Michael Musmanno, Nuremberg Judge Musmanno led the U.S. investigation to determine if Adolf Hitler died at the end of the war.

Next: Primary Resources >>
Last Updated: Feb 22, 2024 11:02 AM
URL: https://guides.library.duq.edu/japaneseinternment

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Japanese-American Internment

Getting Started
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources
Evaluating Sources
Citing Your Sources

Images from JARDA

JARDA: the Japanese American Relocation Digital Archives

How to Use This Guide

Welcome to the Tisch Library guide for the history of the Japanese-American Internment. Use the table of contents to find definitions, topic overviews, books, articles, and more that will help you with your research.

Getting to Know Your Topic: Background & Context

Reference sources--like dictionaries and subject encyclopedias, provide overviews of topics and descriptions of concepts and ideas. They can also provide definitions, statistics, and other details. You can use this type of source to help narrow your research topic, find data to support your thesis, and identify keywords and main ideas to use as search terms.

Credo Reference Online reference resources from numerous publishers. This reference resource can be searched by individual title, broad subject headings, cross-references, audio and images. Use its research mapper to search for terms and topics that are interconnected and displayed in (a) visual form. Examples of titles are: Bloomsbury Guide to Art, Bridgeman Art Library Archive, Columbia Encyclopedia, Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, Harvard Dictionary of Music, and the Concise Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science. The complete list of titles is available on the CREDO Reference site.
Oxford Reference Provides web access to more than 100 major Oxford University Press dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference works in the humanities, social sciences, foreign languages, science, technology and medicine, the performing arts, and religion. Works can be searched separately or across the entire databases. Includes over 1.5 million entries.
Gale eBooks Gale eBooks is a database of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.

Specialized Sources on Japanese-American Internment

Below are specialized background sources, both in print and online, that focus on Japanese-American internment during World War II.

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Last Updated: Aug 15, 2024 11:37 AM
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Resource Library
Japanese American Incarceration

Japanese American Internment

Japanese Americans

Education Standards

Pennsylvania standards for history.

Learning Domain: United States History

Standard: Compare the role groups and individuals played in the social, political, cultural, and economic development of the U.S.

Diary Reveals Reality of Living in a WWII Japanese Internment Camp

Internet location of photograph used in oer, japanese american internment during world war ii, "japanese - american internment during ww ii / history", kids meet a survivor of the japanese-american internment – kids meet – hiho kids, "ugly history: japanese american incarceration camps – densho", japanese american internment - world war ii.

Japanese American Internment - World War II

This resource includes primary sources which examine and investigate the treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II. The original author of this resource (Franky Abbott) utilized some of the Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets. These Source Sets can be used to help students further develop their critical thinking skills. These sets may include an overview, primary sources, links to other relevant resources, and a teaching guide for instructors. According to the original author, these sets were both created and then reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

I have added four YouTube videos to this resource. I want students to have the opportunity to listen to survivors of the Japanese American Internment Camps. I also want students to better understand the historical events that led to the incarceration of Japanese Americans.

Utilize this URL from OER Commons to see a Lesson Plan about Japanese Internment During World War II

"This teaching guide helps instructors use a specific primary source set, , in the classroom. It offers discussion questions, classroom activities, and primary source analysis tools. It is intended to spark pedagogical creativity by giving a sample approach to the material. Please feel free to share, reuse, and adapt the resources in this guide for your teaching purposes." Franky Abbott is the author of the lessonplan. The provider of this resource is the Digital Public Library of America.

Title: "Japanese - American Internment During WW II / History"

YouTube Description: “After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Government issued executive order 9066, which empowered the military to round up anyone of Japanese ancestry and place them in internment camps.”

View the YouTube video linked below to get a clearer picture of the treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

"This collection uses primary sources to explore Japanese American internment during World War II. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee."

Franky Abbott, Digital Public Library of America

"This teaching guide helps instructors use a specific primary source set in the classroom. It offers discussion questions, classroom activities, and primary source analysis tools. It is intended to spark pedagogical creativity by giving a sample approach to the material. Please feel free to share, reuse, and adapt the resources in this guide for your teaching purposes." Franky Abbott, Digital Public Library of America

Title:"Ugly History: Japanese American Incarceration Camps – Densho"

YouTube Description: Dig into the historic injustice of Japanese American incarceration camps, also known as internment camps, during World War II.

View the YouTube video linked below to hear some firsthand descriptions of the treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Title: “Diary Reveals Reality of Living in a WWII Japanese Internment Camp | NowThis”

YouTube Description: This woman was born in a Japanese internment camp during World War II — and she says history is repeating itself today with immigrant detention centers

View the YouTube video linked below to hear what a Japanese American woman’s diary reveals about life in a Japanese American Internment Camp during World War II. Also, hear her daughter discuss current events that mirror the events in the 1940’s in the United States.

Title: “Kids Meet a Survivor of the Japanese-American Internment – Kids Meet – HiHo Kids”

Description: This man was incarcerated in a Japanese Internment Camp during World War II.

View the YouTube video linked below to watch students interview a Japanese American who was detained in a Japanese American Internment Camp during World War II

Link For Photograph Used in Title of OER

See the link below for location of the photograph used to introduce the OER.

Version History

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The Japanese American National Museum, a Smithsonian affiliate in Los Angeles, presents personal accounts of the internment in an online exhibition, . Before the war, Clara Estelle Breed was the supervising children’s librarian at the San Diego Public Library, where she came to know many young Japanese Americans. When they were evacuated from San Diego, she was at the train station to see them off. She handed out stamped, self-addressed postcards and urged them to write to her when they reached their destination. In 1993, she gave her collection of more than 250 postcards and letters to one of her correspondents, who later donated it to the museum.

Miss Breed spoke out publicly against the internment policy, believing that democracy "must be defended at home as well as abroad." But by taking an interest in the internees, she was not merely taking up a cause. Her correspondents were her friends. Like anyone writing to a friend, the internees tended to report on personal concerns and ordinary matters: their parents, their classes, the dances they held, the books they were reading, the movies they saw. It is a great irony that the letters tell us as much about life as a young American in the 1940s as they do about the internment—the punishment imposed upon these young people because they were not fully recognized as Americans.

Here we use four of the Miss Breed letters in a lesson plan on the study of letters as primary source documents. As students compare the writers’ differing points of view, they might see more clearly that the history of an event or period of time is never a single story.

We hope that you and your class will go further in your studies by logging on to the Smithsonian's at

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Japanese american internment reflections: learning from history’s shadows.

Eighty-two years ago on this day, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt set a precedent in the complex tapestry of American history by ordering 120,000 Japanese Americans into internment camps. This act is a stark reminder of how threads of fear and prejudice can weave deep patterns of systemic injustice throughout the fabric of our society. On February 19, 1942, the internment of approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans, a stark violation of human rights, was authorized under Executive Order 9066 during World War II. Alongside the Holocaust, the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, and the Bosnian War’s Srebrenica massacre in 1995, these events serve as grim reminders of the consequences when humanity’s capacity for compassion is overshadowed by fear. Today, as we witness the statelessness of the Rohingya, the displacement of millions in Syria, and the ongoing plight of Palestinians, with recent reports indicating a total of 27,019 deaths and 66,139 injuries since the conflict between Israel and Hamas escalated on October 7, 2023, the echoes of the past urge us toward empathy and action.

Strengthening Our Compassion Through Understanding

Among the shadows of history, individual stories of resilience and hope shine brightly, offering us lessons in humanity and courage. One such story is that of Haruki, a Japanese American who was just ten years old when his family was forcibly removed from their home and interned during World War II. Amid the harsh realities of life in the internment camp, Haruki remembers the strength and unity of his community.

“Despite the barbed wire and guard towers, my parents tried to make life seem normal for us children,” Haruki recalls. “We attended school, played baseball, and even had art classes. But it was the evenings, when we gathered after dinner under the dim light of our barrack, that I truly understood the resilience of our community. My father would share stories from Japan, tales of samurai bravery and folklore heroes, instilling in us a sense of pride and hope.”

Haruki’s story is a poignant reminder of the human capacity to find light in the darkest of times. “The silence of the internment camps was not just one of despair,” he says. “It was also filled with the whispers of hope, the songs of resilience that bound us together. We were determined to maintain our dignity, to prove that our loyalty and spirit could not be confined by barbed wire.”

Embracing Diverse Perspectives

Justice Sonia Sotomayor's admonition to critically examine the justifications provided by authorities highlights the crucial balance between ensuring national security and upholding human rights. In her dissenting opinions and public remarks, she often stresses the significance of historical awareness and judicial scrutiny in preventing the repetition of past injustices. This perspective underscores the importance of vigilance and the need to question decisions that may infringe upon basic liberties under the guise of protection.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s reminder to scrutinize the reasons given by those in power underscores the importance of learning from history to ensure a balance between security and humanity.

Connecting Past and Present

George Takei, an actor and activist who was interned as a child with his family during World War II, frequently shares his reflections on this dark chapter of American history. Through speeches and writings, Takei discusses the impact of internment on his family and community, emphasizing the danger of repeating such injustices. 'We must remember and teach our history,' Takei insists, 'to prevent the seeds of fear and prejudice from taking root in our society again.' His advocacy underscores the need for vigilance and education to guard against the erosion of civil liberties.

The crisis in the Palestinian territories, particularly following the escalation on October 7, 2023, has resulted in devastating human losses, with 27,019 individuals killed and 66,139 injured. The crisis has also highlighted the severe displacement issues faced by the Palestinian people, who are increasingly forced into the most inhospitable parts of the desert. This displacement has led to international condemnation, with numerous voices labeling the actions against the Palestinians as constituting modern genocide. The tragedy lays bare the immense suffering of individuals caught in the midst of their leaders' prolonged conflict. As this crisis unfolds in full view of the global community, it emphasizes the critical need for peaceful resolution and humanitarian aid, reminding us all of the importance of standing up for human rights and dignity.

Towards a More Empathetic Future

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a towering figure in the fight against apartheid in South Africa, has long been a voice for justice, peace, and reconciliation. His moral authority and unwavering commitment to human rights have made him a global symbol of the struggle for equality. Tutu's calls to action resonate beyond the specific context of South Africa, embodying universal principles of dignity and solidarity. 'If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor,' Tutu famously stated, encapsulating his belief in the moral imperative to act against injustice everywhere. This call to action, rooted in a lifetime of advocacy, reminds us that complacency in the face of injustice only serves to perpetuate it. Tutu's life and words inspire a global audience to recognize their responsibility in championing the cause of the oppressed and working towards a more just and equitable world.

As we reflect on the solemn anniversary that many Japanese Americans observe today, it becomes clear that the journey towards justice and understanding in both America and the wider world remains incomplete. The internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II, the genocides, and the massacres that have scarred history are stark reminders of how fear can provoke even the most powerful leaders to make reckless, devastating decisions. Yet, these echoes of the past should not merely serve as warnings of our darkest capabilities but as beacons guiding us towards a future brightened by the lessons of empathy and action.

Today, as we honor the legacy of those who suffered under such injustices, let us also recognize that the shadows of oppression and conflict still loom large over many communities worldwide—from the Rohingya and Syrians to the Palestinians. These ongoing tragedies underscore the urgent need for us to transform our collective outrage and sorrow into meaningful action. It is a call to remember that, throughout history, the tide of injustice has often been turned not by the mighty but by the collective will of the people, united in their demand for a more just and compassionate world.

Let this article serve not just as a reflection on the somber realities of our past and present but as a catalyst for change, inspiring each of us to take concrete steps towards a future where the patterns of history do not repeat. Instead, let these lessons inform and shape a world where compassion, justice, and equity are not just ideals but realities for all. As we move forward, let us carry the determination to not only remember the injustices of the past but to act decisively in the present, ensuring that such atrocities become relics of history rather than recurring chapters in our global narrative.

Human Interest

japanese american internment assignment

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