Title

Smith Family Papers on World War II

Description

Papers of two generations of the Smith family — Dr. Frank Herron Smith and his son Dr. Morris Eugene "Gene" Smith — including vintage broadsides and government reports on the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II and correspondence from the elder Smith to government officials advocating for improved treatment and safety for returning internees. Entire collection dates between 1936 and 2005. Collection is divided into two series between both family members. More information available at: https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt2p30242w/

Collection

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Local Identifier
065-1-c-02-01-01
Date Created
1942-04-23
Description

Internment Poster/Broadside titled "Instructions to All Persons of Japanese Ancestry Living in ... the Counties of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo" issued by the Western Defense Command and 4th Army (U.S. Army), at the Presidio of San Francisco giving official notice and instructions to Japanese-Americans living in specific portions of the West Coast on their forced evacuation to internment camps. Dated to April 23rd, 1942.

Local Identifier
065-1-c-02-02-01
Date Created
1942-04-23
Description

Poster/Broadside: "Notice: Civilian Exclusion Order No. 13," posted in the Presidio of San Francisco on April 23, 1942 for the counties of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo.

Local Identifier
065-1-c-02-03-01
Date Created
1942-05-11
Description

Internment Poster/Broadside titled as "Instructions to All Persons of Japanese Ancestry Living in ... the City of Fresno, State of California," issued by the Western Defense Command and 4th Army (U.S. Army), at the Presidio of San Francisco giving official notice and instructions to Japanese-Americans living in specific portions of the Central Valley on their forced evacuation to internment camps. Dated to May 11, 1942.

Local Identifier
065-1-c-02-04-01
Date Created
1942-06-30
Description

Poster/Broadside: "Notice: Civilian Exclusion Order No. 102,", June 30, 1942 posted in the Presidio of San Francisco for all of the counties of Alpine and Mono and part of the counties of Placer, Eldorado, Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Mariposa, and Madera within California.

Local Identifier
065-1-a-01-01-02
Date Created
1945-05-04
Description

Smith urges Truman to ask "Edgar J. Hoover [sic] and his organization" to help control "the arsonists and night-riders who are terrorizing the few Japanese Americans who have returned to the West Coast." Smith states that approximately 60,000 of the "110,000" [sic] people who were "evacuated" seek to return to their homes, under pressure from the War Relocation Authority to leave the Camps, and that those returning to rural areas are "having constant trouble" including arson and shooting incidents. Smith also states that there have been few arrests for these incidents, and mentions that [California Attorney General] Robert Kenny has neglected his responsibilities, noting that this is remarkable given that the UNCIO Conference [United Nations Conference on International Organization] was opening just as another arson incident had occurred.

Local Identifier
065-1-a-01-01-04
Date Created
1945-05-08
Description

Biddle's response to Smith's letter to Harry Truman requesting that J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI become involved in stopping the arson and shootings perpetrated against Japanese Americans (see Letter from Frank Herron Smith to President Harry S. Truman, May 4, 1945) informs Smith that unless a federal law is violated, he can not be involved. Biddle states that he has asked Hoover to give him a report on the "outrages" and requests that Smith send any other details he has so that Biddle can notify Governor Earl Warren about them.

Local Identifier
065-1-a-01-01-01
Date Created
1945-05-04
Description

Smith urges FBI action be taken to stop injustices done to Japanese-American citizens during WWII. Letter mentions correspondence from a Japanese pastor in Livingston, California, near Modesto and Merced, describing "no less than eight shooting incidents in which night-riders have shot into the homes of our church members." Smith also describes shooting and arson incidents at Orisi, Selma, Concord, Santa, Cressy, and Livingston; bemoans the "inept[itude]" and "inefficien[cy]" of "country sheriffs" and the legal system in holding perpetrators responsible for such incidents; and mentions that he and others, who had not favored resettling people until after the war, will work to protect those loyal to the United States. Smith states that these incidents are a "disgrace to our country" especially in light of the UNCIO Conference [The United Nations Conference on International Organization].

Local Identifier
065-1-a-01-01-03
Date Created
1945-05-05
Description

Letter to popular local radio reporter requests that he speak out against injustices perpetrated against Japanese-American citizens during World War II. Smith notes his responsibility for "the care of our 37 Japanese churches" states that he is concerned that church members are not being allowed to work in canneries in Sacramento by the union, and mentions that he thinks that the same problem is likely to occur in San Jose soon.