by Kirby Larson
Life in America
in 1941
Historical Note
The 1930s were difficult for America, beginning with the Great Depression in 1929. Thirteen million people lost their jobs, two million people went homeless, and countless others went to bed hungry every night. This time period saw the creation of Hoovervilles, shantytowns for the poor that were named after President Herbert Hoover, on whom many blamed the nation’s troubles. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt — FDR — was elected president in 1932, he quickly put his “New Deal” in place, starting the American economy on a slow path to recovery.
In 1939, Germany invaded Poland, launching both World War II and a wartime industry in America, boosting our economy further. Once we entered the war in 1941, over ten million men were drafted into the United States Army (there were eleven to sixteen million men and women in all branches of the service), and women began to be accepted into the workplace to do their part for America. There were many, many “Rosie the Riveters,” like Margie, who performed vital tasks to keep this country and its industries running.
Like other immigrants, Japanese people — 90 percent of whom settled in California — came to America in the early twentieth century looking for opportunities not found in their home countries. Racism and competition for jobs — both of which increased during the Depression — fueled existing anti-Japanese sentiment, leading California (and other states) to pass laws preventing those born in Japan (Issei) from owning land or becoming U.S. citizens. By 1940, there were approximately 127,000 Americans of Japanese descent, or Nikkei, living on the West Coast, 80,000 of whom were not only second-generation immigrants (Nisei), but also American citizens.
The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese army on December 7, 1941, was devastating. Over 2,500 people, including civilians like two-year-old Shirley Hirasaki, were killed. Most of the military deaths were men lost on the USS Arizona. Delbert and John Anderson are real people and were the only set of twins on the Arizona at the time of the attack; John survived and Del did not.
Piper’s frustration with getting information reflects what actually happened. News “blackouts” were ordered in the name of national security. It was days before Americans knew the extent of the damage at Pearl Harbor. However, the headlines on December 8, 1941, made one thing very clear: The United States was now at war with Japan.
The long-standing prejudice against the Nikkei intensified and the media quickly painted them as potential spies and saboteurs. President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, which authorized armed forces’ commanders to declare any area of the United States as a military area and to “exclude” anyone from that area, particularly people of Japanese ancestry. Beginning in March 1942, 120,000 Nikkei on the Pacific Coast were ordered to report to military holding centers, leaving behind homes, jobs, and businesses, even though two-thirds of them, like Jim and Betty Sato, were American citizens by birth.
The Wartime Civil Control Administration set up six stations in Seattle and one in Tacoma to register Japanese families living in the Puget Sound region, provide medical screenings, and “help” them arrange for the sale or storage of their belongings, though there isn’t much evidence of that kind of help actually being given. The families were also assigned five-digit identification numbers. Every person in the family was given a tag with the family number on it.
In Washington state, 7,390 Nikkei were sent to the Puyallup Assembly Center in early May of 1942. The assembly center, a hastily converted fairgrounds, was nicknamed “Camp Harmony” by an Army public-relations officer. Because the camp was only a temporary “residence,” the Nikkei were provided few services and fewer comforts. When the first incarcerees arrived, refrigerators and other safe food storage equipment had not been installed yet, and they were forced to eat Army rations. Mattresses were straw-stuffed cotton sacks. Some incarcerees were housed in recently vacated animal stalls. Those in the barracks had no personal space, often using blankets to separate one family’s room from another. The slapdash, low-quality construction of the camp offered little protection from the sounds of so many people in tight quarters, making it hard to get a good night’s sleep. And, except for sleeping areas, all other facilities were communal. Imagine having to sit on a splintery wooden toilet seat right next to someone you don’t even know. One woman who went to the camp as a fifteen-year-old said she remembered “the shock of seeing the bathroom. It was just holes cut in a plank and there were no stalls. And, no, you had no privacy in the open shower. We were going through puberty and very embarrassed. So we went late at night when no one was there.”
The camp itself was surrounded by barbed wire, spotlights, and armed guards. Despite the poor living conditions, incarcerees pulled together, organizing and participating in a variety of activities — like boxing, sumo, softball, knitting clubs, and playing board games like Go and Shogi — to counteract boredom and depression. The younger set even held dances. But Japanese-language books and music were banned. The Nikkei developed a self-governing body (eventually replaced with a stricter system overseen by the military), which helped arrange camp jobs for the residents. At Camp Harmony, working forty hours a week, a dishwasher could earn $8 a month, a nurse $12 per month, and a teacher $16 per month. With so many workers gone off to war, some industries, especially agriculture, looked to incarcerees as a source of labor. In total there were about 1,600 volunteers working the sugar beet fields in the American West, including 72 from Camp Harmony who were sent to eastern Oregon and Montana.
The incarcerees were prohibited from using the telephone, so the only access they had to the outside world was through AM radio, subscriptions to English language newspapers, and letters (which were censored). Caring individuals, like Pastor Emery “Andy” Andrews (upon whom Piper’s father is based), visited as often as they could, bringing news and supplies. Incarcerees also wrote and printed their own newspaper, called the Camp Harmony Newsletter, also censored. It reported on activities and events including sports scores for the camp’s teams. Bainbridge Island newspaper owners Walt and Millie Woodward hired several young men (and later, a young woman) to serve as on-site reporters.
Between June and October 1942, the Nikkei were moved from the assembly camps to relocation centers in Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Arkansas, Utah, California, and Idaho. Camp Harmony residents were moved to Minidoka War Relocation Center in Eden, Idaho. Because so many railcars were in use by the United States Army, the WRA had to recommission ancient passenger cars to transport the incarcerees to the relocation centers. These cars were dirty, had poor water pressure, bad air conditioning, and sealed windows.
The letters and journal entries I read, and the oral histories I listened to, all said the same thing: Minidoka was horrible. Not only did the wicked wind blow volcanic ash dust into everything (even the unappetizing food), for the first several months it had no running water or sewage system. Minidoka was on 33,000 acres of desert, housing about 10,000 Nikkei from Washington, Oregon, and Alaska, including 50 people who were part Native American (Eskimo or Aleut). (The camp manager called them all colonists, but Japanese Americans now prefer the term incarcerees.) It had administration and warehouse buildings, thirty-six residential blocks, schools, fire stations, shops, stores, and a cemetery.
Each residential block had twelve barracks-style buildings, which were divided into six small one-room apartments, a communal dining hall, a laundry facility, communal showers and toilets, and a recreational hall. The families were given Army cots to sleep on and a potbelly stove to heat with. Like the Satos, many families waited months for stoves and the entire camp suffered from a coal shortage through the early months of the first winter (when it dipped to 21 degrees below zero). Rooms were lit by a single hanging lightbulb. The “colonists” were not provided with any furniture, and instead had to fashion it themselves out of scrap lumber. Coal and water had to be hand carried to their apartments, and when coal was scarce they gathered and burned sagebrush to keep w
arm.
While the relocation centers were subject to the same wartime rationing as the rest of the country, Minidoka developed into a sort of self-sustaining community, with vegetable gardens and chicken and hog farms. Just as they had at Camp Harmony, the “colonists” of Minidoka organized various sports and recreational activities to pass the time, including building a baseball diamond and several parks inside the relocation center. They also participated in Taiko drumming and other musical groups. The Minidoka Irrigator was a Nikkei-produced newsletter detailing community events, including the performances of the Male Japanese Quartet, and warnings to romantic couples to stop using certain areas for their “lover’s lanes.”
In January 1943, in need of more manpower, federal officials reversed their decision prohibiting Nisei in the military and announced that they would be allowed to volunteer, even those in the camps. In February 1943, the U.S. War Department and the War Relocation Authority devised a plan to test the loyalty of anyone of Japanese descent over the age of seventeen. The loyalty questionnaires caused much anguish for the incarcerees. Some were bitter about being asked to pledge loyalty to a country that had imprisoned them. The Issei were confused by the questionnaire, which asked them if they would reject their ties to Japan. Doing so would mean they weren’t citizens of any country, since they were prohibited by law from becoming American citizens. Despite being held against their will, most Japanese Americans remained loyal to the United States. Some, like Jim Sato, even volunteered for military service. One thousand men and women volunteered from Minidoka, alone — almost 10 percent of the camp’s population. That was the largest number of volunteers from any single camp. The 100th Infantry Battalion, and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team — both all-Nisei units — were among the most highly decorated in WWII.
In December of 1944, the Supreme Court ruled that the detainment of loyal United States citizens was unconstitutional, and by January of the following year the detainees were each given $25 and released from camp. Many did not return to the West Coast. Those who did often found their homes and businesses in shambles, despite the promises of neighbors or others to “look after things.” None of the Nikkei incarcerated in the camps were ever accused of or charged with being a spy or saboteur.
This event was the largest forced relocation in United States history, and while it has been described as the worst violation of constitutional rights in United States history, few Americans were overtly critical of it. Those who did speak out were often ostracized and threatened. It wasn’t until the Civil Liberties Act in 1988 that the injustice of the evacuation, relocation, and incarceration of American citizens and permanent resident aliens was acknowledged by the Unites States government. A formal apology was made and restitution was provided to everyone who was interned. In addition, a public education fund was implemented to inform the public of the injustices carried out against Americans of Japanese ancestry, in an attempt to prevent anything of this nature from happening again.
Some helpful websites to learn more about the Japanese internment:
Camp Harmony:
http://www.historylink.org/
http://www.lib.washington.edu/exhibits/harmony/
Minidoka:
http://www.nps.gov/miin/
Incarcerees’ Oral Histories:
http://www.densho.org
On the morning of December 7, 1941, the U.S. naval base and Hickam Air Force Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, were attacked by Japanese fighter planes. As a result of the surprise attack, over 2,500 people were killed; more than 1,200 were wounded; and four U.S. Navy battleships were sunk.
American soldiers were warned not to include details of their whereabouts in letters home.
During World War II, Americans were called upon to plant Victory gardens, as the government rationed foods like butter, sugar, milk, eggs, cheese, coffee, and meat. Produce was also hard to find, with labor and transportation shortages, due to the war effort. At right, a government promotional poster encourages Americans to plant their own gardens. Below, citizens work in their garden in the middle of their suburban neighborhood.
After President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, the U. S. military was able to designate “military areas” at will, which amounted to exclusion zones from which citizens could be rounded up and forcibly removed. Above, an American soldier and Nisei post the Civilian Exclusion Order No. 1 on Bainbridge Island, outside of Seattle, Washington, which gave alien and non-alien persons of Japanese descent one week to leave Bainbridge Island.
Japantown in Seattle, Washington, is closed and boarded up after residents were forced to leave and move to incarceration camps.
Letters sent by Japanese incarcerees at the Department of Justice’s Fort Missoula Internment Camp, who were considered “detained alien enemies,” were opened and inspected by the U.S. government.
A hand-drawn map of Minidoka Relocation Center, drawn by one of the residents, Anky Arai.
An overview of the Minidoka incarceration camp, in Minidoka, Idaho, showing the long buildings where incarcerees were housed.
The pathways were muddy in Minidoka Relocation Center, making the going difficult, no matter the season.
The inside of a barrack apartment at the Puyallup Assembly Center, in Washington.
Incarcerees at Minidoka decorate one of the dining halls for Christmas.
At Minidoka Relocation Center, incarcerees check the honor roll that lists all of the Japanese Americans from the camp who volunteered for military service. Minidoka had the highest number of volunteers from mainland America.
Piper’s dad, Pastor Davis, was based on a real man named Pastor Emery Andrews, who also served the Japanese Baptist Church. When his congregation was in terned (mostly to the Minidoka camp in Idaho), he moved his family to Twin Falls to continue to support and care for them. He drove a van called the “Blue Box,” in which he made 56 round-trips during war years —even with gasoline rationing — between Seattle and Minidoka, doing errands for the incarcerees.
A map of the United States, showing the locations of Seattle, Washington; Eden and Twin Falls, Idaho; and Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
WWII Oatmeal
Molasses Cookies
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups oatmeal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1cup sugar
¾ cup shortening (can use butter)
2eggs, beaten
5 tablespoons light molasses
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
½ cup raisins (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, oatmeal, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
2.In another large bowl, beat the sugar with the shortening until smooth and creamy; mix in beaten eggs, molasses, and vanilla. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients. Stir in walnuts and raisins, if desired. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.
3.Bake for 10–12 minutes, or until slightly browned. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT’S
Speech to the U.S. Congress
on December 8, 1941 (as delivered)
To the Congress of the United States:
Yesterday, December 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
The United States was at peace with that nation, and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with the government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.
Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing on Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to the Secretary of State a formal reply t
o a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.
It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time, the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.
The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. Very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.
Yesterday, the Japanese government also launched an attack against Malaya.
Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.
Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam.
Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.
Last night, the Japanese attacked Wake Island.
This morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island.
Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.
As commander in chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.
Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us.
No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.