Japanese American Incarceration in California (Collection)

Japanese American Incarceration in California is composed mostly of ephemera related to the relocation program during World War II. Items include the official government report of Manzanar Relocation Center, oral histories, a photo album, post-war activism related to preserving and remembering the camps, and various clippings and documents. The strength of this collection is found in its many perspectives on the controversial incarceration program, and how it has been presented since WWII.

The materials were largely collected and donated by Georgia Day Robertson, vice-principal of a high school in the Poston Relocation Center. Additions to the collection were made by Miss Seiko Ishida, a school teacher while interned at Manzanar Relocation Center. Betty Mitson arranged the collection as a result of her association with the CSUF Center for Oral and Public History. Special features include "Harvest of Hate" by Georgia Day Robertson, several research studies by Betty Mitson, bibliographies of printed materials on the subject of Japanese American internment, and oral history project reports. Although treaties and legislation affecting Japanese in America prior to World War II are touched on, the bulk of the material concerns the events from 1942 - 1946 on the West Coast, with a lesser amount of material concerning the revival of scholarly and popular interest in the late 1960s and 1970s.

This collection was formerly known as Japanese American Relocation in California, and Japanese American Internment in California. Japanese American Incarceration in California name change done on 3/26/2024 per Lisa Mix, Director of Special Collections.