From the desk of Kathryn Devine, from materials compiled in part by Judy Pitchford.

Have you seen the library’s Classics in Washington History page? It’s an online collection of full-text books on Washington History.

Topics include county and regional history, military history, women’s stories, and other special collections that “bring together rare, out of print titles for easy access by students, teachers, genealogists, and historians.”

In remembrance of the 75th anniversary of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, we’d like to highlight several documents from the Washington State Library’s federal collection on the Japanese internment camps.

Some are contemporary studies of life in the camps, and others contain testimony from survivors about the experience.

Contemporary Reports and Analysis

Community analysis notes

War Relocation Authority, Documents Section, Office of Reports

[Washington, D.C.] : War Relocation Authority, c1944-1945

These reports were compiled by staff of the War Relocation Authority, a civilian agency responsible for the relocation of evacuees. It includes many interviews with internees and their attitudes toward the U. S. because of the internment.

www.sos.wa.gov/library/publications_detail.aspx?p=134

Community analysis report

War Relocation Authority, Documents Section, Office of Reports

[Washington, D.C.] : War Relocation Authority, c1942-1946

These reports deal with issues of unrest in the camps, religion and labor unrest. It also explore attitudes in the surrounding communities on the possible return of the Japanese.

www.sos.wa.gov/library/publications_detail.aspx?p=133

 Project analysis series

War Relocation Authority, Documents Section, Office of Reports

[Washington, D.C.] : War Relocation Authority, c-1946

These reports cover the Tule Lake incident, questions of repatriation and community government.

www.sos.wa.gov/library/publications_detail.aspx?p=135

Trends in the relocation centers. III

War Relocation Authority, Community Analysis Section

[Washington, D.C.] : The Section, [1945]

This document addresses the concerns of evacuees about the closing of the relocation centers and how their needs were to be met re-entering society.

www.sos.wa.gov/library/publications_detail.aspx?p=282

Later Reports from Congressional Hearings

Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians act : hearing before the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, Ninety-sixth Congress, second session, on S. 1647, March 18, 1980

United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs

Washington : U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1980

Testimony before a commission investigating the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII.

www.sos.wa.gov/library/publications_detail.aspx?p=264

Personal justice denied : report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians : report for the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs 

United States. Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians

Washington : U.S. G.P.O. : For sale by the U.S. G.P.O., Supt. of Docs., 1992

A congressional committee report based on personal testimony and written documentation from witnesses who lived through the Japanese internment.

www.sos.wa.gov/library/publications_detail.aspx?p=263

Oral History from the Legacy Project

Robert Graham: Not-So-Simple Twists of Fate

An oral history from the Legacy Project, Office of the Secretary of State.

www.sos.wa.gov/legacyproject/oralhistories/RobertGraham/default.aspx

Mr. Graham relates his own experiences in World War II, including the fate of one of his Japanese-American friends, Perry Saito.

Looking for more information on the history of Executive Order 9066, Japanese internment, or any other aspect of Pacific Northwest history? Contact us through our Ask A Librarian service or make a research appointment to visit the Library.

From the desk of Judy Pitchford

Digital Collections has been busy adding more titles to our Classics in Washington History. Here’s what we have added this week:

Under Native Americans –

The Indian captive : a narrative of the adventures and sufferings of Matthew Brayton, in his thirty-four years of captivity among the Indians of north-western America by J.H.A. Bone

Brayton’s narrative was recounted to J.H.A. Bone, editor of the Cleveland Daily Herald, who is presumed to have composed the published version

Depredations and massacre by the Snake river Indians : letter of the acting Secretary of the Interior transmitting a report of the Commissioner of Indian affairs relative to the Indian depredations committed in the state of Oregon and Territory of Washington, and the massacre of emigrants by the Snake river Indians by United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs

This volume contains several miscellaneous claims for damages against Indians, plus correspondence concerning an Indian attack against a company of emigrants.

On the Indian tribes inhabiting the northwest coast of America by John Scouler

An early work that describes the major Indian groups. It includes a word list for some basic vocabulary in Shahaptan, Wallawalla and Kleketat.

Report … relative to the Indian disturbances in the Territories of Washington and Oregon by United States. War Dept.

Correspondence between Gov. Isaac Stevens and, various military officers, and the Secretary of War documenting disagreements on how to handle the military campaigns against the Indians in 1855-56.

Under Military History –

Report of an expedition from Fort Colville to Puget Sound by United States. Army. Dept. of the Columbia

This is a narrative by 1st Lieut. Henry Pierce who in 1882 led a small exploring expedition across North Central Washington from Old Fort Colville, in what is now Stevens County, to Puget Sound via Lake Chelan and the Skagit River.

Under 20th Century Events –

Trends in the relocation centers III  by War Relocation Authority, Community Analysis Section

This document addresses the concerns of evacuees about the closing of the relocation centers and how their needs were to be met re-entering society.

Classics in Washington History is a digital collection of full-text books, bringing together rare, out of print titles for easy access by students, teachers, genealogists and historians. Visit Washington’s early years through the lives of the men and women who lived and worked in Washington Territory and State. All items are available in DjVu (Plugin required) and Pdf formats.

Jamie Ford

The “community read movement” started in 1998 in Seattle and has gained popularity across the United States. I’ve been intrigued by them for many years. And while I hear about them all the time, I’ve never heard of one taking place inside a prison. So, last summer, I decided to organize one for Coyote Ridge. And it wasn’t easy, but I did it.

The book I decided to use was Jamie Ford’s Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Maybe you’ve heard of it? It has been translated into over 30 different languages. The setting is Seattle, and the book was recently selected for a community read in Pierce County, Washington, which is where I managed to get 45 used copies of the book.

Now, for those who don’t know, a community read is different from a regular book group in three ways, 1) it is open to an entire community, 2) it includes supplementary social events related to themes in the book of choice, and 3) it usually includes a guest appearance by the author. At first, I was unsure about how I would achieve that third piece. Without any programming funds available, I wasn’t sure how to entice this successful author, who lives in Montana, to come all the way to Connell, which is miles from any major airport and not exactly a late-night excitement kind of town. Upon contacting his agent, however, I found that they were eager to work with me if we could figure out a way to cover Mr. Ford’s travel expenses. In the end, I was only able to bring Jamie Ford in as a guest speaker by teaming up with a Humanities group at Washington State University’s Tri-City campus, and by a donation from the Friends of the Washington State Library. Finally, after months of planning and negotiating, Mr. Ford spent the evening of Wednesday, March 22, talking to inmates, reading from his book, and answering an endless stream of questions.

In addition to the guest author event, the library at Coyote Ridge hosted a jazz music appreciation event and a historical slide show about the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII, featuring images from Densho and Library of Congress digital archives.

From the desk of Judy Pitchford

Volume 4, #2 November 2009 for Digital Updates

Historical Newspapers in Washington – 1 new title.

The years 1861-1864 have been added to the Puget Sound Herald in Historical Newspapers in Washington online project, which now covers six years of Steilacoom pioneer news, from 1858 to 1864.

Classics in Washington History

We have added a new category – 20^th Century Events – to our Classics in Washington History.  This category currently contains the Works Progress Administration Papers and, new to the collection, papers by the War Relocation Authority on the Japanese Internment :

The Community Analysis Report concerns how authorities should “deal” with the Japanese and Japanese American people they have incarcerated through an understanding of their customs and cultural background. Causes of social unrest, segregation, education, Buddhism and labor relations are topics covered within these papers.

The Community Analysis Notes “reveal the life experience and viewpoints” of the incarcerated Nisei. Why did many young men say “no” to two questions on the Army registration form? How did the Japanese deal with engagement and marriage in the camps? How did it differ from pre-internment days? How did they adjust to life in the camps?

The Project Analysis Series analyzes various events that occurred during the relocation project. What happened at Tule Lake in November 1943? Why did it happen? What was the reaction to opening Selective Service to Nisei? What are the motives behind Nisei requesting repatriation?

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