Ethnic Studies 135
Mass Incarceration of Japanese Americans
Background Information
Encyclopedia of Japanese American history : an A-to-Z reference from 1868 to the present Rivera Library Ref E184 J3 E53 2001
Asian American encyclopedia Rivera Library Ref E184 O6 A827 1995
Japanese American internment during World War II: a history and reference guide Rivera D769.8 A6 N4 2002
American concentration camps 9 vols. Rivera D753.8 A77 1989
What did the internment of Japanese Americans mean? Rivera D769.8 A6 W53 2000
Years of infamy Rivera D769.8 A6 W43 1976 and 1996
Consider using these subject headings and their variations in SCOTTY (the UCR Library Catalog) or in other library catalogs (e.g., Melvyl, for all UC Libraries):
Japanese Americans -- Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945
World War, 1939-1945 -- Concentration camps -- United States
World War, 1939-1945 -- Reparations
Don't forget to try your search terms as keyword searches. You can utilize the limit features in SCOTTY to modify your searches with additional terms or other features (e.g., by location; by material type, such as "videos & films"; or language).
Primary Sources
What is a primary source? How do I find them? You will be using primary source materials for your projects. In addition to visual images and audio recordings, consider newspaper and magazine articles written at or around the time of the event. Examine the bibliographies of secondary sources to see what was used. Are there references to primary source materials?
Calisphere "is the University of California's free public gateway to a world of primary sources". JARDA (mentioned below) is one of the resources within Calisphere. "More than 150,000 digitized items — including photographs, documents, newspaper pages, political cartoons, works of art, diaries, transcribed oral histories, advertising, and other unique cultural artifacts — reveal the diverse history and culture of California and its role in national and world history. Calisphere's content has been selected from the libraries and museums of the UC campuses, and from a variety of cultural heritage organizations."
Web Resources
Japanese American National Museum (JANM) - Major resource on the history of Japanese Americans. Home to the Hirasaki National Resource Center, follow these links to the collection guide and their links to other resources.
Japanese American Relocation Digital Archive (JARDA) - Major resource. This thematic collection is part of the California Digital Library's (CDL) Online Archive of California (OAC), reflecting the holdings of many California repositories.
Densho Project - Initially a nonprofit organization to document the oral histories of Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II, this site utilizes digital technology for access to primary source materials about this incarceration to preserve, collaborate, and educate on various broader issues of society, among them, civil rights, democracy, and the responsibilities of citizenship. Contains interviews (including recorded video), historic photos and documents, links to web resources (including exhibits), and bibliographies. Note: There are links to a couple of camp newspapers online (Manzanar Free Press and Minidoka Irrigator) included in the Densho Archive (register on the site for use).
Discover Nikkei - Resource on "Japanese emigrants and their descendants who have created communities throughout the world". Produced in collaboration with JANM.
National Japanese American Historical Society (NJAHS) - "specializes in travelling exhibitions, publications, videos, interactive multimedia, military and camp collections, and educational programs"
Sample Online Exhibits
Camp Harmony Exhibit - from the University of Washington Libraries
Freedom for Some - from the Balch Institute (Philadelphia)
For those interesting in creating an online exhibit or viewing a couple of other online exhibits, look at these titles. (Hint: if you cannot obtain these items right away, consider an Interlibrary Loan request. Go to this page and click on the link for "Book Request". There is also a link to show you how to fill it out.)
The Riverside Metropolitan Museum provides information on the Harada House , one of Riverside's two National Historic Landmarks. The Haradas were involved in one of the most significant and powerful civil rights cases in California. (California vs Harada resulted in the ruling that American born children of aliens were entitled to all the constitutional guarantees of citizenship including land tenure under the 14th Amendment.) Work is currently underway for both site and collection preservation. Tours for classes can be arranged with the Museum's Education Curator.
RE-gen-er-a-tions: oral history project: rebuilding Japanese American families, communities, and civil rights in the resettlement era. Rivera Library D769.8 A6 R44 2000 There are 4 volumes containing 42 oral history interviews and 4 essays compiled by 4 regional areas. This information is also available online through the CDL. (Chicago - Los Angeles - San Diego - San Jose)
In addition to seeking oral history and interviews from some of the links in the web resources above, try a search in SCOTTY (or another library catalog) and look for "oral history", "interviews", or "personal narratives" within your search results.
Take a look at and search In the First Person: an Index to Letters, Diaries, Oral Histories, and Personal Narratives, an electronic resource to which UCR subscribes and which you can find in the "Databases A-Z" section of the UCR Library Home Page. (UCR current students, faculty, and staff can access this resource from home. See the Connect from Home link from our web site or below.)
The resource mentioned above is an example of an oral history index. For additional ones in the UCR collections, click here.
Want some help with conducting oral history research? There is the more specific Japanese American Oral History Guide. Click here for oral history in general. Look at works by Willa Baum, particularly Transcribing and Editing Oral History.
Visual Materials
Here are some headings to try:
Japanese Americans -- Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945 -- Pictorial Works
World War, 1939-1945 -- Japanese Americans -- Pictorial Works
You can also perform a subject or keyword search in SCOTTY and use the limit feature to materials that are "videos & films".
A few sources from the UCR Libraries collection:
Color of Honor Media Video Tape 3477
Toyo Miyatake: infinite shades of gray Media Video Tape 3452
Impounded : Dorothea Lange and the censored images of Japanese American internment Rivera D769.8 A6 L35 2006
For a couple of works at UCR dealing with caricatures and cartoons, follow this link and this link.
You can explore the resources listed on the "Images" page of "Databases By Subject". Among the resources listed are links to American Memory from the Library of Congress, the Online Archive of California, the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog from the Library of Congress, and the Accunet/AP Multimedia Archive from the Associated Press with over 2 million photographs from as far back as 1826.
Newspapers and Magazine Articles
Many of the newspaper titles are available in microfilm. There is some electronic access to older newspapers; see the Newspapers section of "Databases By Subject" on the UCR Libraries' Home Page.
Use the indexes to newspapers and periodicals. Links to the titles below can be found here.
In addition to the newspaper indexes, consider using Academic Search Complete via Ebscohost and Academic via Lexis Nexis for the more current situation on Guantanamo
For the historical articles, try Readers' Guide Retrospective 1890-1982, Humanities and Social Sciences Index Retrospective, Periodicals Archive Online, and Periodicals Index Online.
For secondary sources in history, try America: History and Life. Go to "Databases A-Z" and select it by its title, or go to "Databases By Subject", choose "History", and select it by its title.
Also, Ethnic Newswatch for materials from the ethnic, minority, and native press. However, most coverage is from 1990- with some earlier materials. To access Ethnic Newswatch go to "Databases A-Z" and select it by its title, or go to "Databases By Subject", choose "Ethnic and Women's / Gender Studies", and select it by its title. For a guide to its use, click here.
All the aforementioned databases are available to anyone using a computer on campus or via "Connect from Home" to current UCR students, faculty, and staff.
Documenting Your Sources
A word about plagiarism.
Citing your work.
Accessing Library Resources from Home
Scotty and Melvyl are freely accessible from home.
To utilize the Library's subscription databases, see Connect from Home.
Oral History
Center for Oral and Public History (CSU Fullerton) - This university-based oral history program has an extensive Japanese American Oral History Project (JAOHP). Some of these interviews are in print format and are available in the UCR Libraries; for examples, follow this link.
