Item No: #307827 Impounded People: Japanese Americans in the Relocation Centers. Edward H. Spicer.

The Starting Point for Understanding the Japanese Internment Experience

Impounded People: Japanese Americans in the Relocation Centers

Notes: A description of the experiences of interned Japanese Americans during World War Two, written by four cultural anthropologists working for the War Relocation Authority's (WRA) community analysis section. The report divides 1942 to 1946 into four internment periods: moving in; being sorted into loyal and disloyal categories; settling down; and moving out.

The writers are sympathetic with the unrest and unhappiness of the internees at the beginning of the process, noting that "any sort of people would have behaved in much the same way if they had been dealt with similarly." Special attention is given to the Tule Lake camp, in northeastern California, where the "disloyal" families were sent.

This report is one of the main starting points for understanding the internment experience. It is widely held in institutions, and the University of Arizona Press reprinted it in 1969, but this original edition is rather uncommon in commerce.

239 pages. 8 by 10-1/4 inches. Reproduced from typescript.

Edition + Condition: First edition (first printing). A very good or better copy in wrappers. With the ownership signature of Philip W. Baker, who worked at the Heart Mountain relocation camp and, in 1943, chaired the Relocation Committee for the WRA, which sought to find work and housing for internees outside of the camps. (See memo from D. S. Myer, "The reluctance of center residents to accept offers...", May 15, 1943).

Publication: Washington DC: United States Department of the Interior, War Relocation Authority, 1946.

Item No: #307827

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