This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
By Trevor Sandgathe
Title: United States War Relocation Authority Reports, 1942-1946
ID: MSS WRA
Primary Creator: United States. War Relocation Authority
Extent: 0.5 cubic feet. More info below.
Arrangement: The United States War Relocation Authority Reports are arranged into four series: Series 1: Community Analysis Reports, 1942-1946; Series 2: Community Analysis Notes, 1944-1945; Series 3: Project Analysis Series, 1943-1946; and Series 4: Quarterly and Semi-Annual Reports, 1942-1946.
Date Acquired: 00/00/2016
Languages of Materials: English [eng]
The United States War Relocation Authority Reports are comprised of more than fifty mimeographed reports detailing the operation of War Relocation Authority (WRA) concentration camps used to house Japanese American incarcerees during World War II.
The contents of Series 1, Series 2, Series 3, and Series 4 have been digitized and are available upon request.
The United States War Relocation Authority Reports are comprised of four sets of mimeographed reports: Community Analysis Reports, Community Analysis Notes, a Project Analysis Series, and Quarterly and Semi-Annual Reports. Series 1 through 3 were produced by the War Relocation Authority's (WRA) Community Analysis Section (CAS). CAS was predominately staffed by sociologists and anthropologists who studied the concentration camps and their incarcerees. Topics reflect the interests of CAS and include topics such as incarceree daily life in the camps including forced participation in WRA programs, forced assimilation, and resistance to WRA activities; forced removal; and white American attitudes toward incarcerees. Also included are detailed reports on logistical issues, facilities concerns, and adverse living conditions at individual concentration camps.
Series 4 is comprised of bound reports created by the WRA to document its activities at a high level. These reports include budgetary data, information about concentration camp organization and operation, reports on incarcerees' daily life in the campus and population data, among other topics. Many of these reports are supplemented with maps, organizational charts, and other data visualizations.
The contents of Series 1, Series 2, Series 3, and Series 4 have been digitized and are available upon request.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States Western Defense Command created two "exclusion zones," encompassing all of California and large portions of Washington, Oregon, and Arizona. Because of the perceived security threat attributed to individuals of Japanese ancestry by the federal government within these zones. Japanese Americans were forcibly removed from these zones and relocated to concentration camps by Executive Order 9066.
In March 1942, the War Relocation Authority (WRA) was created by executive order to oversee the internment of Japanese Americans removed from the exclusion zone. That spring, more than 100,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly removed to ten WRA-operated internment camps located on public lands in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. These camps were typically crude and lacking in many basic amenities. Work opportunities were available for incarcerees, but compensation was minimal. Education programs were offered in the concentration camps, but were often intended to foster pro-American sentiments among the incarcerees.
The Community Analysis Section (CAS) of the WRA was established in 1943. It was composed of social scientists assigned to study incarcerees within the concentration camps for the benefit of the federal government. The CAS staff produced reports on topics including self-governance, education, language, concentration camp labor, incarceree religious practices, and incarceree conflict.
The exclusion zone was eliminated in January 1945 and the WRA began closing camps in October of that year. The WRA was officially eliminated on June 26, 1946.
More Extent Information: 2 boxes
Statement on Access: This collection is open for use.
Physical Access Note: Many of the items in this collection are printed on brittle paper susceptible to damage. Handling and scanning access may be limited accordingly.
Acquisition Note: The United States War Relocation Authority Reports were transferred from the OSU Libraries general holdings to the Special Collections and Archives Research Center in December 2016.
Related Materials:
Materials related to Japanese American incarceration during World War II can be found in the Japanese-American Association of Lane County, Oregon, Oral History Collection (OH 015). The OSU Sesquicentennial Oral History Collection (OH 026) includes an interview with Aya Fujii in which she describes her experience as an incarceree and an interview with Andy Landforce during which he describes the impact of incarceration on Japanese American students at Oregon State College. Additional materials documenting the operation of the War Relocation Authority can be found in the general OSU Libraries holdings. The Mildred and Frank Miles Scrapbook of the Santo Tomas Internment Camp (MSS Miles) documents the experience of Americans imprisoned at a Japanese camp in the Philippines.
Other collections with materials related to World War II include the Wesley Ross Memoir of World War II (MSS RossW), the Oregon State College History of World War II Project Records (MSS OSCWW2), the Oregon State Yank Collection (MSS Yank), and the Oregon State University Military Photographs Collection (P 002).
Preferred Citation: United States War Relocation Authority Reports (MSS WRA), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
Processing Information:
We acknowledge that materials in SCARC collections and the language that describes them may be harmful. We are actively working to address our descriptive practices; for more information please see our SCARC Anti-Racist Actions Statement online.
Please be aware that content within this collection may be disturbing or activating, and racist, derogatory language is used toward Japanese Americans and other groups. We acknowledge the racism represented by this language and the harm it may cause our users. Providing access to these historical materials does not endorse any attitudes or behavior depicted therein.
[Date of acknowledgement: July 2023]
Finding Aid Revision History: Processed 2017; reprocessed 2023 for anti-racist attention.
United States. War Relocation Authority
Japanese Americans--Forced removal and internment, 1942-1945
United States. War Relocation Authority
World War, 1939-1945--Forced removal of civilians--United States.
Series 1 is comprised of 19 Community Analysis Reports generated by the WRA's Community Analysis Section (CAS) between 1942 and 1946. The series is comprised of reports on a broad set of issues facing the incarcerees and concentration camp administrators. Topics include cultural activities, religion, education, labor, assimilation, unrest in the centers, and reintegration (including analysis of community attitudes in California and Hood River, Oregon). The authors of the reports are largely anonymous, though the first two reports are attributed to anthropologist John F. Embree. The series also includes a six-part annotated bibliography of CAS reports.
Reports 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, and 12 include cover letters authored by Dillon S. Myer, Director of the WRA. Report 7 includes a cover letter from Leland Barrows, Acting Director. A stamp on Report 11 indicates it was circulated to the Heart Mountain War Relocation Center.
This series has been digitized and is available upon request.
Series 2 is composed of 14 "notes" published by the Community Analysis Section (CAS) between 1944 and 1945. The notes are short reports on subjects including marriage customs, healing practices, and “block” self-governance within the concentration camps. The notes series includes several reports documenting interviews with incarcerees. It also includes a series of reports on areas within the exclusion zone including Fresno County, Imperial Valley, the San Francisco Bay Area, and San Joaquin County.
This series has been digitized and is available upon request.
Series 3 is comprised of 23 Project Analysis Series reports produced by the Community Analysis Section. Topics include registration processes, security, resettlement, social structures, linguistics, and incidents of resistance in the concentration camps. Report 21 is attributed to Margaret L. Latnis. Reports 23 and 24 are attributed to G. Gordon Brown and J. Ralph McFaring, respectively. Report 7 was circulated to the Poston War Relocation Center and Report 21 was received by the Heart Mountain War Relocation Center.
This series also includes a memorandum to the head project director concerning the Project Analysis Series.
The materials in this series have been digitized and are available upon request.
Series 4 is comprised of 10 bound quarterly and semi-annual reports documenting the activities of the War Relocation Authority from its genesis in 1942 to its dissolution in 1946. The reports include information on the WRA's work and educational programs, camp organization and operation, activities and behavior of incarcerees, population data, property issues, unrest, and camp management, among other topics. The reports also include organizational charts, timelines, maps, graphs, and data tables detailing the work of the WRA. The first two reports in this series also include manuscript annotations.
The materials in this series have been digitized and are available upon request.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.