Mildred and Frank Miles Scrapbook of the Santo Tomás Internment Camp, 1942-1947

Title: Mildred and Frank Miles Scrapbook of the Santo Tomás Internment Camp, 1942-1947

ID: MSS Miles

Primary Creator: Miles, Mildred

Extent: 0.2 cubic feet. More info below.

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

The Mildred and Frank Miles Scrapbook of the Santo Tomás Internment Camp scrapbook includes documents and ephemera produced at Santo Tomás during the Miles' imprisonment there, as well as materials written about the camp after liberation. Many materials document daily life in the camp. The Santo Tomás Internment Camp was created by the Japanese military after occupation of Manila, the capital of the Phillipines. It was located on the campus of the University of Santo Tomás in Manila, and housed over 4,000 incarcerees for nearly the entirety of World War II.

A PDF access scan of this item is available upon patron request.

The scrapbook includes documents and ephemera produced at Santo Tomás during the Miles' imprisonment, as well as materials written about the camp after liberation. Many of the materials, including song sheets, camp newsletters, photographs, radio scripts, and other ephemera document daily life in the camp and address issues of overcrowding, resource distribution, morale, and lack of supplies. Many newsclippings pasted into the scrapbook document the days leading up to the camp's liberation by American forces on February 4, 1945. Notable documents include the Liberation Bulletin, a newsheet produced in the camp immediately after it was liberated. The Bulletin contains a timeline of the thirty-seven months of imprisonment from the arrival of the first prisoners on January 4th, 1942, until the last day in camp, as well as results of a census taken at all three local camps including Santo Tomás, Los Baños, and Baguio. Covering food prices, garden production, average daily calorie intake, weight loss, and number of deaths, the Bulletin is a poignant summary of over three years of life in the camp. Other notable documents include a sheet of song lyrics from the "Santo Tomás Show," a radio show written and performed by incarcerees, and The Internitis, a pamphlet filled with short stories, comic strips, and anecdotes from camp. Both of these documents and others in the scrapbook show prisoners' effort at humor and keeping up morale throughout their ordeal.

A PDF access scan of this item is available upon patron request.

Frank C. and Mildred Miles were imprisoned at the Santo Tomás Internment Camp in Manila, Philippines for three years and one month. They lived in Manila for nearly 25 years, and continued living there after their ordeal. They were incarcerated with their daughter Janet and her husband Herbert Searl, and two grandchildren. Frank C. Miles was born on March 23, 1890  in Meadow Grove, Nebraska and worked as an executive for a public utility in Manila at the time of their capture.  He died on October 13, 1974 in San Diego, California.

The Santo Tomás Internment Camp was created by the Japanese military after occupation of Manila, the capital of the Phillipines. It was located on the campus of the University of Santo Tomás in Manila, and housed over 4,000 prisoners for nearly the entirety of World War II. Approximately 3,200 of these were American citizens. Living conditions were poor at the start and deteriorated over the course of the war, resulting in 390 total deaths.

More Extent Information: 1 oversize box

Statement on Access: The collection is open for research.

Physical Access Note: The scrapbook is fragile; handle with care.

Acquisition Note: This scrapbook was part of a donation from the Kappa Delta sorority chapter at Oregon State University in August 2015 and was separated from those records at the time of accession.

Related Materials:

A reproduction of the Santo Tomas camp newsletter, Internews, is available in the Valley Library Main Stacks at D805. P6 R4.

The Special Collections and Archives Research Center has many other collections related to World War II, including personal narratives such as the Wesley Ross Memoir of WWII (MSS RossW).

Preferred Citation: Mildred and Frank Miles Scrapbook of the Santo Tomás Internment Camp, 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.

The terminology surrounding the legacy term "internment" has been adjusted. Some materials in this collection use derogatory language to describe ethnic groups. We acknowledge the racism represented by the use of these phrases and the harm they may cause our users. Providing access to these historical materials does not endorse any attitudes or behavior depicted therein.

[Date of Acknowledgement: August 2023]

Finding Aid Revision History: Revised to address anti-racist descriptive issues, August 2023.

Miles, Mildred
Miles, Frank C., 1890-1974

Concentration camps -- Philippines
Miles, Frank C., 1890-1974.
Miles, Mildred
Philippines -- History -- Japanese occupation, 1942-1945
Prisoners of war.
Santo Tomas Internment Camp (Manila, Philippines)
World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons
World War, 1939-1945--Philippines

Scrapbooks.