John Tateishi

Many people opposed Japanese American redress, including Japanese Americans. The story of John Tateishi and the decade-long fight for the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.

Attendants register arrivals at Santa Anita Park Assembly Center, April 5, 1942, Photo by Clem Albers, The Bancroft Library UC Berkeley

Santa Anita Riot

On August 4, 1942, a routine search for contraband at the Santa Anita Assembly Center escalated into a riot involving 2,000 Japanese American detainees.

Gila River Relocation Center, Rivers, Arizona. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, accompanied by Dillon Myer - NARA - 537079

Gila River War Relocation Center

Gila River was considered one of America’s least oppressive concentration camps. But even Eleanor Roosevelt left appalled after seeing it for herself.

Karl Bendetsen with Joint Chief of Staff, 1950, Courtesy of the Karl R. Bendetsen Papers, Hoover Institution Archives

Karl Bendetsen conceived, drafted, and processed Executive Order 9066, which authorized the mass removal of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. Decades later, he denied responsibility while lying about his own identity.

Mine Okubo standing by her art, courtesy of UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library

Miné Ōkubo

Artist Miné Ōkubo created more than 2,000 sketches while incarcerated during World War II. Her memoir, Citizen 13660, became one of the most important firsthand accounts of the Japanese American incarceration.

Japanese Sugar Plantation Workers, Wainaku, Hawaii c1890, photo by Charles Furneaux. Courtesy of Bishop Museum Archives

Gannenmono

They were called the Gannenmono, the “people of the first year.” They came seeking a better life in Hawaiʻi. Instead, many encountered broken promises, brutal working conditions, and a labor system that punished workers for trying to leave.

Torao Takahashi on board the Marico, his fishing boat. Courtesy of Lilian Takahashi Hoffecker

Takahashi v. California Fish and Game Commission

California blocked him from citizenship. Then it tried to take away his right to fish. When Torao Takahashi challenged the law, his case reached the U.S. Supreme Court and became a landmark victory for civil rights.

the first evacuation claims check presented to Tokuji Tokimasa by Claims Agent William H. Jacobs, photo by Jack Iwata. Courtesy of the Japanese American National Museum

Evacuation Claims Act

They were welcome to file a claim. Compensation was another matter. Although the Evacuation Claims Act offered reimbursement for wartime property losses, many Japanese Americans recovered only a small fraction of what they had lost.

Gordon Hirabayashi

Gordon Hirabayashi refused curfew and removal orders and turned himself in to force a legal challenge in 1942. When the government wouldn’t take him to prison, he hitchhiked. He believed the Constitution would prove him right.

Quiet Americans

Civil Rights & Activism