Staff View
JACL Evacuations Bill

Descriptive

TitleInfo
Title
JACL Evacuations Bill
Name (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Nagao
NamePart (type = given)
Charles
Role
RoleTerm (authority = marcrelator); (type = text)
Depicted
Name (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Sakamoto
NamePart (type = given)
Taki
Role
RoleTerm (authority = marcrelator); (type = text)
Depicted
TypeOfResource
StillImage
Genre (authority = AAT)
photographs
OriginInfo
DateCreated (encoding = w3cdtf); (keyDate = yes); (point = start); (qualifier = questionable)
1950
DateCreated (encoding = w3cdtf); (keyDate = no); (point = end); (qualifier = questionable)
1959
Abstract (type = description)
The JACL lobbied Congress to pass Evacuation Claims Bill HR 3999, in order for former internees to recover property stolen from them after their incarceration. In 1951, Congress granted a settlement program, but restricted it to elderly claimants, like the woman pictured here. Congress also capped monetary redress at $2,500. The JACL helped elderly Issei file claims, donating time and legal advice. However, because of the large amount of paperwork, only 137 claims were settled nationwide. It would take nearly three decades of organizing and lobbying before large numbers of Japanese Americans would receive substantial monetary reparations for internment.
Subject (authority = LCSH)
Topic
Japanese Americans--Reparations
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Seabrook Farms
Identifier (type = local)
SBFarms
Identifier (type = hdl)
http://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.3/SBFarms.Photograph.346
Identifier (type = doi)
doi:10.7282/T3833QJM
Location
PhysicalLocation (authority = marcorg); (displayLabel = Seabrook Educational and Cultural Center)
NjR
Extension
DescriptiveEvent
Type
Digital exhibition
Label
Invisible Restraints: Life and Labor at Seabrook Farms
AssociatedObject
Type
Exhibition section
Relationship
Forms part of
Name
"Americanization" and Reparations for Internment
Detail
Discrimination and suspicion forced Japanese Americans to perform their patriotism in ways that were not required of other Americans or European immigrants, and was crucial to their safety and self-preservation. For example, when white soldiers harassed paroled Japanese Americans in transit to Seabrook, Yager commended the released internees, on behalf of the WRA, for quietly tolerating the abuse with no “argument, disorder, shoving, or man-handling.” At Seabrook, the company constantly captured proof of Japanese Americans’ patriotism and social “rehabilitation” through the propaganda it provided. At Seabrook, the WRA and company officials emphasized a program of social reintegration, an ambiguous concept given the fact that many Nisei had only known the United States as a home, had attended public high schools and universities in California and Washington, and had grown up loving American movies, food, and sports the same as their non-Asian American peers. The Issei sent to Seabrook did not receive the right to naturalize as American citizens until 1952 when the federal statute was changed. Many had children who served in the war, with at least three mothers being rewarded “Gold Stars” – the medal given to those who lost sons in the service.

Some Nisei saw the internment camps and Seabrook as an opportunity to seize leadership from their immigrant parents and to take a more prominent role in defining the needs and interests of the community as a whole. Still, the mixed feelings that released internees had about Seabrook reflected the fact their choices remained limited by racism and their parole status. Yoshiko Hasegawa recalled how the “great Japanese spirit worked so hard so that Mr. Seabrook was able to upgrade his rickety plant.” This fact would resurface in the movements for redress, when largely Nisei activists campaigned for monetary reparations for internment.Testifying before the redress commission appointed by Congress in 1980, William Kochiyama recalled of his experience at Seabrook that, “Any promotions to the top positions were made available to the Caucasians.” Nor is there any evidence that Seabrook backed former internees in their attempts to win redress from the federal government, despite the fact that the company directly benefited from the fact that Issei and Nisei workers were barred from working on their own farms in California and other Western states. Only after years of organizing did incarcerated Japanese Americans receive a formal apology from the government and living survivors received a onetime $20,000 redress payment for the trauma and financial devastation caused by internment. Reparations discriminated against Japanese Peruvians, who, despite having lost all of their assets through internment, only received $5,000 in 1998 as part of a government settlement to a class action lawsuit.
AssociatedObject
Type
Exhibition caption
Relationship
Forms part of
Name
JACL Evacuations Bill
Detail
The JACL lobbied Congress to pass Evacuation Claims Bill HR 3999, in order for former internees to recover property stolen from them after their incarceration. In 1951, Congress granted a settlement program, but restricted it to elderly claimants, like the woman pictured here. Congress also capped monetary redress at $2,500. The JACL helped elderly Issei file claims, donating time and legal advice. However, because of the large amount of paperwork, only 137 claims were settled nationwide. It would take nearly three decades of organizing and lobbying before large numbers of Japanese Americans would receive substantial monetary reparations for internment.

Seabrook Educational and Cultural Center, New Jersey Digital Highway
AssociatedObject
Type
Placement in digital exhibition
Relationship
Forms part of
Name
73
DateTime (encoding = w3cdtf)
2016
Subject
HierarchicalGeographic
Country
UNITED STATES
State
New Jersey
County
Cumberland County
City
Seabrook Farms (Seabrook, N.J.)
Note
Pictured are Taki Sakamoto (L.) and Charles Nagao (R.), members of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL). The JACL worked with Congress to pass a bill entitled Evacuation Claims Bill HR 3999 - Reclamation Activity. But in 1951, Congress only granted a settlement program for elderly claimants, and these claimants could not receive any settlement that exceeded $2,500. The JACL worked with elderly Japanese former internees, donating time, legal advice, and assistance in filling out the large amount of paperwork. In the end, only 137 claims were settled. It cost U.S. taxpayers $1,400 for the government to decide that only payments of $450 each would be authorized. To learn more about the Japanese internment and the ensuing legal struggles for reclamation, read the book 'Years of Infamy' by Michiko Nishiura, a former Seabrook resident.
PhysicalDescription
Extent
1 image
InternetMediaType
application/pdf
InternetMediaType
image/jpeg
Subject
Name (authority = LC-NAF)
NamePart (type = corporate)
Japanese American Citizens' League
Back to the top

Rights

RightsDeclaration (AUTHORITY = NJDH); (ID = rulibRdec0001)
This resource may be copyright protected. You may make use of this resource, with proper attribution, for educational and other non-commercial uses only. Contact the contributing organization to obtain permission for reproduction, publication, and commercial use.
Copyright
Status
Copyright protected
Availability
Status
Open
Reason
Permission or license
Back to the top

Source

ObjectNumber
ObjectNumber
Record # 00936, Drawer 4, Folder 37
Back to the top

Technical

CompressionScheme
uncompressed
FileSize (UNIT = bytes)
13096960
Format
MimeType
application/x-tar
Checksum (METHOD = SHA1)
81cafd8334e67d8e98f53b1daa16e86735e202de
Os
OsName
Windows
OsVersion
98
Sampling
SamplingSize
600
SamplingUnit
dpi
ContentModel
Photograph
Back to the top
Version 8.5.5
Rutgers University Libraries - Copyright ©2024