Jonathan van Harmelen

As festas de fim de ano são uma época especial de comunhão, com o final de cada ano trazendo sentimentos de alegria e reflexão. Para os nipo-americanos que foram encarcerados durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial, a festa do Ano Novo invocava diversas emoções refletindo tanto a importância das comemorações tradicionais quanto as ansiedades da vida nos campos de concentração.

Para a maioria dos americanos, a temporada de festas gira em torno do Natal; para os nipo-americanos, o Ano Novo era (e, em muitos aspectos, ainda é) o foco da temporada de festas, servindo como ...

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On May 4, 1943, a few days after his two columns on Japanese Americans appeared in print (and less than two weeks after Eleanor Roosevelt’s tour of the same camp) Pegler came to Gila River. Afterwards, Pegler wrote in his May 6, 1943 column that conditions were austere and trying, but asserted that many Japanese Americans – specifically Kibei - were disloyal and “savages like the Japanese soldier.” He cited a rumor spread by a nurse at the Gila River hospital that patients had cheered when reports came from Japan that airmen who had been captured after the ...

On March 28, 1945, the Manzanar Free Press ran a remarkable article relating to Japanese Americans. In discussing the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of Korematsu vs. United States, the text cited the noted (and notorious) newspaperman Westbrook Pegler, who had proclaimed in his nationally syndicated column “Fair Enough” that Fred Korematsu had been convicted for violating a rule issued by “a lieutenant-general”—referring to General John DeWitt –“but (who) might as well have been a corporal.” In addition to lambasting DeWitt for incompetence, Pegler criticized Justice Felix Frankfurter for the court’s decision, stating that ...

A number of Japanese Americans have distinguished themselves within the ranks of academia. From famed sociologist Tamotsu Shibutani to the members of the Manzanar guayule project, Japanese American scholars in a variety of fields saw their careers shaped by the wartime incarceration. One such individual, who rose to the top of the scientific world and contributed to the field of molecular biology, was Harvey Akio Itano.

Born in Sacramento, California on November 3, 1920, Harvey was the oldest of four children born to Masao and Sumako Itano. During his youth, Itano was active with the Young People’s Christian Conference ...

One of the more difficult questions historian are asked is not about history itself, but their work as historians: “Why do you write about this topic?” Of course, like other people who study history, I do so for a variety of reasons, whether to understand broader issues affecting society or as part of an introspective journey. History is, after all, a form of storytelling that uses the past as a medium for discussing issues, past and present. In more recent decades, historians have sought to collect personal stories of individuals that add a personal touch to seemingly impersonal topics. For ...