Hellegers, Dale M.

Dale M. Hellegers, an independent scholar, began work in the early 1970s on an historical study of the origins of the 1946 Japanese Constitution. Her research focused on how the creation of the new Constitution was affected by World War II and the postwar military occupation of Japan by the United States. Hellegers interviewed many persons who had been involved in the military government of Japan and the drafting of the Constitution. She also engaged in extensive research at the National Archives in Washington and at other archival repositories. Her book, We, the Japanese People: World War II and the Origins of the Japanese Constitution, was published in two volumes by Stanford University Press in 2001. Hellegers donated her research materials to the Harry S. Truman Library in 2002.