United States. Army. Western Defense Command and Fourth Army.

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Biography / Administrative History

On February 19, 1942 President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 providing broad powers for the War Department to create exclusion zones and to initiate an evacuation program for the Western Defense Command (WDC). Under the leadership of General John Dewitt of the WDC, the Civil Affairs Division (CAD) and the Wartime Civil Control Administration (WCCA) were created in order to provide for the transition of voluntary evacuees, enemy aliens and United States citizens alike, from exclusion areas to other parts of the country. The failure of the voluntary evacuation plan led President Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 9102, which established the civilian run War Relocation Authority (WRA). The WRA was mandated to institute enforced evacuations. Due to the recalcitrance of states on the interior of the country to accept the Japanese evacuees or to provide for their safety, the WRA also constructed internment centers in order to house the evacuees. Between 1942-1945 the WRA, the WCCA, the CAD and the Office of the Commanding General of the Western Defense Command segregated and housed approximately 110,000 Japanese-American men, women and children.

Though the initial exclusion plan put forth by General Dewitt included both German and Italian citizens, the Japanese Americans bore the brunt of Executive Order 9066.

From the guide to the Flaherty Collection: Japanese Internment Records, 1921-1966, bulk 1942, (San José State University Library, Special Collections & Archives)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Flaherty Collection: Japanese Internment Records, 1921-1966, bulk 1942 San José State University. Library. Special Collections & Archives
referencedIn S. Frank Miyamoto Collection, 1942 University of Washington Libraries Special Collections
referencedIn McCool, Evelyn Whitehead. Evelyn Whitehead McCool papers, 1942. UC Berkeley Libraries
referencedIn Kaoru Ichihara Papers, 1942-1945 University of Washington Libraries Special Collections
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Flaherty, John Melvin person
associatedWith Fullerton, Colonel Hugh T. person
associatedWith Ichihara, Kaoru, 1915- person
associatedWith McCool, Evelyn Whitehead. person
associatedWith Miyamoto, Shotaro Frank, 1912- person
associatedWith San José State College corporateBody
associatedWith United States. Army. Western Defense Command. corporateBody
associatedWith United States. War Relocation Authority corporateBody
associatedWith United States. Wartime Civil Control Administration corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Subject
Japanese Americans
World War, 1939-1945
World War, 1939-1945
Occupation
Activity

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