Thread by @amhistorymuseum

Today in 1942 President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, under which nearly 75,000 American citizens of Japanese ancestry were taken into custody. Another 45,000 Japanese nationals living in the United States were also incarcerated. #DayOfRemembrance #EO9066

#EO9066 was issued ten weeks after Pearl Harbor. Toku Shimomura of Seattle described the news of the attack in her diary, writing “Our future has become gloomy. I pray that God will stay with us.” #DayOfRemembrance

Three months after Pearl Harbor, Americans of Japanese ancestry and Japanese nationals living on the Pacific Coast and in southern Arizona were ordered to register and then report within a week to hastily designated temporary detention centers. #EO9066 #DayOfRemembrance

They had only days to dispose of businesses, homes, cars, and pets—which they sold at rock-bottom prices, gave away, or left behind. #EO9066 #DayOfRemembrance

Thirteen-year-old Harold Hayashi’s mother wrote this note to his teacher asking that he be excused from school so he can pack for forced removal. #EO9066 #DayOfRemembrance

120,000 people were sent to incarceration camps. They lived in temporary tar-paper barrack-like structures surrounded by barbed wire, searchlights and guard towers. #EO9066 #DayOfRemembrance

Surrounded by barbed-wire fences—and under the constant gaze of armed guards—inmates endured the discomforts, forced regimens, and indignities of confinement. Even so, they strove to maintain some semblance of a normal life, starting schools, churches, and sports teams. #EO9066

Baseball was one of the most popular sports played in the camps. #EO9066 #DayOfRemembrance
americanhistory.si.edu/blog/baseball-…

The natural cycles of courtship, marriage, births, and deaths continued inside the camps. Paul Ishimoto and May Asaki met and fell in love in an incarceration camp in Arkansas. #DayOfRemembrance #EO9066 americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2013/02/s…

Even as many of their families were incarcerated, more than 30,000 Japanese Americans volunteered for military service. Most were members of the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, segregated units that fought in Europe. #E09066 #DayOfRemembrance

The Army initially issued members of the 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team a racially insensitive insignia with a yellow hand wielding a bloody sword. They objected and designed a new insignia featuring a torch of liberty. #EO9066 #DayOfRemembrance

Some Japanese Americans resisted their incarceration. Their stories: s.si.edu/2DHBwXi

Many fellow American citizens recognized the unjust interment of American people. Truman B. Douglass authored this pamphlet, calling attention to Japanese incarceration and compelled others to work against the unfair treatment of American citizens of Japanese ancestry. #EO9066

After a 1944 Supreme Court decision, authorities started to empty the camps. But housing shortages, scarce jobs, and lingering discrimination made resettlement difficult. #EO9066 #DayOfRemembrance

Through grassroots organizing, court action, legislation, and lobbying, the Japanese American community led the nation to confront the injustice done to them during World War II: s.si.edu/2mgnRvK #EO9066 #DayOfRemembrance

Not everyone effected by Executive Order 9066 have received redress. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States asked twelve Latin American countries to arrest their residents of Japanese, German, and Italian ancestry in order to “secure” the western hemisphere. #EO9066

More than 2,200 Latin Americans of Japanese descent were forcibly deported to camps in the United States. These Latin Americans, the majority of whom came from Peru, were not covered under the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 and are still seeking an apology and restitution. #EO9066

The Japanese American community continues its effort to educate Americans about the mass incarceration of Americans. Every February 19—the anniversary of Executive Order 9066—the community observes a day of remembrance. #EO9066 #DayOfRemembrance

Today we’re observing the #DayOfRemembrance with a free live performance by award-winning singer-songwriter Kishi Bashi and a guest lecture by renowned scholar Duncan Ryūken Williams. Seating is limited and available on a first-come- first-serve basis. s.si.edu/2SqtCe0

This program is made possible with the support of Lilly Endowment Inc., the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture, the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation, and the Japanese American Veterans Association.

To learn more about the long legacy of Japanese incarceration explore our exhibit, “Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II.”
#EO9066 #DayOfRemembrance