During winter term 2025 Dr. Kara Ritzheimer’s History 310 (Historian’s Craft) students researched and wrote blog posts about OSU during WWII. The sources they consulted are listed at the end of each post. Students wrote on a variety of topics and we hope you appreciate their contributions as much as the staff at SCARC does!
Blog post written by Kelly Tabel
On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the naval base Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, which resulted in the United States’ declaration of war on Japan. After the attack, the government and other American citizens grew suspicious of Japanese Americans, believing they were engaged in espionage. Two months later on February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 which authorized the relocation or internment of Japanese American citizens on the West Coast. Executive Order 9066 designated the western portions of Washington, Oregon, and California as the Western Defense Command – an active military area. Nobody suspected of espionage could be in an active war zone, causing the forced relocation of over 120,000 Japanese Americans. This included both Issei, meaning the first generation of Japanese immigrants to the U.S., and Nisei, the second generation of Japanese ancestry born in the U.S., citizens by birthright.[i] This order affected Japanese Americans throughout the West, with 70,000 of the 120,000 evacuees being American citizens.[ii] With no direct charges against Japanese Americans, there could be no appeal, causing Japanese Americans to lose their homes, property, jobs, businesses, and opportunities for an education. This order also imposed hardship on all Japanese American university students attending schools in the Western Defense Command, including those at Oregon State College (OSC).
In the fall of 1941, thirty-eight Japanese students were enrolled at OSC, with a majority of them being from Oregon. Only two had been born in Japan.[iii] On December 11, 1941, four days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, thirty-six students of Japanese descent at OSC signed a letter to the acting President of OSC, F.A. Gilfillan, stating, “… we the undersigned American citizens of Japanese ancestry desire to express to you, our College President, our unswerving loyalty to our country, the United States of America, and to all her institutions.”[iv] It is likely that after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese American students at OSC faced some level of fear, which motivated them to sign a letter pledging their loyalty to their country and OSC. Their fears were soon a reality with Executive Order 9066 and the War Relocation Authority (WRA), a federal agency created in 1942 that cared for the Japanese Americans removed from the West Coast and placed in internment camps.[v] On April 2, 1942, OSC President Gilfillan addressed a letter to all Japanese American students concerning their status at the college. The letter stated, “‘American-born Japanese students as well as all aliens will only be allowed to remain in school until such time as evacuation is announced by the Commanding General. The exact time is not known but will be in the near future.’”[vi] The fears students had addressed in their December letter were becoming true. Due to their ancestry, they were being stripped of their education and their freedoms. Sam Naito, who was forced to abandon his studies at OSC due to Executive Order 9066, later described it as “‘the most devastating feeling I ever had.’”[vii]
A May 1942 Barometer article, Oregon State College’s student newspaper, addresses the status of Japanese American students at OSC to the students and the public. A short article published on the paper’s second page, states, “Oregon State students affected by the new order may, by fast work, finish the term, for the evacuation will not begin until next Monday and will be over by noon Wednesday, June 3.”[viii] While Japanese American students were granted the ability to finish the school year by OSC, the evacuation orders still stood as the Western Defense Command included Corvallis. With this being on the second page of the paper, we can conclude that for many students, this was not a priority or a major issue, with little documented backlash or protest from OSC.
The removal of Japanese American students from their established institutions in the West resulted in the creation of the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council (NJASRC). NJASRC was a branch under the WRA that helped resettle Japanese American evacuees and college students from the West to colleges in the Midwest and East Coast. NJARSC worked with students, families, private organizations, government agencies, colleges, and the larger Japanese American community.[ix] Two students from OSC, Tony Takashiman and Jack Kato, both Americans of Japanese ancestry, received permission from OSC executive secretary TP Cramer to transfer to the University of Utah, if they were permitted travel permits.[x] This was an opportunity that many Japanese American students took because they were no longer permitted to attend school in the Western Defense Command and forced by the government to reside within the internment camps, many not having anywhere else to go as their homes, belongings, and everything they once knew existed in the West.
University and college leaders throughout the West Coast began to discuss with each other what the next steps should be for their Japanese American students, and these conversations included OSC administrators. After Executive Order 9066, Japanese American students at OSC and other institutions throughout the West were still enrolled. However, on April 22, 1942, the Oregon State System of Higher Education sent a letter to President Gilfillan addressing the fact that California institutions had begun to gather numbers in regards to the enrollment of Japanese American students and asking OSC to do the same.[xi] The relocation of Japanese American students became a growing topic within institutions across the West Coast, as this was considered an impending issue. OSC received a letter from the University of Washington addressing the goals of the Student Relocation Committee that they needed to adhere to, “One of our chief functions, as I understand it, will be to accumulate information about each of the students for the Army and the institutions to which they transfer. Evacuation of the Nissei college students in Oregon and Washington is imminent.”[xii] Schools in Washington, Oregon, and California began to collaborate to collect information on their students and explore colleges willing to accept transfer students. It was important for the schools throughout the West to be in contact with each other to share as much helpful information as possible for a safe relocation for the students, but also to follow the looming demand of Executive Order 9066.
With the NJARSC’s help, many Japanese American students succeeded in transferring to new universities. In October 1944, a brief article in the New York Times addressed the topic of Japanese American students. It explained that the college population of Japanese Americans had returned to the same rates as before Pearl Harbor, with 2,500 Japanese American students enrolled in 550 colleges across the country, most of them being young evacuees who desired college training after leaving the assembly centers.[xiii] However, receptivity to Japanese American students varied across the country. For example, Indiana University denied Japanese American students in June 1942 allegedly due to the uncertain military status of southern Indiana, where the university is located. However, in a town hall meeting discussing the topic, responses diverged, with one attendee asserting, “‘Can’t be done – this is war!’”[xiv] With the differing receptiveness to Japanese American students across the country, a new pressure for Japanese American students emerged as more eyes were on them than ever.
With Japanese American Students transferring to universities across the country, specifically the Midwest and East Coast, the NJASRC stressed the importance of these students being “ambassadors of goodwill.”[xv] Japanese American students were arriving at new colleges and communities that may have been unfamiliar with Japanese Americans. To make an excellent impression, the students were pressured to be involved and receive good grades. It was believed this would help create a safe environment for Japanese Americans and help create a safe postwar period.[xvi] In July 1942, an editorial in the Santa Anita Peacemaker, details the scrutiny these students experienced, “Upon their scholarship, their conduct, their thoughts, their sense of humor, their adaptability, will rest the verdict of the rest of the country as to whether Japanese Americans are true Americans.”[xvii] With the scrutiny Japanese American students were under, they took the role of being an “ambassador of goodwill” seriously. For example, Kenji Okuda, who had been a student at the University of Washington, transferred to Oberlin University in Ohio, where he was elected student body President.[xviii] Another example is Kaz Tada, who attended Nebraska Wesleyan University, played on the basketball team, and was editor of the student paper.[xix]
The relocation of Japanese American students to the Midwest and East Coast had an impact on individuals throughout these regions. Ruth Nomura Tanbara, whose parents were from Japan, states, “‘The dispersal of the Japanese American community from the West Coast to the Midwest and East was a ‘blessing in disguise.’ It broadened our knowledge of the United States to get away from the ghettos of the West. It also widened educational opportunities for the Japanese American students.’”[xx] She believes that this opportunity expanded opportunities for many who would have never left the West. Yoshiteru Marukami, who attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota during World War II and then graduated, chose to stay in Northfield where he taught choir at the high school and raised his family. [xxi] The relocation of Japanese American students created a lasting impact on regions within the United States and the students themselves. The students’ perseverance and resolve after Executive Order 9066 helped ease the country into a post-war period; their contribution and what they were forced to endure cannot go unnoticed.
With the help of the NJARSC, these Japanese American students broadened the viewpoints of Americans, bringing diversity to new places and helping everyone across the country acclimate for a postwar period. This is a difficult period of history to examine, but it is important, as it influenced our country and is a grim reminder of what the government is capable of. During my research, I could not find many secondary sources relating to Japanese American students during WWII. Yet it is essential that we discuss this history so that it can be brought forward and heard. This history is integrated throughout the West Coast and Western universities/institutions, including OSC, leaving an impact for many today.
[i] “Executive Order 9066: Resulting in Japanese-American Incarceration (1942),” National Archives, https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/executive-order-9066
[ii] “Japanese-American Incarceration During World War II,” National Archives, https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/japanese-relocation
[iii] “List of Japanese Students – Fall Term 1941, 1941,” Oregon Multicultural Archives, Oregon State University, Oregon Digital, https://oregondigital.org/concern/documents/df724m06c
[iv] “Letter to the President from Japanese American Students,” December 11, 1941, OSU’s WWII Era Japanese American Students Oregon State University, Oregon Digital, https://oregondigital.org/concern/documents/df724m117
[v] “War Relocation Authority,” Densho Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.densho.org/War_Relocation_Authority/
[vi] “Official Letter to All Japanese American Students,” April 2, 1942, Oregon Multicultural Archives, Oregon State University, Oregon Digital, https://oregondigital.org/concern/documents/df724k98w
[vii] Ian Halcomb, “Oregon internees to get honorary degrees,” High Country News, May 11, 2007, https://www.hcn.org/articles/oregon-internees-to-get-honorary-degrees/
[viii] “Japanese Are Ordered From 11 Counties,” May 26,1942, OSU Special Collections & Archives Research Center (hereafter SCARC), Oregon State University (OSU), Oregon Digital, https://oregondigital.org/concern/documents/df724k72r
[ix] “National Japanese American Relocation Council”, Densho Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.densho.org/War_Relocation_Authority/
[x] “Telegram Regarding Student Transfer,” May 20, 1942, Oregon Multicultural Archives, Oregon State University, Oregon Digital, https://oregondigital.org/concern/documents/df724k81q
[xi] “Letter from the Oregon State System of Higher Education,” April 22, 1942, Oregon Multicultural Archives, Oregon State University, Oregon Digital, https://oregondigital.org/concern/documents/df724k90p
[xii] “Letter Regarding the Northwest College Personnel Association Student Relocation Committee,” May 5, 1942, Oregon Multicultural Archives, Oregon State University, Oregon Digital, https://oregondigital.org/concern/documents/df724k83
[xiii] “2,500 Japanese American Studying in 550 Colleges,” October 29, 1944, New York Times, 101, https://nyti.ms/3CYSq5e
[xiv] Katie Martin, “‘Can’t be done–This is war!’: The Admission of Japanese Students During World War II,” Indiana University Bloomington Libraries Blog, April 18, 2016, https://blogs.libraries.indiana.edu/iubarchives/2016/04/18/japanesewwii/
[xv] Allan W. Austin, From Concentration Camp to Campus: Japanese American Students and World War II (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2004), 3.
[xvi] Austin, From Concentration Camp to Campus, 2.
[xvii] “Students Bear a Great Burden,” July 11, 1942, Santa Anita Peacemaker, 6, https://cdm16855.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16855coll4/id/10370
[xviii] “Courage and Compassion: Student Biographies.” Oberlin College and Conservatory, 28 July 2022,www.oberlin.edu/courage-and-compassion-student-biographies.
[xix] Taylor Harwood, ““It feels mighty good to go to classes again”: Experiences of Japanese American College Students in the Midwest During World War II.” in a History Senior Seminar (May 2015) 13. https://tcharwood.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/history-senior-project.pdf
[xx] Harwood, Taylor. ““It feels mighty good to go to classes again,” 7.
[xxi] Harwood, Taylor. ““It feels mighty good to go to classes again,” 20.
