Resource Guides: World War II: Internment of Japanese Americans

Related Fiction

Descriptions from catalog.

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
Call Number: F GUT
ISBN: 067976402X
Publication Date: 1995-09-26
When a newspaper journalist covers the trial of a Japanese American accused of murder, he must come to terms with his own past.
The Moved-Outers by Florence C. Means
Call Number: MS F MEA
ISBN: 0802773869
Publication Date: 1993-01-01
After the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor in 1941, life changes drastically for eighteen-year-old Sumiko Ohara and her family when they are sent from their home in California to a series of relocation camps.
When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
Call Number: MS F OTS
ISBN: 0385721811
Publication Date: 2003-10-14
A novel in which the members of a Japanese American family present their unique perspectives on the experience of being forced into an internment camp during World War II.
The Eternal Spring of Mr. Ito by Sheila Garrigue
Call Number: F GAR
ISBN: 0027373002
Publication Date: 1985-09-01
The fate of a 200-year-old bonsai tree is decided by a young girl and an old Japanese Canadian gardener who resists being imprisoned in an internment camp after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Sequel to "All the Children Were Sent Away."

Useful Articles and Links

iTunes - Books - Japanese American Internment by Library of Congress
Free digital collection of primary sources from the Library of Congress. Includes interactive tools to explore and use the text effectively.
Japanese Relocation and Internment
National Archives resources
Japanese Relocation
U.S. government-produced film defending the World War II internment of Japanese American citizens.
Children of the Camps
More than 120,000 Japanese Americans were interned behind barbed wire during World War II...over half were children.
Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project
Comprehensive site, firsthand accounts, coupled with historical images and teacher resources, and more.
Japanese American Internment
Primary source set (documents, photos) from the Library of Congress
The War. At home. Civil Rights. Japanese Americans.
A More Perfect Union; Japanese Americans and the U.S. Constitution
Interactive galleries combining images, music, text, and first person accounts from the Smithsonian Museum of American History.
History of the Internment in Hawaii
Manzanar National Historic Site
Virtual museum exhibit by the Manzanar National Historic Site.
Japanese Americans at Manzanar
The Topaz Camp
Evacuation and Internment of San Francisco Japanese - 1942
San Francisco News articles from 1942. The San Francisco News, for the first six months of 1942, carried almost daily reports of FBI and police sweeps, and the various proclamations, plans - and restrictions to civil liberties - issued by Lieutenant-General John L. DeWitt at the Presidio of San Francisco.
Japanese American Internment
from Issues & Controversies in American History

Non-fiction Books in Carnegie Library

When searching in Destiny, use the following subject term:

Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945

Book descriptions from catalog records.

Uprooted: The Japanese American Experience During World War II by Albert Marrin
Call Number: 940.53/170973 MAR
ISBN: 9780553509366
Publication Date: 2016-10-25
Imprisoned by Martin W. Sandler
Call Number: 940.53 SAN
ISBN: 9780802722782
Publication Date: 2013-08-27
While Americans fought for freedom and democracy abroad, fear and suspicion towards Japanese Americans swept the country after Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Based on extensive, previously unpublished interviews and oral histories, this book gives an in-depth account of their lives before and during their imprisonment, and after their release.
The Tragic History of the Japanese-American Internment Camps by Deborah Kent
Call Number: 940.53 KEN
ISBN: 9780766027978
Publication Date: 2008-01-01
Examines the period in American history during World War II in which many Japanese Americans were relocated to internment camps in the name of national security.
The Japanese American Internment by Michael Burgan
Call Number: 940.53 BUR
ISBN: 9780756524531
Publication Date: 2007-01-01
Uses eyewitness accounts, personal narratives, and anecdotes to examine the period in American history during World War II in which many Japanese Americans were relocated to internment camps in the name of national security.
Life in a Japanese American Internment Camp by Diane Yancey
Call Number: 940.53 YAN
ISBN: 1560063459
Publication Date: 1997-01-01
Discusses the course of Japanese immigration into the United States, events leading to the relocation of Japanese Americans during World War II, and the conditions they faced in the internment camps.
Our Burden of Shame: Japanese-American Internment During World War II by Susan Sinnott
Call Number: 940.53 SIN
ISBN: 0531201945
Publication Date: 1995-03-01
This book discusses the sending of Japanese and Japanese-Americans to internment camps during World War II and the signing of the redress bill more than forty-five years after the evacuation order.
Japanese-American Internment Camps by Bryan J. Grapes
Call Number: 940.53 JAP
ISBN: 0737704136
Publication Date: 2000-08-01
An anthology of primary sources that examines the evacuation, imprisonment, relocation, and interrogation of Japanese Americans during World War II.
Nisei Daughter by Monica Itoi Sone; S. Frank Miyamoto
Call Number: 920.72 SON
ISBN: 0295956887
Publication Date: 1979-01-01
Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston; James D. Houston Biography of Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston relating her experiences of living at the Manzanar internment camp during World War II and how it has influenced her life.
Call Number: 940.53 HOU
ISBN: 0553272586
Publication Date: 1983-03-01
Desert Exile by Yoshiko Uchida
Call Number: 940.53 UCH
ISBN: 0295961902
Publication Date: 2003-12-01
The author tells the story of her Japanese-American family's imprisonment in a U.S. internment camp during World War II.

"After Silence" from American History in Video

View on computer or with Puffin/Chrome browser on iPad

Click here to access film in database

"A Challenge to Democracy" from American History in Video

View on computer or with Puffin/Chrome browser on iPad

Click here to access film in database

Japanese Internment Detainees | Wikimedia Commons

Helpful Databases

American History in Video This link opens in a new window
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American History Online This link opens in a new window
An excellent reference source for any subject in American history. Includes encyclopedia articles, images, videos, maps, and primary source documents.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR is an archive of scholarly writing across academic disciplines. Highly recommended for deeper information gathering in subjects related to the humanities, though STEM-related fields are also represented. Currency varies by journal. You will see this database in college.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers and U.S. Major Dailies This link opens in a new window
This library offers online access to historical newspapers that you can click through cover to cover, or search by topic, date, or article type (article, photo, comic, birth/death/marriage notice, display ad, film review, etc.). They present firsthand accounts and opinions that bring history to life. Also provides access to current full-text content from selected U.S. newspapers.