Title

Letter, John J. McCloy, Assistant Secretary of War to Clarence Pickett, American Friends Service Committee

Creator

Files

Date Original

1942 May 21

Description

This correspondence discusses the idea of a university program that would allow Japanese Americans, incarcerated in camps, the ability to continue their educational pursuits.

Biographical/Historical Note

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9022, creating the War Relocation Authority (WRA). The WRA selected ten sites in which to imprison more than 110,000 Japanese Americans, over two-thirds of whom were American citizens. Two of these centers were in the Arkansas Delta, one at Rohwer in Desha County, and the other at Jerome in sections of Chicot and Drew counties. Over 16,000 Japanese-Americans were incarcerated in these two centers between October 1942 and November 1945. John McCloy was hired as an consultant by Henry Stimson, the 54th United States Secretary of War, in 1940. According to Stimson, McCloy was the individual that was responsible for the decision to remove Japanese Americans from their homes and into camps, more then anyone else. Clarence Pickett was educated at Penn College, Iowa, Hartford Theological Seminary, and Harvard. He served as a Quaker minister and worked for the American Friends Service Committee from 1929-1950.

Physical Description

Letter, 8" x 10.5"

Subjects

Adkins, Homer Martin, 1890-1964; Evacuation of civilians; Military assistance; Military camps; Camps; War; Japanese; Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945; World War, 1939-1945--Concentration Camps--United States--Arkansas--Concentration Camps--United States--Arkansas; Internment camps; Relocation camps; Education; Universities and colleges

Contributor

McCloy, John J.

Geographical Area

Philadelphia, Philadelphia County (PA); Washington, District of Columbia

Language

English

Identifier

MS.000404, Box 4, Folder 112, Item 9

Resource Type

Text

Collection

Homer M. Adkins papers, MS.000404

Publisher

Arkansas State Archives

Contributing Entity

Arkansas State Archives

Recommended Citation

Letter, John J. McCloy, Assistant Secretary of War to Clarence Pickett, American Friends Service Committee, Homer M. Adkins papers, Arkansas State Archives, Little Rock, Arkansas.

Rights

Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.

Disciplines

United States History

Preview

Additional Content

Hazel Retherford papers, MS.000643; Amon Guy Thompson papers, MG04582-MG04586; Austin Smith papers, 1942-1945, MG04350; Beauty Behind Barbed Wire: The Arts of the Japanese in Our War Relocation Camps, MG01299; Community Analysis Reports and Community Analysis Trend Reports of the War Relocation Authority, 1942-1946, MG03846-MG03847; Japanese Camp papers, MG03848-MG03869