Internment History at WU
On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 that called for the removal of Americans of Japanese heritage to relocation centers across the United States. These centers were commonly referred to as internment camps. Over the next three years, approximately 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry were interned.
During those years, an effort was made to relocate Japanese American college students out of internment campus and to universities and colleges away from the West coast.
George Throop, then Chancellor of Washington University, agreed to accept the transfer of a number students of Japanese ancestry and made this progressive statement: "The attitude of the University is that these students, if American citizens, have exactly the same rights as other students who desire to register in the University..."
Approximately thirty Japanese American students were transferred to Washington University and faced no restrictions academically nor in extracurricular activities, campus or dormitory life.
Below is a selection of items from the collection of Chancellor Throop pertaining to the transfer of students during the Japanese internment. Access to these and other archival documents can be arranged by contacting University Archivist Sonya Rooney at srooney@wustl.edu or (314) 935-9730.
- 04/30/42 Letter to Registrar Chalres T. Fitts, Pomona College - Claremont, California from Chancellor Throop
- 05/16/42 Letter to Chancellor Throop from Clarence E. Pickett, American Friends Service Committee - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 05/18/42 Letter to Clarence E. Pickett, American Friends Service Committee - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from Chancellor Throop
- 05/21/42 Letter to Clarence E. Pickett, American Friends Service Committee - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from John J. McCloy, Assistant Secretary of War, War Dept. - Washington, D.C.
- 05/29/42 "Digest of Points Presented by Those Attending the Conference Called in Chicago for the Consideration of the Problems Connected with Relocation of the American-Born Japanese Students Who Have Been Evacuated From Pacific Coast Colleges and Universities"
- 06/13/42 Letter to Chancellor Throop from Robbins W. Barstow, Director, Japanese American Student Relocation Council - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 06/17/42 Letter to Chancellor Throop from Robbins W. Barstow, Director, Japanese American Student Relocation Council - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 07/24/42 Letter to Charles A. Rovetta, Acting Director, International House - Chicago, Illinois from Chancellor Throop
- 10/14/42 Letter to Chancellor Throop from John H. Provinse, Acting Director, War Relocation Authority, Washington, D.C.
- 12/17/42 Letter to Mrs. W. S. Mason - Clayton, Missouri from Chancellor Throop
- 01/04/43 Letter to Chancellor Throop from C. V. Hibbard, National Director, National Japanese American Student Relocation Council - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 06/25/43 Letter to Chancellor Throop from C. V. Hibbard, National Director, National Japanese American Student Relocation Council - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 06/28/43 C. V. Hibbard, National Director, National Japanese American Student Relocation Council - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 08/06/43 Newspaper clippings from St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- 08/16/43 Newspaper clippings from The San Francisco News
- 08/25/43 Newspaper clippings from The Evening Star, Portland Oregonian, Chicago Sun
- 09/29/43 Letter to Chancellor Throop from E.G. Kennedy, Relocation Officer, War Relocation Authority - St. Louis, Missouri
- 10/01/43 Letter to Chancellor Throop from Lawrence Hill, Chairman, Washington University School of Architecture
- 03/30/44 "For Inter-racial Tolerance" (Speech of Representative O. K. Armstrong, in Missouri House of Representatives, March 30, 1944, opposing amendment that would have barred a doctor of Japanese descent from practicing in the State Tubercular Sanatorium)
- Bulletin of Washington University in Saint Louis — 04/15/42 Includes WU calendar for Summer Session 1942, Fall Term 1942-1943, and Spring Term 1943; Fees and Deposits including tuition, student activities fee, books, dorm fees, etc. for 1942-1943