Florin Farmers Evacuated

I have been gathering information on the War Relocation Authority from various sources. Recently, I ordered some microfilm from the National Archives from the community Analysis section of the War relocation Authority on the Manzanar Relocation Center. As i was going through the documents I discovered one on Florin.

Manzanar Relocation Center
Community Analysis Section
October 30, 1943

THE FLORIN EVACUATION

This was related to me by an Issei evacuee from the Florin district.

Florin was in a zone that evacuated after a good may others. It was in zone 2. The farmers around the florin district have been farming twenty to thirty years, their chief crops being vine grapes and strawberries. The average size farm was about twenty acres.

These farmers were the stay put kind. They had worked hard on the same land for many years. They didn’t believe in going hither and thither to farm. This type of farmer usually hits a very good year once a decade, and that good year was the very one when they had to evacuate. Just before evacuation the farmers in the Florin section were already thinking in terms of new cars and new tractors as the market prices for fruits were reaching new ceilings.

These farmers had but to pick the crops to realize their fortunes when the notice to evacuate came. The strawberries were ripe and ready to be picked. The grapes were later crops but everything was in readiness for harvesting. The Florin farmers saw their fortune whisked away right under their noses. When they were leaving their farms, they say the rows of strawberries just a mass of red.

The strawberry patch was all in readiness, for the thinning and fertilizing were done. The grape vineyards were also cultivated, thinned and fertilized. The remaining work was simply to irrigate and to tie the vines up when the crops were to be harvested. In other words all the essential work and effort and investment had been previously put in.

After they arrived at Manzanar, some received letters telling them that grapes were bringing eighty dollars per ton. That meant if one acre yielded ten tons, each acre would have brought in eight hundred dollars. The strawberry price was also better than in ordinary times.

The people around Florin district more or less brought up their children in the Japanese way, the niseis from that district are better than average conversationalists in Japanese. Also they read and write Japanese better than the average Nisei.

April 22, 1942

The California State Personnel Board suspended all persons of Japanese descent from working for the State of California on April 21, 1942. At the same time all of the Japanese living within a 400 mile section of the California coast were ordered relocated by 13 Exclusion Orders affecting almost 13,000 people. The deadline for relocation from coastal areas was May 1.

Ironically, all Japanese suspended from State employment had a right to reply to the formal charges (of being Japanese in the United States?) within ten days and then participate in a formal hearing. The reason for these formal hearings were to "obviate all possible Fifth Column activity." Fifth Column activity includes clandestine activity from within a country meant to help an invading military force overthrow the host country.

Losing work was the first step in the exclusion of the Japanese. Next, they would lose their homes, farms, crops, and animals, and businesses. Finally, they were separated from the rest of the community and sent to Relocation Centers. In the Bay area, the relocation of persons was so large five more assembly centers were requisitioned. Places used for assembling before final relocation included fair grounds and race tracks.

Sacramento Union, All Japanese are Leaving State Jobs, April 22, 1942, p.1

Sacramento Union, Japanese Must Quit Bay Area May 1, April 22, 1942, p.1

Sacramento Union, Plans Made to Care for Japanese Animals, April 22, 1942, p.7

Sacramento Bee, Local Japanese Urged to be Prepared, April 22, 1942, p.7

Civilian Exclusion Order No. 52

On May 7, 1942, Civilian Exclusion Order Number 52 was issued in Sacramento. All Japanese in Sacramento went to the Memorial Auditorium to register for evacuation from the city and its surrounding areas. 8,600 persons from Sacramento, Stockton, San Joaquin County and other parts of superior California with over 3,500 from Sacramento proper are moved out of the area.

Sacramento Bee, May 7, 1942, Page 1

Prior to the exclusion notice, a large number of people of Japanese ancestry began preparing for the influx of evacuees at the Sacramento Assembly Center, also known as Walerga camp. All Japanese are evacuated from the Sacramento area by noon, May 16th. Nine days.

Walerga, located 14 miles from Sacramento, sitting on 160 acres, has 200 buildings hastily constructed by the Works Project Administration. Each building holds five families. There were five blocks with two community kitchens serving each block of 1,000 people. There were 20 bath houses and 30 lavatories for the entire camp.

Among the more prominent Sacramento Japanese who already have reported to the camp is Dr. George S. Iki. He and his staff of Japanese physicians are busy setting up the 150 bed hospital to care for any cases of illness among the evacuees.

Ruby Kawaski, a secretarial worker, is among those whose readjustment from home life to that found at the camp may be a bit difficult. "The camp is nice," Miss Kawaski declared, "but I've been living with American people for years and I seem to know them better than i do my fellow Japanese. It's a little strange, but I know I'm going to like it." Sacramento Bee, May 8, 1942, page 18.

The children, who have no clear realization of why they are in the camp, probably will fare best of all. They can play to their hearts content among the trees and open fields. Sacramento Bee, May 8, 1942, page 18

Sacramento Bee, May 7, 1942, Pages A1 and A14

Sacramento Bee, May 8, 1942, Page 18

Many Civilian Exclusion Orders were issued for various geographic areas along the West Coast. Before tranfer to their final location each person went through an Assembly Center. The following numbers account for all the people who went through the Sacramento Assembly Center at Welegra before being transferred to the Relocation Centers.

Civilian Exclusion Order Number 52 -- 3,647 to Sacramento from a total of 3,877
Civilian Exclusion Order Number 70 -- 286 to Sacramento from a total of 2,925
Civilian Exclusion Order Number 75 -- 576 to Sacramento from a total of 582
Civilian Exclusion Order Number 93 -- 19 to Sacramento from a total of 921
Civilian Exclusion Order Number 94 -- 2 to Sacramento from a total of 953

W 2.2:J 27 - Final Report: Japanese Evacuation from the West Coast, 1942. Letterhead (p. vii): Headquarters Western Defense Command and Fourth Army, Office of the Commanding General. Table 47, pages 363-366

War Relocation Authority: Community Analysis Notes No. 8

In 1945 the Japanese who had been evacuated from the Sacramento area started to return. They faced hostility and acceptance, violence and benevolence. The following are excerpts from a Federal Document describing the pre- and post-war population, hinting at what actually happened and was to happen. For those of you who wish to slog through this document you may email me and I will email you the PDF.

I was intrigued by a statement toward the end of the report. Regardless of current personal opinions about the local newspaper, the official WRA report suggests the Sacramento Bee was less than cordial and supportive of returning Japanese. The statement made was vague. So I went to the in-house index of the Sacramento area newspapers to see what I could find. The index was compiled by Library staff and is in no way comprehensive. For the dates 1937 to 1973 I could find nothing about the exclusion and evacuation of the Japanese from Sacramento, nor of their return. I will make no judgments nor draw any conclusions concerning the lack of indexing.

Next, I grabbed a roll of film for January, 1945, and started looking at the Bee. After about 30 minutes I found three articles, included after the excerpts.

Gerald F. Ward

______________________________

I 52.11:8

WAR RELOCATION AUTHORITY

Community Analysis Section

March 1, 1945

Community Analysis Notes No. 8

WEST COAST LOCALITIES: SACRAMENTO COUNTY AND CITY

Sacramento County

[Excerpted from page 1]

In a total pre-war population of 105,000 in the City of Sacramento, the Japanese population was just under 2,900. The Japanese population of the County was, in 1940, 6,764.

At evacuation, most Sacramento County people went to Tule Lake Center, where many remained even after segregation. In July, 1944, there were 2,799 at Tule Lake, more than 2,000 having been residents there before segregation. Other Sacramento people had come in from all centers except Heart Mountain and Minidoka. On the same date, there were 382 at Poston, all but 7 individuals residing in Camp II; and 623 at Gila (September 30). (Exact numbers at other centers not known.)

[Excerpted from page 7-8]

Post-Exclusion. At evacuation, workers in State offices were "suspended". Since the lifting of Japanese exclusion, State Personnel Board (Civil Service) has announced that Nisei evacuees will be employed according to their qualifications, applications being accepted from those who never have worked for the State previously, and old employees being re-hired after individual investigation.

The Council of Churches, YMCA, and Council for Civic Unity have made statements and given material to the newspapers in a campaign to gain acceptance of returning evacuees. Rabbi Goldburg addressed the Rotary Club in January, condemning boycotts. Undoubtedly a boycott would not be effective in a city the size of Sacramento.

Attitudes of people who have rented Japanese property apparently are the same as attitudes elsewhere or perhaps a little better.

The Sacramento Bee has continued a campaign against return of the Japanese, although its statements, on the whole, have not been violent and it has quoted favorable statements by civic organizations.

A genuine difficulty arises in the increase of population in the old Japanese district, especially increase of Negro population. An undisciplined element here and around the railroad station presents a real problem to returning evacuees. a man who returned before the lifting of exclusion, Mr. Osada, and his Caucasian wife who had remained in Sacramento have pointed out the possible threat from a undisciplined group having a high proportion of males. The Osadas have assisted others returning on short-term leaves, have cared for evacuee property, and probably will give other assistance in the course of their real estate business.

Mrs. Tono Sakai, from Topaz, was issued in January a Sacramento license to operate the Lincoln Hotel, believed to be the first business permit issued to a foreign-born Japanese in California since December 17, 1944.

...

Police Chief McAllister of Sacramento City has asked for cooperation of the public in avoiding any untoward incidents, stating "acts of violence ... will not be tolerated." Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, following the above mentioned fires, added 3 deputies to the sheriff's staff to give extra protection to Japanese and their property.

___________________________________

Sacramento Bee, January 17, 1945, Page 8

Sacramento Bee, January 18, 1945, Page 6

Sacramento Bee, January 19, 1945, Page 20

250 Words: Benchmarks

A benchmark is a standard of measurement, like a ruler, so work done conforms to the determined norm. A benchmark is an official guide for measuring anything.

Across the street from the Central Library is a Federal Building, the Post Office, constructed in 1932. 801 I Street is on the National Register of Historic Places. There are two USGS benchmarks, showing exact elevation, directly outside the building. I posted pictures of one on 6-26-09. Then I discovered there is another at the opposite end of the building. These benchmarks are located on the Southwest and Southeast corners, facing the numbered streets, 8th and 9th, at the top of the granite stairs just to the side of the actual entrance to the building.

Go to the entrance facing 9th street and walk up the stairs. Look to the right of the entrance and you will see the brass benchmark.

Here is an image of that benchmark.


Notice the elevation and then go to the previous post and see what the elevation is on the Southwest corner facing 8th street.

My questions are: what are the benchmarks used to determine the success of a library? I know we use statistics, like circulation or patronage, to measure the level of use. These are tangible benchmarks. What are the intangible benchmarks? Is it possible to measure the intangible? Yes, we can use patron satisfaction surveys. But, what about using staff satisfaction surveys to measure the quality of the collection?

Then listening.

Gerald F. Ward