Process Paper

We chose this topic from history class. It was interesting to learn the U.S. governments revolutionary act of placing its own citizens in internment, completely ignoring their Constitutional civil rights. This event had led to the Japanese American population in Chicago. We wanted to find out exactly how Japanese Americans moved to Chicago and rebuilt their lives after internment. We were curious to see how people reacted towards Japanese Americans during and after World War II and how Japanese Americans reacted to their plight. But the main question was, how could this happen?

We read the book, I am American which helped us understand the basic historical facts about Japanese American Internment. We used read the books bibliography to find other books. We researched at school every Tuesday and Thursday since January after school for two hours. We searched for the books in the Chicago Public Library at the downtown Harold Washington branch. We met at the library on available weekends for research meetings. We attended a remembrance ceremony at the Chicago History Museum where internment survivors and people who study the internment presented. We also researched by looking at digital online collections of educational, government, and civic organizations. The Internet helped us find and contact Japanese American civic organizations in Chicago. The Japanese American Citizens League speaker, Ms. Frances Chikahisa, showed us artifacts and testimony to understand both internment and resettlement. The University of Californias Calisphere (www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/) which was helpful in providing primary sources especially pictures. Jstor (http://www.jstor.org/) helped us find academic articles which made internment and resettlement policy and gave us an idea how to better structure our websites categories. We read Charlotte Brooks article In the Twilight Zone between Black and White: Japanese American Resettlement and Community in Chicago, 1942-1945. We contacted Dr. Brooks and conducted a telephone interview where we asked her questions about why would the United States government would intern their own citizens.

We learned to focus more on the Chicago connection. There are many sources that tell you the story of internment, but it was difficult to piece together the continuing story of how Japanese Americans picked up the pieces and survived despite having their former lives taken away from them even though Chicago had the largest amount of resettlers. This story is not widely known and that its Chicago chapter needs is necessary

so people can understand how Japanese Americans overcame internment. Our website meets this years NHD theme, Revolution, Reaction, and Reform. The revolutionary act by the U.S. of placing its own Americans citizens in internment was a complete change in the way that the Constitution was interpreted regarding the Fourteenth Amendment which protects citizens due process. We explored how the U.S. reacted towards their fellow Americans and what really fueled this reaction. We also wanted to show how Japanese Americans worked hard to maintain their dignity and gain back their lost way of life. Reform came with the fight for redress and a formal apology from federal government.