Japanese Evacuation and Resettlement Study facts for kids
The Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Study (JERS) was an important research project. It started in 1942 at the University of California, Berkeley. Its main goal was to learn more about the mass internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
This study looked closely at how Japanese Americans were forced to move, held in camps, and then resettled. It was led by a sociologist named Dorothy Swaine Thomas.
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What Was the Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Study?
The Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Study, or JERS, was a big research project. It aimed to understand what happened when many Japanese Americans were moved to special camps during World War II.
Why Was This Study Done?
The study wanted to document and examine the forced movement of Japanese Americans. To do this, students of Japanese heritage, called Nisei, were chosen from the Berkeley campus. They lived inside some of the internment camps. This helped them see and record daily life there.
The study also followed what happened when people left the camps. It documented their resettlement, especially in the city of Chicago.
Who Was Involved in the Study?
The JERS project was based at the University of California, Berkeley. Dorothy Swaine Thomas, a sociologist, was the director of JERS. She helped lead the research.
Many Nisei social science students from Berkeley were a key part of the team. They were able to live inside the camps and collect information directly.
What Information Did They Collect?
The JERS team gathered many different types of records. These included:
- Daily journals kept by the students.
- Field reports about what they observed.
- Life histories, which were stories from people who experienced the internment.
- Other research materials.
They also collected many letters between the staff, the people in the camps (called evacuees), and others. All these records were later given to the University Library in 1948 by Dorothy Swaine Thomas.
Where Did the Study Focus?
The JERS staff mainly focused on three internment camps:
- Tule Lake
- Gila River
- Poston/Colorado River
They also had some smaller involvement at other camps like Topaz/Central Utah, Manzanar, and Minidoka. Information was also collected from temporary holding centers. These included the Tanforan and Tulare centers in California.
