The Stories of Order 9066
The FDR Library commemorates World War II Japanese–American internment camps with an exhibit of historical photographs.
President’s Day was always an afterthought in the calendar year, seemingly only in place to honor all 45 Presidents in the history of the United States. The staff of Franklin Roosevelt’s Presidential Library in Hyde Park honored President’s Day this weekend by releasing a brand new exhibit about Order 9066 to the public.
Order 9066 is considered one of the few stains on a very popular legacy for Franklin Roosevelt. The executive order was signed by President Roosevelt on February 19, 1942 following the attacks on Pearl Harbor and the United States’ decision to enter World War II. It was designed to detain Japanese-American citizens at a time where many Americans, including branches of the military as well as the press, were suspicious of Japanese-American loyalties, since Japan was responsible for the Pearl Harbor attack.
The order took 34 years to be questioned and President Ford officially revoked the order in 1976. President Carter then created a bill to create a commission to investigate the validity of Order 9066. The commission concluded by recommending to Ford that the government should apologize for the actions it took as well as issue a cash reward of $20,000 to anyone who survived the camps. President Reagan followed up by signing the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 and issuing an “official” government apology to those affected by the order. To this day, the order remains one of the most controversial decisions by any president during the twentieth century.
Although this controversial decision was considered a very popular move during the war, the exhibit lists those who opposed the order starting with the First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. She opposed the order before it was ever even implemented and begged her husband to reconsider; however, after it was signed Roosevelt was forced to take a back seat to the issue to ensure political stability.
In 1943, the First Lady confessed her true opinions to Colliders Magazine; “There was no time to investigate families or to adhere strictly to the American rule that a man is innocent until he is proven guilty. These people were not convicted of any crime, but emotions ran too high. Too many people wanted to wreak vengeance on Oriental-looking people.” Former Director and Founder of the FBI J. Edgar Hoover also opposed it, sending a letter to Roosevelt regarding the issue. The exhibit added that socialist party leader Norman Thomas as well as “progressive” church organizations were the only other groups to oppose the initiative.
The new exhibit took up almost one-third of the whole building that it resides in, an indication of the confidence that the staff has regarding their newest project. All the pictures were organized by each station in the exhibit, in an almost poetic way of telling the story, from life as a Japanese-American before the war to living out each day afraid of what was to come for them. One story that really struck a cord was the construction of the Tanforan Assembly Center, a temporary detainee camp. Built inside a race track, workers made sure to build the barracks next to the horse stalls.
Within the exhibit, a short film explores life within the camps and the horrors of abuse that many in these camps had to deal with. Even more impressive is the recovery of colored film, a technology that was only beginning to gain ground at the time, taken within the camp sites. Colored cartoons were also collected and presented. Most notably, “Quick Way to Spot a Jap” presents another clue of the media pressure that the Roosevelt administration had to deal with. There are also compelling sports stories regarding how camp refugees played many sports to help cope with the setting, with baseball was considered the most popular. Many of the stories told are only recommended for adult ears.
Before closing the exhibit for the day, Director Paul Sparrow talked about the significance of the exhibit and what it means to the staff. “I am very proud to be opening this exhibit, which has been in the works for the past several years,” said Sparrow. “To those who wonder why we would present an aspect thats considered a stain on [Roosevelt’s] legacy, I think it is highly important to look at the failures of a president as well as his accomplishments.”
