In the months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order calling for the forced removal and imprisonment of Japanese Americans on the West Coast. The War Department hired Dorothea Lange to photograph the process. During the Depression, Lange had shared the government’s desire to help refugees. Now that same government was rounding up American citizens on the basis of their race. At odds with her employers, Lange’s instincts led her to photograph the tragic and disgraceful effects of the order. In response, many of her photographs were censored and remained unseen for decades.
“We have a disease. It’s Jap-baiting and hatred. I went through an experience I’ll never forget when I was working on it and learned a lot, even if I accomplished nothing.” — Dorothea Lange
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“Allegiance pledge by fifth-grade pupils at Raphael Weill Public School, Geary and Buchanan Streets. Children in families of Japanese ancestry were evacuated with their parents and will be housed for the duration in War Relocation Authority centers.” — Dorothea Lange Field Notes
San Francisco, CA, April 20, 1942]
[Image alt text = A black-and-white photograph of a diverse group of elementary school children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. In the center, a young Japanese girl in a plaid coat stands with her right hand over her heart, looking upward. The other children around her are also participating, with some holding their hands over their hearts as well.]
[Image credit = Dorothea Lange. Dorothea Lange Digital Archive at the Oakland Museum of California]
“On February 19, President Roosevelt delegated to the Secretary of War the power to exclude any person, alien or citizen, from any area which might be required, on the grounds of military necessity.” — Dorothea Lange Field Notes
Oakland, CA, February 1942]
[Image alt text = A black-and-white photograph of a newsstand during World War II, showing two copies of the San Francisco Examiner with a large front-page headline reading "Ouster of All Japs in California Near!" The word "Japs" was a derogatory slur used against Japanese Americans at the time. The newspaper's smaller headlines mention mass removal of aliens and citizens.]
[Image credit = Dorothea Lange. Dorothea Lange Digital Archive at the Oakland Museum of California]
“Entering Town, More than a Year After Evacuation of Japanese.” — Dorothea Lange
Winters, CA]
[Image alt credit = A black-and-white photo collage of five images. The largest photo shows farmworkers bent over in a large open field with utility poles and farm buildings in the background. In the upper right, a roadside sign reads "Townsend is for humanity, not against anybody." The bottom row shows four smaller photos: a busy city street with a bus depot sign listing destinations like Detroit, New York, and Los Angeles; a wooden post with a sign reading "We don't want any more Japs — Winters" (a hateful, racist message targeting Japanese Americans during WWII); a roadside scene with a sign reading "Labor"; and a billboard with a woman's face that reads "Stay on the Job, Finish the Job," a wartime slogan encouraging American workers. Together, the images show everyday life, wartime propaganda, and the discrimination Japanese Americans faced during World War II.
[Image credit = Dorothea Lange. Dorothea Lange Digital Archive at the Oakland Museum of California]
A caption for the original negative at the National Archives reads, "Turlock, California. Families of Japanese ancestry arrive at Turlock Assembly Center. Evacuees will be housed later at War Relocation Authority centers for the duration."