Escaping to College
Letter from Kay in Topaz to Tom in Nebraska. Written, September 26, 1942.
Tom Yamashita
Two members of the Yamashita family, Tomi's youngest son (Tom) and Kimi's son (Ted) born at the same time were able to attend college in the Midwest during the time that their family was incarcerated. The fact that they were able to attend college provided the impetus for letter writing from Topaz to their universities in St. Louis and Nebraska, and part of the reason that we have an account written about the first days in camp and the notable news from then on by the prolific letter-writer and pat rack, Kay.
Tom, Tomi’s youngest child, stayed behind in Tanforan. He had applied to the University of Nebraska and Washington University in St. Louis and was allowed to stay behind by the Japanese American Student Relocation Council to wait for a response from the schools and possibly go straight to school without going to the permanent concentration camp. He would hear from the University of Nebraska after staying in Tanforan for a week without his family, and would take a train to Lincoln Nebraska for school, arriving near the end of September.
Kay wrote to Tom with an upbeat demeanor. She notes that the camp is better set up than Tanforan, in the hot running water and the meat provided. She also emphasizes how lucky Tom was in getting out. Kay might not have wanted to dwell on the bitter realities of confinement. Writing glowingly about the welcoming Camp Administrator, Mr. Ernst, who many Berkeley graduate internees knew from their Cal Day, her brother calls her a sap for her letter-writing style. Another one of the siblings might have told the story to Tom any number of different ways.
Tom, Tomi’s youngest child, stayed behind in Tanforan. He had applied to the University of Nebraska and Washington University in St. Louis and was allowed to stay behind by the Japanese American Student Relocation Council to wait for a response from the schools and possibly go straight to school without going to the permanent concentration camp. He would hear from the University of Nebraska after staying in Tanforan for a week without his family, and would take a train to Lincoln Nebraska for school, arriving near the end of September.
Kay wrote to Tom with an upbeat demeanor. She notes that the camp is better set up than Tanforan, in the hot running water and the meat provided. She also emphasizes how lucky Tom was in getting out. Kay might not have wanted to dwell on the bitter realities of confinement. Writing glowingly about the welcoming Camp Administrator, Mr. Ernst, who many Berkeley graduate internees knew from their Cal Day, her brother calls her a sap for her letter-writing style. Another one of the siblings might have told the story to Tom any number of different ways.
Kay writes,
Utah, here we are. We got here on a sweltering hot day with a dust storm that came up form no where in the afternoon to make things rather miserable. The train ride was pretty fought for everybody, but we consider ourselves lucky for we had one of those old Pullmans— they wouldn’t permit us to pull down the upper berths but we made ourselves as comfortable as possible by putting the seats which face each other together and slept with our feet going both ways. Some of the people were quite sick…
...Gosh what a rotten feeling it was— sort of sad and depressing as we started to move - passing the rows of horse-stalls we called home for those months and seeing the crowds still standing there in the dusk and on the barrack tops waving good-bye to us…”
...We’re glad you’ve been able to get away to school - inspite of the fact the Administration is grand and the place is comparatively good somehow the thinking individuals are wanting more than ever to get out— I guess a lot can be attributed to the finality of this place— “now it’s permanent feeling.
...Gosh what a rotten feeling it was— sort of sad and depressing as we started to move - passing the rows of horse-stalls we called home for those months and seeing the crowds still standing there in the dusk and on the barrack tops waving good-bye to us…”
...We’re glad you’ve been able to get away to school - inspite of the fact the Administration is grand and the place is comparatively good somehow the thinking individuals are wanting more than ever to get out— I guess a lot can be attributed to the finality of this place— “now it’s permanent feeling.
Letter from Tom at the Univ. of Nebraska to his folks in Topaz. September 24, 1942.
Tom was one of the first waves of students to be able to leave detention for school in the Midwest or East. The Japanese American Student Relocation Council, was the body responsible for assisting Nisei students in applying to and getting money to attend schools that would take them. The organization had the support of the War Relocation Authority and was run by the Quakers (American Friends Service Committee) working outside of the camp, as well as some internees working from within the camps, including Kay Yamashita. While the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council (referred to as just the Council in many of Kay's correspondences) attempted to get colleges to accept Japanese Americans, there was a limit.
Kay wrote to John on March 6, 1943 explaining both the culture of fear and outsider status that the Japanese American students had to deal with when attending college and also the caps upon acceptance by the university administrations. She writes,
Others who wanted to get out of camp as well would have to obtain leave clearance from the camp administration and the Western Command higher up’s. Students applied to schools and tried to get financial aid. Adults tried to look for work and get jobs on the outside while still within camp.
Kay wrote to John on March 6, 1943 explaining both the culture of fear and outsider status that the Japanese American students had to deal with when attending college and also the caps upon acceptance by the university administrations. She writes,
"JA student complains about JA's grouping together, because it is conspicuous and sends "American" students away. St Louis won't take anymore JA's."
(To learn more about the National Japanese Americans Student Relocation Council)
(To learn more about the National Japanese Americans Student Relocation Council)
I'm sharing the one room, double bed with a fellow, Kenzo Kurota, from the Univ. of Washington, as senior who should be into med school next semester. Darn nice fellow skinny and funny like me. All the people I’ve met in this community are very friendly and hospitable. There is the other fellow from Tanforan, Kotaro Murai, who took the single room from here. The rest, about 5 are American fellows. One in the next room is a farm man who’s living out. He’s a freshman. Name is Harry Hahn. Probably German descent. Had a long bull session last night...Very nice kid. Was surprised to hear about concentration camps. Most of the people around don’t even know about the evacuation...
Tom was able to escape the doldrums and depression of camp. The correspondence between him and his family and him and Kay reveal what his life was like at that time. He would later enlist in the army once the ban on Japanese Americans from volunteering for the army was lifted. Others who wanted to get out of camp as well would have to obtain leave clearance from the camp administration and the Western Command higher up’s. Students applied to schools and tried to get financial aid. Adults tried to look for work and get jobs on the outside while still within camp.
Tom's Graduation Photo from Univ. of Nebraska
Ted's Graduation Photo from Washington University in St. Louis
Now let's talk about the other young man of the family who left for college. Ted, (Kimi's son) also left the Temporary detention facility for school. Although Ted was the nephew of Tom, he was the same age, and had been in the middle of his junior year at Cal Berkeley at the time of Pearl Harbor. After not being able to register at the University of Colorado, he applied and was accepted to the Washington University at St. Louis and went there from the Fresno Detention Center (Assembly Center). Kay mentions this in her Thanksgiving letter to him in 1942. Schools that had military programs, such as the Japaense Language School at University of Colorado, Boulder had a policy of not allowing any Japanese Americans in enroll. This policy reflected the sentiment towards Japanese Americans as a suspect group. To learn more about the context of Colorado (including the Japanese community that settled there since the early 1900s and the incarceration camp built in Granda).
The rest of the family went on to Jerome, Arkansas. Ted was interviewed in 2011 about his experiences by Paul Watanabe of the University of Massachsuetts Boston research project: Confinement to College. The Yamashita siblings’ stories show the wide variety of outcomes. Some were able to secure jobs and leave clearance to leave. Others were not able to do so.
The rest of the family went on to Jerome, Arkansas. Ted was interviewed in 2011 about his experiences by Paul Watanabe of the University of Massachsuetts Boston research project: Confinement to College. The Yamashita siblings’ stories show the wide variety of outcomes. Some were able to secure jobs and leave clearance to leave. Others were not able to do so.
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