Position description for Guard, CPC-5, position code: Q2aD65; date allocated: May 13, 1943. The Willard Schmidt collection, documents some of the administrative duties of Willard Schmidt, the Chief of Internal Security for the War Relocation Authority and the Tule Lake incarceration/segregation camp. This collection contains administrative records and photos documenting the Tule Lake camp, the largest incarceration camp with a peak population of 18,789 and with the most turbulent history. In 1943, the camp was turned into a segregation center to house "disloyal" Japanese Americans relocated from other camps based on their answers to a confusing loyalty questionnaire. The camp endured martial law from November 1943- Jan 1944 after escalating protests and unrest. The hostile environment of the camp lead to many incarcerees renouncing their American citizenship upon the end of incarceration, a process which took 14 years to reverse if they did not wish to be deported to Japan.
World War II--Administration--War Relocation Authority World War II--Incarceration camps--Conflicts, intimidation, and violence World War II--Incarceration camps--Incarcerees World War II--Incarceration camps--Work and jobs--Police World War II--Incarceration camps--Security
Place
Newell, California Incarceration Camps--Tule Lake
Source
San Jose State University Department of Special Collections and Archives;
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