Funding for encoding this finding
aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the
Humanities.
Biographical Note
Frank Chin (1940- ) was born in Berkeley, California, on February 25,
1940. After attending the University of California, Berkeley and Iowa State
University, he earned his B.A. from the University of California, Santa
Barbara, in 1965. Frank Chin worked in railroads. His career includes stints as
a writer, editor, and free-lance consultant and lecturer on Chinese Americans
and racism. He was a film consultant and lectured and taught creative writing
in the late 1960s and 1970s at San Francisco State College, the University of
California, Berkeley, and at Western Washington University. He is the author of
film scripts, plays, and short fiction. Chin was especially concerned with
combating racist stereotypes of Asian Americans. This oral history collection
is part of his ongoing effort to document the lives of Asian Americans.
Content Description
The Frank Chin Oral History Collection consists of audio tape
interviews, selected transcripts, and additional explanatory material. The
interviews, all done either by Chin or Lawson Inada, are with Japanese
Americans who were either native born, second generation Americans (Nisei),
permanent U.S. residents born in Japan (Issei), or their family members. During
World War II they became the focus of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's
Executive Order 9066, issued on February 19, 1942. The result of Roosevelt's
order was to strip the Nisei of their citizenship and both groups of their
constitutional rights. Under the auspices of the War Relocation Authority, the
Selective Service required both groups to answer a questionnaire that, among
other things, questioned their willingness to serve in the U.S. military and
their willingness to repudiate their allegiance to Japan. One group of Japanese
American resisters became known as the "No-No Boys" because they answered
negatively to both these questions. The people interviewed in these tapes were
directly or indirectly affected by these events and they offer a variety of
perspectives on their significance. During World War II, roughly 110,000
Japanese Americans were imprisoned in U.S. government-run camps known as
relocation centers. Other Japanese Americans willingly served in the U.S.
military during World War II.
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Access :
This collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation :
[Item Description]. Cage
654, Frank Chin Oral
History Collection . Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
Administrative Information
Arrangement :
The collection is arranged alphabetically into three series. Series 1,
Audio Tapes, consists of one hundred fifty-six of the original group of
cassette tape interviews. They vary in actual recorded length on 60-90 minute
tapes, with some interviews recorded on multiple cassettes. Entries include the
interviewee and the date and location of the interview (when known). An
asterisk at the end of an entry indicates the availability of a transcript,
most of which are partial. Series 2, Transcripts, consists of sixteen typed
transcriptions of some of the tapes in Series 1. In some cases, however, no
reference tape is available. It should be pointed out that these transcripts
are not entirely accurate and that different people may have transcribed the
same or different portions of a given interview. Where possible, transcripts
are cross-referenced to the tape from which they are taken. Series 3, Reference
Material, consists of additional material about the collection, including notes
on some of the interviewees, the names of transcribers (where available), and
other information about the original project.
Custodial History :
Dr. Gail Nomura, former director of the Washington State University
Asian American Studies Program, acquired the Frank Chin Oral History Collection
from Frank Chin.
Acquisition Information :
The Frank Chin Oral History Collection was donated to the Washington
State University Libraries in 1989 by Dr. Gail Nomura.
Detailed Description of the Collection
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in
the collection.
Series 1: Audio Tapes
Container(s)
Description
box-tape
1 / 1
Akutsu, Jim. Seattle,
Washington., 2
September 1982.
1 / 2
Akutsu, Jim. Seattle,
Washington., 2
September 1982.
1 / 3
Akutsu, Jim. Seattle,
Washington., 2
September 1982.
1 / 4
Bullitt, Stimson.Seattle,
Washington., 9
August 1978.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online
catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or
places should search the catalog using these headings.
Personal Names :
Chin, Frank, 1940- --Archives
(
creator)
Inada, Lawson Fusao, interviewer
Subject Terms :
Japanese
Americans--Civil rights
World War,
1939-1945--Japanese Americans
Form or Genre Terms :
Japanese Americans --
Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945--Personal narratives
