Lantis’s Involvement
In 1942, Lantis received a one-year Social Science Research Council fellowship to study the adjustment of Japanese farming families evacuated to War Relocation Centers during World War II. Early in 1943, with WRA permission but working as an independent researcher, Lantis spent six months in the Rohwer Relocation Center in Arkansas. Nearly fifty years later, in professional correspondence to colleagues in 1992, Lantis described her experience at Rohwer:
“At Rohwer, I was not an outside visitor. I lived in the Center, attended public events, and associated very little with the non-Japanese staff. I had a personal connection by knowing a few of the California evacuees. Most Issei and Nisei seemed to get some satisfaction in talking to a person who did not regard them as ‘different.’”
Her stay at Rohwer was followed by a month at the Minidoka Relocation Center in Idaho interviewing Northwest farmers. She then visited the Jerome, Granada, and Tule Lake Relocation Centers and concluded her fellowship in California interviewing people who had had close relations with the evacuated families she encountered in the WRA relocation centers.
In 1944 Lantis worked for the WRA writing two major reports on post-war resettlement prospects for Rohwer farming families and other brief reports on the attitudes of California communities regarding the evacuation.
Rohwer Interview Notes
The collection contains hundreds of pages of Lantis’s WRA evacuee interview notes. She safeguarded the identities of the individuals and families she interviewed in the various Relocation Centers, and the following interview note excerpts maintain that anonymity. As Lantis did not fully transcribe all of her interviews, much of the following is still in notes format.
January 26, 1943, Rohwer Center: A discussion with a physician and his wife Mrs. G: He applied for jobs, but he received this letter saying that… there would be embarrassments to patients and to him. Dr. G: “We’ve been kicked around so much. Then just as we were improving socially and had some chance, this came along. We’ve just gone round and round. We haven’t gone ahead.”March 5, 1943, Rohwer Center: A discussion with a young husband and wife Mr. A: Caucasians would lease to Japanese only the less desirable sites near railroad yards or oil storage tanks or under power lines, then when war came made a great to-do over the location of Japanese properties near strategic facilities. The Japanese had not wanted to be in those locations but could not help themselves. Mr. A: Visitors could not shake hands with evacuees, could not give them food. This hurt terribly. Mr. A blamed Govt. for lack of full explanation of evacuation at the time. Thought public still did not know purpose of establishing Assembly Centers. Cited resentment of young people and fear of old people among the evacuees. Note: Mr. A was a member of Rotary and Mrs. A had been on YWCA board on Long Beach. Before Pearl Harbor had worked at USO. After Pearl Harbor went on working at USO. Mrs. A: “You can imagine how I felt when the wife of one of the ministers came to me and asked me not to work there anymore.” Mr. A: Also few Japanese farmers now had farm equipment. Several had their equipment taken from them in California. Mr. A showed no satisfaction with present job or hope for future position.
February 4, 1943, Rohwer Center: A discussion with a young, single man I asked (him) about enlistment or drafting of boys in camp. Thought most would not enlist. Resentment against Army and Govt. treatment in general. Had heard that Japanese already in Army were discriminated against. Not given chance to do work for which fitted. After basic training, never allowed to handle gun. Mr. H. thought most fellows would not volunteer. Many young people had changed attitude since being in camp. Thought they had been treated so badly, now more interested in Japan, more favorable to Japan. Mr. H said they’d go crazy wondering what would happen and trying to figure what to do.
March 30, 1943, Rohwer Center: A discussion with an Issei woman Mrs. K: Difficult to discipline children in camp through fear of what neighbors would think when they heard crying, etc. Many of the younger ones had typical tantrums. Child next door would not obey parents at all but obeyed anybody else who even looked sternly at him. Hard to discipline older children. One boy 16 yrs. old was staying out until midnight or later and not accounting for his whereabouts. Father told him he had to be in earlier. Boy said, “You can’t force me. The govt. will feed me no matter how late I stay out. If you don’t want me at home, I can live with some bachelors.” Mrs. K said more than once that relocation would be successful only with Issei—they are willing to settle down, stay, make place for themselves. Nisei restless, shifting from job to job, anxious to go back to California. Mrs. K. never wanted to go back.
