The San Francisco News, for the first six months of 1942, carried almost daily reports of FBI and police sweeps, and the various proclamations, plans — and restriction of civil liberties — issued by Lieutenant-General John L. DeWitt at the Presidio, where a street is named for him near the former Letterman Army General Hospital.

At the same time, San Francisco business and government leaders began planning to physically clear the Japanese community from the Western Addition by declaring it a slum area. This planning began one month before the last Japanese were forced from the so-called “Little Tokio,” or Japantown, district.

When reading these articles today it must be understood that they reflect their time; words and ideas repugnant and apalling to us today are used and discussed, freely, in the News’ columns. It should also be noted that some news articles were approved by military censors before publication. In addition, every newspaper editor was excessively careful about printing information of potential use to the enemy.

These San Francisco News articles have far greater meaning if Stetson Conn’s The Decision to Evacuate the Japanese from the Pacific Coast is read to give the news reports political context. A link to that report is at the bottom of the page.

San Francisco News Articles — March 1942

  • Radio Tokio Denounces Japanese Internment — March 5, 1942
  • Manzanar May House Interned Japanese — March 5, 1942
  • Alien Order Hits U.C. Staff — March 5, 1942
  • Gov. Olson Wants All Japanese Removed — March 6, 1942
  • “All Packed Up and Ready to Go,” S.F. News Editorial Cartoon — March 6, 1942
  • Gen. DeWitt Gives Assurances to Aliens — March 7, 1942
  • Alien Order Removal Offices Set Up — March 16, 1942
  • Two Steps Speed Japanese Evacuation — March 17, 1942
  • FBI Rounds Up More Japanese — March 18, 1942
  • First Japanese Ready to Leave Coast — March 19, 1942
  • Manzanar Arrival Soon for Interned L.A. Japanese — March 23, 1942
  • First Los Angeles Japanese Internees Go to Manzanar — March 24, 1942
  • New Curfew Rules for Enemy Aliens — March 24, 1942
  • Dangerous Japanese Aliens Sent to Sharp Park Internment Camp — March 31, 1942
  • FBI Rounds Up Black Dragon Society Members — March 31, 1942
  • Editorial: Evacuations Show Loyalty — March 31, 1942

    • San Francisco News Articles — April 1942

  • San Francisco Japanese to be Interned at Manzanar — April 2, 1942
  • State of California Suspends Japanese Employees — April 3, 1942
  • Tanforan Becomes Japanese Internment Center — April 3, 1942
  • Transfer of Japanese Farm Lands Continues — April 3, 1942
  • 700 S.F. Japanese to Go Santa Anita Internment Camp — April 6, 1942
  • “Behind the News”; Praise for the Army and Gen. DeWitt for Evacuation — April 7, 1942
  • Editorial: “Japanese Co-operate” — April 8, 1942
  • Editorial: “Well Done”; in Praise of Gen. DeWitt and the Army — April 10, 1942
  • Slum Danger in Japantown Under Study— April 13, 1942
  • Japantown Slum Drive Growing — April 14, 1942
  • FBI Picks Up Three ‘Dangerous Aliens’ April 17, 1942
  • 3000 More Japanese Go to Manzanar — April 18, 1942
  • “Behind the News”; Plight of Filipino-Japanese Women, by Arthur Caylor — April 18, 1942
  • Evacuation Plan for L.A. Speeded — April 20, 1942
  • “Manzanar Nice Place — It Better Than Hollywood,” by Harry Ferguson of UP — April 21, 1942
  • City to Clear Japantown Slums — April 21, 1942
  • “Food for Victory” from Seized Japanese Farms — April 21, 1942
  • “Behind the News”; Aliens Should Dispose of Contraband, by Arthur Caylor — April 24, 1942
  • S.F. Japanese Register for Evacuation — April 24, 1942
  • FBI Conducts New Raids on Enemy Aliens — April 28, 1942
  • San Francisco Japanese Sent to Tanforan Internment Camp — April 28, 1942
  • Japanese Evacuation from San Francisco Speeded Up — April 29, 1942
  • “Behind the News”; Japanese Won’t be Welcomed Back, by Arthur Caylor — April 29, 1942

    • Other Important Sources

  • Santa Cruz Sentinel Index and Story Text — Feb.-May 1942 from the Santa Cruz Public Library.
  • Chronology of Japanese Internment — 1942
  • Chronology of San Francisco War Events
  • Gen. DeWitt’s Exclusion Order No. 5 for San Francisco — April 1, 1942
  • Relocation of Japanese-Americans, by the War Relocation Authority — 1942
  • History of the Japanese Internment, by John Yu
  • Dorothea Lange’s Photographs of the Japanese Evacuation — 1942
  • Gila River Relocation Camp — 1942
  • WCCA Rules for Japanese Internees at Assembly Centers, From the University of Washington
  • Documents Relating to Bainbridge Island Evacuees from the University of Washington
  • Diplomas for Interned Students – 1996
  • The Decision to Evacuate the Japanese from the Pacific Coast, by Stetson Conn. (Dept. of the Army. Office of Military History, Washington, D.C., 1959) details the War Department, and Gen. DeWitt’s planning for the evacuation from California and other western states.

    • Go to Japanese in the history of San Francisco, or
    Return to the San Francisco History Index.