Using Korematsu to Teach Across the Law School Curriculum

Racist graffiti in front of Japanese American home, Seattle, May 11, 1945

On December 18, 1944, the United States government announced that Japanese Americans in incarceration camps could return to their homes after January 1, 1945. In Seattle, and elsewhere on the West Coast, this was a controversial issue...

Graffiti on Japanese American home, Seattle, 1945

Portrait of Gordon K. Hirabayashi, Seattle, July 1, 1944

George Hirabayashi (1918-2012) was a sociologist and religious pacifist best known for his principled resistance to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, and the Supreme Court case that resulted from his conviction...

"I AM AN AMERICAN"

Oakland, California. Following evacuation orders, this store was closed. The owner, a University of California graduate of Japanese descent, placed the "I AM AN AMERICAN" sign on the store front the day after Pearl Harbor. Photograph by...

Exclusion Order

San Francisco, California. Exclusion Order posted at First and Front Streets directing removal of persons of Japanese ancestry from the first San Francisco section to be effected by the evacuation. Courtesy of National Archives

Santa Anita Assembly Center

Arcadia, California. Persons of Japanese ancestry arrive at the Santa Anita Assembly center from San Pedro, California. Evacuees lived at this center at the Santa Anita race track before being moved inland to relocation centers. Courtesy...

Santa Anita Assembly Center Panorama

Arcadia, California. A panoramic view of the Santa Anita Assembly center showing barrack apartments on the former race track grounds for evacuees of Japanese ancestry. They will later be transferred to a War Relocation Authority center to...

Two policemen posting Civilian Exclusion Order No. 17, Seattle, June 16, 1942

In this image two Seattle Police officers, J. O. Deng and A. N. Barger post copies of Civilian Exclusion Order No. 17. Exclusion Order notices were posted on buildings, billboards, telephone poles, and other high visibility spots within...

Fumiko Hayashida and her daughter, Bainbridge Island, March 30, 1942

In this image, Fumiko Hayashida (1911-2014), holds her sleeping 14-month-old daughter, Natalie, at an assembly point near the ferry dock on Bainbridge Island. Civilian Exclusion Order No. 1 was issued at Bainbridge Island, ordering 227...

Barracks at the Puyallup Assembly Center, Puyallup, 1942

In the spring of 1942, persons of Japanese descent living on the West Coast were forcibly removed by the US Army into temporary "assembly centers" while permanent incarceration camps were built. The Puyallup Assembly Center...

Vacant stores after exclusion of Japanese Americans, Seattle, 1942

The exclusion of Seattle's Japanese families by the federal government during World War II changed the city in numerous ways. Among the more obvious signs were the shuttered and boarded up Japanese businesses along Main, Jackson and upper...

Japanese Americans boarding ferry for forced removal, Bainbridge Island, March 30, 1942

In this image Japanese Americans board the ferry for forced removal from Bainbridge Island under U. S. Army guard. Civilian Exclusion Order No. 1 was issued at Bainbridge Island, ordering 227 residents of Japanese descent to leave with six...

Ritsuko Terayama and Sumiko Furuta at window of ferry crossing Puget Sound, 1942

This image shows Ritsuko Terayama (left) and Sumiko Furuta (right) looking out the ferry window as the cross Puget Sound on their way to an incarceration camp. Civilian Exclusion Order No. 1 was issued at Bainbridge Island, ordering 227...