Marking Camp Walerga, and the WCCA’s role in the forced removal

Vol. 84, No. 18, May 13, 1977. 8 pages. View this issue

Plans to mark the site of Camp Walerga, the World War II assembly center near Sacramento, led the front page. The county board of supervisors accepted a Sacramento JACL proposal for a historical marker and will consider $6,000 next year for a professional search for artifacts. On page 2, Harry Honda traced how the Wartime Civil Control Administration carried out the first mass movement of Japanese Americans under Executive Order 9066, before the War Relocation Authority took over. The front page also followed Wendy Yoshimura’s two-day contempt sentence, as reported by Lee Ruttle.

Elsewhere are Bill Hosokawa on Cambodia, Frank A. Iwama on JACL’s tax-exempt status and political activity, and Joe Oyama’s review of Frank Chin’s play The Year of the Dragon. Also covered are Sen. S.I. Hayakawa’s first legislative victory, Sen. Spark Matsunaga’s census bill, and 50 applicants for the JACL-JAL fellowships.

What’s in this issue

Community

• Plan mark for Camp Walerga, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Sacramento County board of supervisors accepted a Sacramento JACL proposal to historically mark the Camp Walerga assembly center site. The county will also consider a $6,000 budget item next year to fund a professional search for artifacts at the site.
• Bay Area panel to air Wendy trial, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Asians in Mass Media will host a May 19 discussion on how the news media treated Wendy Yoshimura and other Asian American subjects. Speakers include representatives of the Wendy Yoshimura Fair Trial Committee.
• PNWDC reopens office in Portland, by P.C. Staff, page 1. The Pacific Northwest JACL regional office reopened three days a week in Portland with Kimi Tambara as office secretary. A new phone number is listed under the Japanese Ancestral Society.
• Questionnaire in Japanese, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The JACL community input questionnaire prepared by Mike Masaoka and Kaz Oshiki was translated into Japanese by Ralph Sakamoto. Interested persons can obtain either version from Ruby Schaar in New York.
• Hospital Volunteers, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Robert Boggs of the California State Health Department appealed for 2,500 Southern California volunteers for a state mental hospital visitor program. Anyone from age 14 to 90 may volunteer.
• Meat labeling, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Assemblyman Floyd Mori introduced a bill requiring date labels on meat, chicken and fish. Butcher hand-packaged items would be exempt, as well as frozen, canned and processed food.
• 75th anniversary, by P.C. Staff, page 2. The Placer Buddhist Church observed its 75th anniversary on May 1 and honored about 50 charter members. Eugene Nodohara and Dick Nagaoka chaired the celebration.
• Hollywood to host PSWDC on May 22, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The Pacific Southwest JACL District Council will meet May 22 at the Ambassador Hotel’s Lido Room, hosted by Hollywood JACL. National President Jim Murakami and executive director Karl Nobuyuki have been invited, and a mixed doubles tennis tournament follows.
• New Mexico JACL honors 4 Issei, by P.C. Staff, page 6. The New Mexico JACL honored four remaining Issei pioneers and voted them life memberships at its April 24 meeting. The chapter also planned a June community picnic and screened the film Wataridori.
• 50 applicants vying for JAL fellowships, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Over 50 applicants are being reviewed for the JACL-JAL Cultural Heritage Fellowships to Japan, with four winners to be announced June 5 at Stanford University. Eight finalists will be interviewed before the selection.
• Hirasuna urges Sansei to return to farming, by P.C. Staff, page 7. Fred Hirasuna urged young Japanese Americans to return to farming at the Sequoia JACL 25th anniversary party in Los Altos. He noted many Nisei farmers are nearing retirement without successors.
• Tandam Associates contract with General Foods, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Tandam Associates, led by Mike Tani and Bill Adams, signed a long-term contract with General Foods to ship frozen vegetables under the Bird’s Eye label. The deal followed groundbreaking for a $20-million processing facility in Santa Maria.
• Fordney publishes insurance handbook, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Oxnard Sansei Marilyn Fordney’s Insurance Handbook for the Medical Office, first used as a Ventura College syllabus, was published as a hardcover textbook by W.B. Saunders Co. Fordney is a part-time instructor and West Los Angeles JACL member.
• Former congresswoman Patsy Mink in DES lawsuit, by P.C. Staff, page 8. Three mothers, including former congresswoman Patsy Mink, filed a $77 million class action suit against the University of Chicago and Eli Lilly over the experimental drug DES. The suit claims they were unknowingly given the drug decades ago.

National

• Hollywood Nisei in 12-way Assembly primary, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Kazuo Umemoto, a Hollywood-born Nisei, is running in the May 24 special election for the 46th Assembly District seat. He is one of 12 Democrats in the primary and is campaigning on a low-cost, locally rooted platform.
• Hayakawa scores first major legislative victory in Senate, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Sen. S.I. Hayakawa won his first legislative victory by amending a bill to strike a collective bargaining provision for UC Livermore nuclear lab workers. The amendment was adopted on April 13.
• Needs of Asian elderly told to federal committee, by P.C. Staff, page 1. A New York State Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights found the needs of Chinese, Korean, Filipino and Japanese elderly to be largely similar. Community representatives urged public and private funding and service organizations to address the neglect of this population.
• More specific Asian breakdown in 1980 census requested, by P.C. Staff, page 1. Sen. Spark Matsunaga introduced legislation requiring the Census Bureau and federal departments to publish detailed statistics on Asian and Pacific Island Americans. Testing of the 1980 census questionnaire showed the Asian categories had been collapsed compared with 1970.

Incarceration & Redress

• Wendy given sentence of 2 days for contempt, by Lee Ruttle, page 1. Judge Martin Pulich sentenced Wendy Yoshimura to two days in jail on each of five contempt charges, with execution stayed pending appeal. The judge cited her lack of disrespect to the court and possible poor advice from counsel.
• WCCA preceded the WRA camps, by Harry Honda, page 2. The Wartime Civil Control Administration coordinated the first mass movement of Japanese Americans into temporary assembly centers before the WRA took over. The article traces the exclusion orders under Executive Order 9066 and the conditions evacuees faced.

Military & Veterans

• Nisei VFW Post, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Nisei Memorial Post 9938 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars will hold its 28th annual installation and awards dinner dance May 21 at the Biltmore Hotel. Dave Monji is banquet chairman.

Arts & Entertainment

• Playwright seminar, by P.C. Staff, page 2. Frank Chin will conduct a two-week playwriting seminar at East West Players starting May 16. Interested persons can call for details.
• A pleasant surprise: playwright acts on stage, by Joe Oyama, page 4. Joe Oyama reviews Frank Chin’s play The Year of the Dragon, in which Chin performs the role of Fred Eng in a San Francisco Chinatown storefront theater. The critic praises the acting and the play’s portrayal of a family trapped by outdated tradition.

Commentary

• White Norms, by Chizuko Crocker, page 4. A Wisconsin state employee argues that the state’s performance evaluation criteria reflect white middle-class norms that disadvantage minority workers. She calls for respect for other cultures and a change in educational approaches rather than simple assimilation.
• Editorial: School Integration, by P.C. Staff, page 4. The editorial examines the Los Angeles school desegregation case and the district’s Phase I integration plan. It also responds to Judge Paul Egly’s questions about classifying Mexican Americans as minorities and urges Asian Americans not to assume they are Anglo.
• Political Activity and JACL’s Tax-Exempt Status, by Frank A. Iwama, page 4. JACL legal counsel Frank Iwama concludes that chapter involvement in political campaigns, including endorsing candidates, would jeopardize JACL’s tax-exempt status. The restriction applies regardless of whether the office is partisan or nonpartisan, though individual members may participate.
• Sen. Inouye’s Leadership, by Wayne Horiuchi, page 5. Horiuchi profiles Senator Daniel Inouye’s leadership, including his chairmanship of the new Senate Intelligence Committee and his role at Tuesday leadership breakfasts. He also notes Inouye’s planned Dear Colleague letter supporting civil service retirement credit for interned Japanese Americans.
• Carnage in Cambodia, by Bill Hosokawa, page 5. Hosokawa argues that Americans are far less concerned about human rights abuses in Indochina than about dissidents in the Soviet Union. He cites reports of mass killings in Cambodia and calls on Japanese Americans to raise their voices.
• Have You Heard This One?, by Sachi Seko, page 5. Seko recounts her dog Brandy’s conversational habits and her attempt to read him Jack London’s The Call of the Wild. She describes inventing a fairy tale about a prince-dog that Brandy enjoyed and now repeats back to her.

Sports

• Sr. men’s 50-yd. dash added to 1977 Nisei Relays schedule, by P.C. Staff, page 7. The 26th annual PSWDC Nisei Relays on June 5 at West Los Angeles College will include a new 50-yard dash for men 45 and over. Gardena councilman Mas Fukai and Assemblyman Paul Bannai are entered.

Thank you for exploring the Pacific Citizen archive. The title, introduction and contents on this page were written by an AI model from scans of the printed issue, so they may contain mistakes. If you spot one, we would be grateful if you let us know.