josh during the war --d to preserve our freedom during a war died to preserve our freedom. this year, c-span is touring cities across the country exploring american history. next, a look at our visit to sacramento. americanatching history tv all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. >> evacuation. more than 100,000 men, women, children all of japanese ancestry removed from their homes in the pacific coast state to wartime communities established in out-of-the-way places. their evacuation did not imply individual disloyalty but was ordered to reduce a military hazard at a time when danger of invasion was great. two thirds of the evacuees are american citizens by right of birth. the rest are jack knees -- are

the japanese born parents. they are not prisoners or internees. they are merely dislocated people. the unwanted casualties of war. the time, spring and summer of 1942. the place, 10 different relocation centers and unsettled parts of california, arizona, utah, idaho, wyoming, colorado, arkansas. >> i was born in a small town south of sacramento. farm. had a we raised grapes and strawberries. when there until age five world war ii started. sunday, my dad, who had been home listening to the radio , heard about the bombing.

he burst into the methodist church where my mother was playing the pnm and -- the piano and interrupted the service, announcing japan had bombed pearl harbor and all of the sudden in that one instant, our lives changed. we didn't know what was going to happen to us. at first, there was not that much anti-asians sentiment in the newspapers. things were quiet. le, the whi newspapers started publishing articles about the perils of having the japanese on the west coast. who hadthe neighbors been friendly in the past a little afraid and so we felt the weng of prejudice before were sent off to what

euphemistically is called internment camps but the official government documents called them concentration camps. decemberr occurred in 1941. 1942, the people in the sacramento area were being shipped out. i remember the day we had to leave. it was may 30, 1942. it was dark when we got up. we had to be at the railroad station by a certain time. i remember i was five years old going into the garden and finding my grandmother, who was in her 60's, looking at her garden and crying, saying in japanese that she didn't think she was ever going to get back here. i remember taking her hand and "don't cry, grandma,

you will be back, i know you will be back here." at that point, we didn't know where we were going. uponly knew we had to pack and take what we could, carrying a suitcase. we were told to bring sheets, towels, personal items, clothes. we didn't know how long we were going to go. we didn't know where we would be sent. we just knew we had to leave our farm. were sent to what they call assembly centers. they have them all over the u.s. and many of them were fairgrounds or racetracks. that's why you your stories of people being housed in animal barns and horse stalls. we were lucky. we got there late and so we were

not put in one of the animal buildings. we had temporary quarters, a barracks built directly on asphalt. i remember fresno was hot, over 100. t on the bed, it would sink into the asphalt. i remember getting torrent in my hair and my hair had to be cut because the tar was dripping. there were no trees. from may until october one the real camp was ready. -- when the real camp was ready and we were sent to arkansas. the government did not want people in the public to know we were being moved. soldiers would come through the train and order us to close the window shades as we approached any town. across the sent

nation that way. we didn't know where we were going. we had no idea of how long we would be there. and what the living conditions would be like. it was another camp. built in the were order of an military facility. the terms used were military terms. we ate at the mess hall. the restrooms were called latrines. they had a men's side and a lady 's. each side had 16 toilets. there were no stalls. toiletsust ". -- open eight in a row back to back. i remember my grandmother telling me don't sit with your elbow out because that's very

impolite and if you did, you could touch the person next to you. that's how close they were. the whole experience was humiliating. there was no privacy. people were uprooted. we were chased out of our homes and there was so much uncertainty and fear. my dad was very wise. there were some people that belonged to the farmers association who turned their farms over to them but my father had found a man who said he would take care of our farm. he would sell the crop, pay the mortgage, and pay our taxes. but he did that for three farms and we didn't lose our farm. that didn't happen for too many people. in the area lost their property. in each case, if you did not

lose your property, it was a neighbor or someone who was a friend that helped you. 85% lost their property. japanese american archival collection is arguably one of the best in the world. it may not be the largest but what makes it so unique is the depth and breadth of the collection. it began in 1994 with the donation of education material from mary. she was a leader both in the community as an educator as well as a civil rights activist. upon her retirement, she donated her educational material here. it tells the story from the vantage point of the evacuees from the government, from the neighbors. >> after president roosevelt signed executive order 9066, which legalized the

incarceration of people of japanese descent in the military zone, which was the entire west coast -- washington, oregon, california, southern arizona. things moved very quickly. japaneseoint, the americans were evacuated and sent to assembly centers. this illustrates how the japanese-americans were on the allowed to bring what they could carry. here we have these 22 young girls. -- these two young girls. they ended up in heart mountain, wyoming. they didn't know they were supposed to bring warm clothing. what it also meant is if you could only carry what you could bring, you can see these japanese-americans evacuated from the elk grove's train station. here you can see the mother could only carry her child and perhaps a diaper bag. she wasn't able to bring anything besides her child.

what we see here is a document from clinton -- clayton, the management of the component assembly center, a racetrack in southern california. it is the vacuum information release number 18. he is talking about families of mixed marriages and what they should expect. they are referring to many times caucasian women were married to theyf japanese descent and were not forced to go to the incarceration centers. they were faced with the choice of whether they stayed out of the incarceration center or if they were going to go and stay with their husbands and families. in most cases, as far as i know in all cases, the wives and mothers decided to go with their families. in early 1943, all of the attorneys were commanded --

internees were committed to complete a questionnaire. this is called a statement of the u.s. citizens of japanese ancestry. it's commonly referred to as the loyalty questionnaire. willing 27 asks are you to serve in the armed forces of the u.s. on combat duty? swearon 28 asks will you unqualified allegiance to the defend the u.s. from any and all attacks? those who answered no to both questions were called "no-no boys," they were considered traitors and segregated and put into a segregation center. franklin dof moto -- roosevelt received a christmas card. this is the christmas card.

president, from christmases ago, we were shocked and deeply hurt to know it was japan who started the war and left to the record of shame for history. we were one of the 120,000 americans of japanese ancestry living on the west coast. frightened and angry, we were eager to do our part to protect the precious shores of our america. unbelievably, think developed and by may, we left our beautiful grape winery and homes and friends to live in a camp. in january 1945, eleanor roosevelt did respond. i readletter, she says your letter with much interest and i appreciate your writing. i am glad all is going well. with best wishes, i am sincerely

eleanor roosevelt. we're looking at some of the arts and crafts made in incarceration centers. working with arts and crafts and other recreational activities were key to keeping the sanity of the internees. there were shells they could use corsages andus works of art. another aspect of the story told by these artifacts is they worked with whatever they could find. nothing went to waste. here we see this beautiful doll. if you inspect it closely, you can see her hands are made of toilet paper wrapped around why are. her body and face are made from stockings. her hair is made from sewing thread. her kimono is made from scraps of fabric. this is a formg,

of watercolor. was interesting about this painting itself is using the image of the watchtower. during the internment time, internees were not allowed to take photos or re-create images of the watchtowers. just as interesting, we see on the back it was made from a soapbox. these tele-story about the military service of japanese-americans. once it was determined that they thed serve in the army, combat battalion was created. it was segregated and consisted only of japanese-americans. here we see the picture of three young men from the sacramento area. this is a picture they took before they were shipped out and all of them were killed in action.

they died for their country while their families were incarcerated. here we have one of our most rare items in the collection. knots.s 1000 in each of these red threads are a not tied by a loved mother or a family member for this vest. the tradition dates back to samurai times. theoretically, all of these knots would deflect the thrust of a samurai sword. many of the family members these as a sash. in this case, his family created this vest. he decided to keep it. most other recipients of these items through it away. they did so because you can see

it's very japanese looking. we have japanese calligraphy. on the back, a lovely painted tiger and more calligraphy. this material relates to the reparation and redress at the japanese-americans incarcerated during world war ii. during the carter administration, a commission on the wartime relocation and internment of civilians was formed. as a result of their investigations, they determined the japanese-americans constitutional rights were denied and they deserve and apology. here we have a photo of president reagan. 42 where he isr 4 actually legalizing the apology to the japanese-american survivors. then here we see the actual apology letter from george h.w.

bush and in it, he says a monetary sum and words alone cannot erase painful memories. he saysecond paragraph, enacting a law, calling for restitution, offering a sincere fellow americans have renewed their traditional commitment to the ideals of freedom. at the same time, the survivors received a check for $20,000. here we have a letter from president clinton from 1996 and he also sent a letter to the surviving internees. what's interesting about this letter is this is the first letter where he actually said "we are sorry." it was determined by the

commission in 1983 that the japanese-americans lost between 810 million and $2 billion in 1983. they were never compensated for that. >> my mother and father both as american citizens always believed in this country. indicationink is that we -- a vindication that we were innocent, got an apology, and some monetary renumeration. it makes it less likely that it will happen again. it does not guarantee it. that is why this collection, that is why books and materials like what my mother wrote are important. so the next generation understands that unless you

protect a constitution for everyone, everybody is still in jeopardy. >> find out where the c-span cities tour is going next online. you are watching american history tv all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. american history tv this weekend. the boundaries, political boundaries, state boundaries, community boundaries for the future and for this territory going forward. >> lectures and history with i was taking a verse at a act by congress to organize and govern the lead acquired territory of ohio to the mississippi river. and our new series "road to the right house -- white house

rewind." >> let them have it. [laughter] >> i just do what i'm told. >> a look back at the 1992 presidential campaign of bill clinton during a visit to franklin high school in new hampshire. marking the 70th anniversary of the nürnberg trials. the documentary on not to concentration camps and continuing on oral histories. >> it was a couple days after d-day when they had enough beach to justify it. by captain was a new captain on the job and he said you stay here. again, it was one of those times when somebody reached out and i

went.ft and off they it was several days later they went across and rejoined. >> interview with a former chief prosecutor for the u.s. born in transylvania to a jewish family, emigrated to america. he reflects on enlisting in the u.s. army after law school and being assigned to set up a war crimes branch to investigate nazi atrocities. what are american history tv all weekend on c-span3. get our complete schedule at www.c-span.org. history bookshelf features popular american history writers and airs on american history tv every weekend. shalesme author amity discusses why she created a graphic version of her book "the

forgotten man." the fdr presidential library and museum in hyde park, new york posted this 45 minute event in 2014. >> good afternoon afternoon, everyone. on the deputy director at the presidential library and museum and it is my honor to welcome you to the 11th annual roosevelt reading festival. before introduce our distinguished speaker, let me go over a couple housekeeping things. but everyone please take out your electronic devices and turn them off so we don't have any interruptions of our presentation today. the next is if you haven't had an opportunity to see our new permanent exhibits we installed last year,