Mary Yogi

IS 281: Proposal

May 4, 2004

PROPOSAL

Scope Statement

Clara Estelle Breed (1906-1994) was a librarian for the city of San Diego for 42 years. She began her career as a children’s librarian in 1928 and was later appointed the city librarian in 1945 – a post she held for 25 years. Clara Breed wasn’t simply a children’s librarian that promoted reading, conducted storytelling, or supervised her staff; she was engaged in her community and had a striking impact on the lives of her patrons. This is especially true for a group of Japanese American children. My paper will examine the life of Miss Breed (as she was known to her young patrons), and focus on her interactions with the San Diego children sent to “relocation centers” during World War II. Clara Breed continued to be a librarian to these children by sending them books – but also became a trusted friend, supporter, and a lasting connection to their hometown of San Diego.

Before World War II, Miss Breed befriended many of the Japanese American children who visited the San Diego Central Library. She watched them grow from youngsters to young adults. When they were forcibly removed from the West Coast at the start of WWII, she gave the children stamped postcards so they could correspond with her.

Miss Breed wrote many letters to her students and sent packages of books, candy and other necessities – even an iron. More importantly, she allowed them to express themselves and maintain a connection to their old home in San Diego. Miss Breed kept many of the cards and letters she received and gave them to one of her correspondents, Elizabeth Yamada. Ms. Yamada then donated them to the JapaneseAmericanNationalMuseum, where many of them have been digitized and an online exhibit created.

Clara Breed not only helped the children in camp, but she spoke out against the forced removal of the Japanese and Japanese Americans. She remarked, “This was a terrible injustice. Many people in California thought that the Japanese might be a danger, but these children certainly were not.”[1] She wrote two articles, “All But Blind” (Library Journal, 1943) and “Americans with the Wrong Ancestors” (The Horn Book, 1943). She quotes from the letters she received from the children to illustrate the conditions in camp. When she received letters from other librarians in reaction to her article, Breed expressed her feelings in the response letter, “The bitterness is so cruel, and so un-American, and makes one tremble sometimes about the post-war world and our hopes for humanity.”[2]

Clara Breed corresponded with a handful of her patrons. Yet the effects of her actions were wide reaching. She encouraged donations of books to the camp libraries. She voiced her concern about the imprisonment to her fellow librarians. She is now considered a hero to the Japanese American community and a pioneering activist to librarians.

The chronological limits of Clara Breed’s life were 1906-1994. Although Clara Breed did much for the City of San Diego (guiding the process of growth in the library system as city librarian), I am interested in highlighting her work before and during WWII, from her first job in 1928 to the end of the war. However, in order to understand the influences of Breed’s activism and to capture an appreciation of the woman herself, I will use her letters and papers to document her beliefs, actions and influences in her early years.

I might expand the topic by augmenting the chronological focus to include her 25 years as the city librarian. She accomplished a great deal and an entire paper could be written focusing on this time in her career. In addition, I might narrow the topic by not including the context of the San Diego and library community views of the Japanese exclusion in great detail.

Sources

The main primary sources for this paper will be the collections of materials at the JapaneseAmericanNationalMuseum (letters and Breed authored articles) and the San Diego Public Library (personal papers and correspondence). In addition, newspaper clippings of interviews of Clara Breed will be utilized. Finally, Breed’s book Turning the Pages: San Diego Public Library History 1882-1982 contains first hand accounts of the library’s history and Breed’s efforts.

(Please see the bibliography for a listing of primary and secondary sources.)

Research Questions & Sources Expected to Use

1. How did Miss Breed react to the forced removal of her Japanese American children?

For this, I can see from Clara Breed’s writing what action she took. In her two published journal articles, she writes of giving stamped postcards to the children as they turned in their library cards and remaining books – she asked them to tell her how they were doing. From the primary documentation that remains (the letters sent to Miss Breed), it is evident that she sent many items to the children who wrote to her. She also writes in a symposium article that she kept a young girl’s treasured doll collection safe for the duration of the war. Breed writes, “Her boxes were only the beginning of a collection of miscellaneous objects that I am storing for friends, including six fantail goldfish!”[3]

Clara Breed wrote two articles in an effort to educate the rest of the nation of the unjust plight of the Japanese on the West Coast. The two articles are primary source material – also, an annotated manuscript of one of the articles is housed at the Japanese American National Museum (JANM). In addition, carbon copies of letters sent by Clara Breed to the War Relocation Authority requesting information about the camp libraries are contained in the Clara Breed Papers at JANM.

2. What was the political climate of the San Diego area at the time? Did public opinion support the efforts of Miss Breed?

I plan to look at editorials and letters to the Editor in the San Diego Unionnewspaper. In addition, I found a great article by Lloyd Chiasson titled, “Japanese-American Relocation During World War II: A Study of California Editorial Reactions” that looks at the San Diego Union editorial reaction. As I suspected, Chiasson states that “the San Diego Union provided its readers with the clearest message: the necessity for mass evacuation superseded Japanese-American’s civil liberties.”[4] He states that the paper repeatedly printed false rumors of spy activity, used the derogatory term “Japs,” and said the Japanese “have contributed nothing to the cultural, political or economic life of this nation.”[5]

3. What is the historical context of the Miss Breed’s Japanese American patrons in San Diego? What is their history in San Diego?

For this section, Donald Estes and Matthew Estes have written many articles about the San Diego Japanese American population before the War, such as “Before the War: The Japanese in San Diego” and “Hot Enough to Melt Iron: The San Diego Nikkei Experience 1942-1946.” In addition, Gerald Schlenker’s article, “The Internment of the Japanese of San Diego County During the Second World War” provides information about the process of forced removal of the Japanese.

4. In addition, to provide basic contextualization, the following question will be asked: What is the historical context of the forced removal of the Japanese during WWII?

Numerous texts and articles have been written about the Japanese American imprisonment during WWII. I have selected some from a bibliography of suggested reading from JANM. In addition, JANM holds numerous primary documents about the Japanese American experience during the War. If necessary, I can consult these materials.

5. Who wrote letters to Miss Breed? What was the content of the children’s letter to Miss Breed? And what did Miss Breed write to these children?

I plan to look at the letters written to Miss Breed (located at the JapaneseAmericanNationalMuseum) and analyze and categorize the letters. I have skimmed many of these letters – some are short and obviously written by a young child, and some are long and filled with a young person’s thoughts of courtship, jobs and school.

Most letters start with thank yous for gifts from Miss Breed – everything from books, candy, stationery, cards and clothing. Miss Breed helped the students acquire hard to get items such as an iron, haircutting equipment and textiles.

These letters give a unique snapshot of the camp experience from a young person’s perspective. Some talk about the book they are reading – a natural topic when writing to your librarian. However, from the letters, you can see that Miss Breed shared a genuine interest in the well-being of the children. She must have inquired about the conditions in camp for many write “answers” to her queries in the letter – from the answers, I know that she asked about the dining hall, the living quarters, the library, school, recreational activities and whether they had tables and chairs. I hope to analyze a bulk of the letters and develop a table describing the content. In addition, I hope to see the notebook kept by Breed that details the books sent to each child.

Most of the letters are signed by the child. Although there are 250 letters, most are written by a handful of faithful writers. Perhaps a chart might be developed that detail the writers. In addition, some letters and cards were sent by others in camp who had heard of the caring librarian from San Diego. The famous artist, Chiura Obata sent her a beautiful watercolor card; the note thanked her for her support.

6. What influenced Miss Breed’s political activism?

For this, I plan to look at some of the letters she wrote to her sister, Eleanor Breed. Eleanor Breed lived in Berkeley for much of her life and also spoke out against the internment of the Japanese Americans. Eleanor published an article about the Japanese who were removed in her area; I would like to read this article and believe it is one of the many items at JANM. In addition, the San Diego Public Library has a newspaper clipping file on Eleanor Breed that I want to investigate.

7. What was the reaction of other librarian’s to her work? What was the prevailing political climate of librarians at the time? Were they in fact politically active or more passive?

Several letters from librarians across the country are included in the JANM collection of Clara Breed. One, from Eleanor Cooley of Iowa City states, “Your article...is arresting and beautifully written. I wish everyone in the U.S. could read it.”[6] From the letters she received from other public libraries about the services provided to camp residents, one can see what was being done by librarians to help the residents. If time permits, I would like to look into Library Journal articles and see if the prevailing political climate of librarians can be determined.

8. How did Clara Breed help the libraries located in the internment camps?

A document from the SDPL entitled, “Report of Victory Book Drive” lists the number of books collected in 1942. According to the chart, most of the books were sent to the Armed Forces, but a note at the bottom of the document reads: “758 books sent from Los Angeles are being held for Japanese internment camps.”

In addition, in a December 30, 1942 letter to Mr. John Powell, Educational Director at the Poston camp, Breed asks for information about the libraries for her article. She asks:

how adequate they are, the number of volumes, whether they have been gathered entirely from gifts from libraries and individuals or whether the W.R.A. [War Relocation Authority] has spent any money on them, how cooperative libraries have been about lending books on special request to the centers, whether the greatest need is for little children’s books, recent books, technical books, etc.[7]

She goes on to say, “I am sure you have needs. If I can publicize your needs and get the whole library profession back of strengthening your library facilities...I shall feel that writing the article has been worthwhile.”[8]

Finally, based on letters from the W.R.A., Miss Breed was sending books directly to the libraries in camp as well.

Bibliography of Primary sources

Breed, Clara E. Turning the Pages: San Diego Public Library History 1882-1982.San Diego: Friends of the San Diego Public Library, 1983.

Clara Breed Collection. JapaneseAmericanNationalMuseum. Los Angeles, California.

  1. Collection of 250 letters and postcards sent to Miss Breed and SDPL library assistant, Miss McNary.
  2. Items related to journal articles written by Clara Breed, 1942-43.
  3. Letters from the editor of Library Journal requesting the article, 1942.
  4. Letter from Clara Breed to various internment camp directors requesting information about the children in camp, schools and libraries for inclusion in the article, and requests for photos (especially of libraries), 1942.
  5. Manuscript with annotations by Clara Breed.
  6. Letters from other librarians with comments about the article & Clara Breed’s letters in response.
  7. Symposium Article manuscript (annotated) for Library Journal, on the topic: Children in Wartime.
  8. Papers related to the internment from the U.S. Government – part of Clara Breed’s personal collection.
  9. August 7, 1942 letter (petition) to W.F. Palmer, U.S. Attorney on behalf of Chiomatsu Hirasaki from Clara Breed.
  10. August 17, 1942 letter to Mr. Kohler of Pacific Coast Barber Supply Co. in San Diego requesting barber equipment supplies be sent to Tetsuzo Hirasaki from Clara Breed.
  11. Black notebook with records of the children and books Clara Breed sent to children in Poston internment camp (written by Clara Breed).

Clara Breed Collection. San Diego Public Library. San Diego, California.

  1. “Our Baby” baby book. First years of Clara Breed’s life: 1906-1908.
  2. School records (report cards & certificates).
  3. Personal letters to her sister, Eleanor Breed from 1931 – 1959.
  4. Program for “Woman of the Year” 1969.
  5. Beginnings: San Diego Public Library History 1882-1970.(short history written by Clara Breed, precursor to her book about the SDPL, given away at her retirement dinner in 1970)
  6. “Friends and Enemies of Libraries: A Personal Memoir,” Speech given by Clara Breed on June 7, 1974

Clara Breed. Clippings Files. San Diego Public Library. San Diego, California.

Various newspaper articles featuring or about Clara Breed. Included are profiles of her retirement from the SDPL, her letters during WWII, and obituary.

Breed, Clara. “All But Blind.” Library Journal 68 (3) (February 1943): 119-121.

Breed, Clara. “Americans with the Wrong Ancestors.” The Horn Book (July – August 1943): 253-260.

Bibliography of Secondary sources

Related to the Miss Breed letters

Brady, Kathy. “Letters from Home: Love and Friendship in Times of War.” American Libraries (May 2002): 73-4.

Smithsonian Institution, Center for Education and Museum Studies. Smithsonian in your Classroom. “Letters from the Japanese American Internment.” November 2001.

JapaneseAmericanNationalMuseum. “Dear Miss Breed.” Videotape. 2000.

Related to the Japanese Americans from San Diego, California

Chiasson, Lloyd. “Japanese-American Relocation During World War II: A Study of California Editorial Reactions.” Journalism Quarterly 68(1-2)1991: 263-268.

Estes, Donald H. “Before the War: The Japanese in San Diego.”Journal of San Diego History 24(4) (1978): 425-455.

Estes, Donald H. and Estes, Matthew T. “Further and Further Away: The Relocation of San Diego’s Nikkei Community, 1942.” Journal of San Diego History 39(1-2) (1993): 1-31.

Estes, Matthew T. and Estes, Donald H. “Hot Enough to Melt Iron: The San Diego Nikkei Experience 1942-1946.” Journal of San Diego History 42(3) (1996): 126-173.

Estes, Donald H. and Estes, Matthew T. “Letters from Camp: Poston – The First Year.” Journal of the West 38(2) (1999): 22-33.

Note: Many of the Estes’ articles include quotes from the Miss Breed letters.

Schlenker, Gerald. “The Internment of the Japanese of San DiegoCounty During the Second World War.” Journal of San Diego History 18(1) (1972): 1-9.

Related to the Internment of Japanese Americans in World War II

Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians. Personal Justice Denied: Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians.Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1982.

Daniels, Roger. Prisoners Without Trial: Japanese Americans in World War II.New York: Hill and Wang, 1993.

Girdner, Audrie, and Anne Loftis. The Great Betrayal: The Evacuation of the Japanese-Americans During World War II.Toronto: Macmillan, 1969.

Harth, Erica, editor. Last Witnesses: Reflections on the Wartime Internment of Japanese Americans. New York: Palgrave, 2001.