Finding aid to the Joseph R. Goodman papers on Japanese American internment, 1941-1945,
MS 840
Finding aid prepared by Marie Silva.
California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105-4014
(415) 357-1848
reference@calhist.org
URL: http://californiahistoricalsociety.org/
2011
Title: Joseph R. Goodman papers on Japanese American internment
Date: 1941-1945
Collection Identifier: MS 840
Creator:
Goodman, Joseph R.
Extent:
3 boxes, 1 half box, and 1 oversize box
(3 linear ft.)
Contributing Institution:
California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105-4014
(415) 357-1848
reference@calhist.org
URL: http://californiahistoricalsociety.org/
Location of Materials: Collection is stored onsite.
Language of Materials: Collection materials are in English, with some materials in English and Japanese.
Abstract: Personal correspondence, organizational records, government documents, publications, and other papers created or collected
by Joseph R. Goodman documenting the relocation and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, as well as organized
resistance to the internment. Included in the collection are records of the Japanese Young Men's Christian Association and
the Japanese American Citizens League in San Francisco, including papers of the Japanese YMCA's executive secretary Lincoln
Kanai; Sakai family papers; Goodman's correspondence to and from Japanese American internees, anti-internment organizations,
the War Relocation Authority, and others; publications, photographs, and ephemera from the Topaz Relocation Center, where
Goodman taught high school; War Relocation Authority records and publications; and newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and reports
about the internment created by various government, religious, and civic organizations, in California and nationwide.
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Director
of Library and Archives, North Baker Research Library, California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA
94105. Consent is given on behalf of the California Historical Society as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. Restrictions
also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational
purposes.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Joseph R. Goodman papers on Japanese American internment, MS 840, California Historical Society.
Acquisition Information
Donated to the California Historical Society by Dr. Joseph R. Goodman in 1972. Three volumes (
Ramblings, hardcover, 1943, 1944, and 1945) were returned to Dr. Goodman in 1974.
Processing Information
The collection was processed by California Historical Society staff in 1972. Materials were rehoused in 2011.
Biographical Information
Joseph R. Goodman was a strong advocate for the Japanese American community in San Francisco and nationwide during World War
II, providing assistance and support to friends and internees at the camps; aiding Japanese American students and activists;
participating in the anti-internment movement; and, between 1942 and 1944, teaching high school math and science at the Topaz
Relocation Center in Utah.
Born in Tacoma, Washington, in 1911, Goodman moved to San Francisco in the early 1940s, where he met his wife Elizabeth Baker
and worked as assistant superintendent of the Steinhart Aquarium. Active members of the American Friends Service Committee,
the Goodmans began to assist and advocate for Japanese Americans evacuated from their homes in San Francisco, beginning in
1942. Among their friends were Lincoln Kanai, executive secretary of the San Francisco chapter of the Japanese Young Men's
Christian Association and civil rights advocate; and the Sakai family, whose San Francisco home the Goodmans rented. (It later
became the "Sakai House" cooperative.) Between 1942 and 1944, Goodman taught math and science at Topaz High School. Elizabeth
Goodman also worked at the camp.
After World War II, Goodman served as a professor at the Veterans Administration Hospital and in the pediatrics department
at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF). He died in 2004.
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of personal correspondence, organizational records, government documents, publications, and other
papers created or collected by Joseph R. Goodman documenting the relocation and internment of Japanese Americans during World
War II, as well as organized resistance to the internment. Included in the collection are records of the Japanese Young Men's
Christian Association and the Japanese American Citizens League in San Francisco, including papers of the Japanese YMCA's
executive secretary and civil rights advocate, Lincoln Kanai; Sakai family papers, including Ayako Sakai's letters from the
Tanforan Assembly Center; Goodman's correspondence to and from Japanese American internees, anti-internment organizations,
the War Relocation Authority, and others; publications, photographs, and ephemera from the Topaz Relocation Center, where
Goodman taught high school; War Relocation Authority records and publications; and newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and reports
about the internment created by various government, religious, and civic organizations, in California and nationwide.
Comprising correspondence, reports, recommendations, notes, addresses, and other documents, Lincoln Kanai and the Japanese
Young Men's Christian Association papers (1942) document conditions at the camps, as well as Kanai's involvement in the anti-internment
movement. Included in these files are reports from the Puyallup, Tanforan, Pinedale, and Santa Anita Assembly Centers; written
protests; and copies of letters from Robert Sproul and to Dorothea Lange. The records of the Japanese American Citizen League
of San Francisco, also dated from 1942, include minutes, newsletters, bulletins, and correspondence documenting that organization's
advocacy work on behalf of Japanese Americans during World War II. Ayako Sakai papers (1942-1943) comprise letters, poetry,
and other documents, many of which were sent to Sakai by family members and friends while she was interned at the Tanforan
Assembly Center in San Bruno.
Joseph R. Goodman correspondence and other papers (1942-1943) include letters written to and from Goodman documenting his
advocacy efforts on behalf of the Sakai family, Japanese American students, and the Japanese American community in San Francisco
and nationwide. Correspondents include Goodman's friends Ayako Sakai, George Sakai, and Lincoln Kanai; the National Japanese
American Student Relocation Council; the Fellowship of Reconciliation; the American Friends Service Committee, Northern California
Section; the Northern California Committee on Fair Play for Citizens and Aliens of Japanese Ancestry; the Sakai House, a San
Francisco cooperative; and the War Relocation Authority. Goodman's papers also include letters written to and by Lincoln Kanai,
which Kanai copied for Goodman's files.
In addition to these papers, the collection includes publications, photographs, and ephemera created at the Topaz Relocation
Center (1942-1944), where Goodman taught high school science and math. Among these are the journals
Volunteers for Victory,
Topaz Times,
All Aboard, and
Trek; the Topaz High School newspaper
Topazette; photographs of the Topaz High School football team; and a 1943 copy of
Ramblings, the Topaz High School yearbook, owned by Lincoln Kanai.
The collection also contains a wide variety of published material collected by Goodman documenting the Japanese American internment
and anti-Japanese racism during World War II (1941-1945), including newspapers, especially the
Nichi Bei; newspaper clippings; magazine articles; pamphlets; reports; and a scrapbook of newspaper clippings.
Bibliography
Sources consulted for the biographical note:
Gathright, Alan, "Joseph Goodman -- UCSF pediatrics professor,"
San Francisco Chronicle, 2004 April 22.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Central Utah Relocation Center.
Goodman, Joseph R.--Archives.
Japanese American Citizens' League. San Francisco Chapter.
Japanese Young Men's Christian Association (San Francisco, Calif.).
Kanai, Lincoln.
Sakai family.
United States. War Relocation Authority.
Japanese Americans--California.
Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945.
World War, 1939-1945--Evacuation of civilians.
Box 1, Folders 1-2
Lincoln Kanai and Japanese Young Men's Christian Association papers
1942
Box 1, Folders 3-4
Japanese American Citizens League of San Francisco records and publications
1942
Box 1, Folders 5-7
Ayako Sakai papers
1942-1943
Box 1, Folders 8-13, Box 2, Folder 1
Joseph R. Goodman correspondence and other papers
1942-1943
Box 2, Folder 2
Joseph R. Goodman teaching papers
circa 1942-1945
Box 2, Folders 3-6
War Relocation Authority records
1942-1943
Box 2, Folder 7
Tanforan Assembly Center bulletins and other records
1942
Box 2, Folder 8
Vignette: A pictorial record of life in the Fresno Assembly Center
1942
Box 2, Folder 9
Volunteers for Victory, published by the Resident Council for Japanese American Civil Rights, Topaz
1943
Box 2, Folder 10
Portfolio of 50 scenes of the relocation centers, by Henry Fukuhara
1944
Box 2, Folder 11
Topazette (Topaz High School newspaper)
1943
Box 2, Folder 12
Topaz Times
1942 September 17-1943 December 4
Box 2, Folder 13
All Aboard (Journal, Topaz)
1944 Spring
Box 2, Folder 14, Box 3, Folder 1
Trek (Journal, Topaz)
1942 December, 1943 February, and 1943 June
Box 3, Folder 2
Ramblings (Topaz High School yearbook, signed and owned by Lincoln Kanai)
1943
Box 3, Folder 3
Topaz Junior High School and Topaz High School graduation papers
1943
Separated Materials
Removed from 1943 yearbook (vol. 1), which was probably returned to donor in 1974.
Box 3, Folder 4
Photographs of the Topaz High School football team and Bill Oshima
1943
Separated Materials
Removed from 1943 yearbook (vol. 1), which was probably returned to donor in 1974.
Box 3, Folders 5-6
Newspaper articles (mostly from the
Nichi Bei)
circa 1942
Box 3, Folders 7-10
Newspaper and magazine articles
1941-1945
Box 3, Folders 11-12, Box 4, Folders 1-3
Oversize Box 1, Folders 1-3
Scrapbook of newspaper clippings
1942-1945
Oversize Box 1, Folders 4-5
Nichi Bei, San Francisco
1942 February 21-1942 May 6
Oversize Box 1, Folder 6
Pacific Citizen, Salt Lake City
1942 March 7, 1943 February 4, and 1943 February 11
Oversize Box 1, Folder 7
San Francisco Call-Bulletin
1942 March 12 and 1942 April 7
