Finding Aid for the Constantine Panunzio Collection of Material on Japanese American Internment, ca. 1853-1945, (bulk 1942-1943)

Title: Constantine Panunzio Collection of Material on Japanese American Internment

Date (inclusive): ca. 1853-1945, (bulk 1942-1943)

Collection number: 1636

Creator: Panunzio, Constantine M. (Constantine Maria), 1884-1964.

Extent: 1 box (0.5 linear ft.)

Abstract: The collection consists of Professor Constantine Panuzio's collection of printed materials such as articles, clippings, newsletters, pamphlets and reports relating to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Repository: University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.

Los Angeles, California 90095-1575

Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.

Constantine Panunzio (1884-1964) was born in Molfetta, Italy. He arrived in the United States in 1902, and after some difficult years as a struggling immigrant, he entered Kent's Hill Academy in Maine. He received his A.B. from Wesleyan University in 1911 and a M.A. in 1912. He then enrolled in the Boston University School of Theology and earned the S.T.B. in 1914. He served as pastor in several Methodist churches in Massachusetts and he was superintendent of Social Service House, Boston, from 1915-1917; from 1917 to 1918 he served as general organizer of the YMCA on the Italian front during World War I. In 1925 he earned the Ph.D. degree at the Brookings Graduate School of Economics and Government, and was appointed assistant professor of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1931, where he remained until he retired as professor of sociology in 1951. His published works include three books and two research monographs. In 1931-33, Panunzio was president of the Pacific South-western Academy; in 1934-35, president of the Pacific Sociological Society. In 1939, he participated in the founding of the Mazzini Society; in 1940 he was designated by the New York World's Fair Committee as among the foreign-born who have made outstanding contributions to American culture. In 1961 he received the Wesleyan University Distinguished Alumnus award.

Constantine Panunzio (1884-1964) was born in Molfetta, Italy. He arrived in the United States in 1902, and after some difficult years as a struggling immigrant, he entered Kent's Hill Academy in Maine. He received his A.B. from Wesleyan University in 1911 and a M.A. in 1912. He then enrolled in the Boston University School of Theology and earned the S.T.B. in 1914. He served as pastor in several Methodist churches in Massachusetts and he was superintendent of Social Service House, Boston, from 1915-1917; from 1917 to 1918 he served as general organizer of the YMCA on the Italian front during World War I. In 1925 he earned the Ph.D. degree at the Brookings Graduate School of Economics and Government, and was appointed assistant professor of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1931, where he remained until he retired as professor of sociology in 1951.

His published works include three books and two research monographs. In 1931-33, Panunzio was president of the Pacific South-western Academy; in 1934-35, president of the Pacific Sociological Society. In 1939, he participated in the founding of the Mazzini Society; in 1940 he was designated by the New York World's Fair Committee as among the foreign-born who have made outstanding contributions to American culture. In 1961 he received the Wesleyan University Distinguished Alumnus award.

In the last dozen years of his life, Dr. Panunzio was instrumental in bringing about a substantial increase in the stipends of colleagues already retired at the University of California, in improving the retirement system at UC, and in discovering what the situation was for other retirees at institutions throughout the United States by launching a nationwide emeriti census in 1954. He died on August 6, 1964.

From Gordon H. Ball, et. al, "Constantine Maria Panunzio, Anthropology and Sociology: Los Angeles," in University of California: In Memoriam, April 1966.

The collection consists of Professor Contantine Panuzio's collection of printed materials such as articles, clippings, newsletters, pamphlets and reports relating to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Internment camps represented in the collection are Heart Mountain, Wyoming; Manzanar, Calif.; Merced Assembly Center, Calif.; and the Santa Anita Assembly Center, Calif. The collection also contains a mid-nineteenth century map of Japan.

Arranged at the folder level. There are no series.

The materials in Collection 1636 were originally part of Collection 131, A collection of material on Japanese American Internment, which was itself extracted from Collection 122, the Manzanar War Relocation Center Records (formerly titled the U.S. War Relocation Authority Archive) in 1971. Within a few years, materials from Collection 131 were dispersed into three additional collections: the present collection, entitled the Constantine Panunzio collection of material on Japanese American internment (Collection 1636); the Lincoln Kanai papers (Collection 1637); and the Bradford Smith papers (Collection 1638). The name of Constantine Panunzio was formally incorporated into the collection title in 2005, according to the papers' original provenance within the Manzanar War Relocation Center Records. Christen Sasaki and Laurel McPhee fully re-housed and processed the collection in the fall of 2005.

Manzanar War Relocation Center Records (Collection 122) . Available at the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.

Japanese American Research Project Collection of Material about Japanese in the United States (Collection 2010) . Available at the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.