JapaneseAmericanInternment:

TheIsseiNiseiDivide

NilosMakinoandEthanWong
SeniorDivision
GroupWebsite

ProcessPaper

Whenchoosingourtopic,wewerelookingforsomethingthatwebothwereextremely
interestedin,butalsoresearchableandconnectingwiththisyearstopicforNationalHistory
Day.Afterbrainstorming,welimitedourtopicstothreechoicestheinternmentof
JapaneseAmericans,theOpiumWar,andWorldWarIICryptography.
WebothreallylikedJapaneseAmericanInternmentbecausewebothhadapersonal
connectiontothisissueanditisapartofAmericanhistorylargelyoverlookedduetoother
eventsthatoccurredatthesametime.Wewereslightlyhesitantaboutthistopicbecauseof
difficultyconnectingittothetheme.Afterdoingsomeresearchonline,wediscoveredthatthere
weremanysourcesthatwecoulduseforourproject,butthemajorityweresplitbetweenpublic
librariesandthoseofhighereducationinstitutions.Wedecidedthatwewoulduseourcombined
resourcesinordertocollectthesourcestothebestofourabilitiesandassuch,wechose
JapaneseInternmentasourtopicforNationalHistoryDay.
Becauseofourextremelybusyschedules,wedecidedthatthebestoptionwastodivide
thenecessarysourcesbetweenthetwoofus.Niloswasresponsibleforallofthesourceswithin
thepubliclibrariesandEthanwasinchargeofallofthecollegelibrarysources.Inorderto
effectivelyconductourresearch,wemadeseveraltripstotheMITlibrariesandthelocalpublic
library.MITslibrarydoesnotallowlendingforstudentsbutdoesallowaccess,sothebooks
foundtherewereexaminedatthelibrary.Manybookswerealsotakenoutfromthepublic
librarytobereadathome.Afterweidentifiedthekeylocationsofthemajorityofour
information,wespenttimereadingthroughthebooksagain,lookingforanysectionsthatwe
mayhavemissedoranyinformationthatcouldhavebeenuseful.

Aswehadpreviouslystated,oneofthehardestchallengesthatwefacedduringthis
projectwasthecoordinationofourschedulessothatwecouldbothworkontheprojecttogether.
WediscoveredthatwewouldnothavetimetoworktogetheronNHDbecauseweneverhada
daywherebothofuswerefreeinordertoworkonourprojecttogether.Wedecidedtodoa
websitebecauseweweregoodwithtechnologyandthatitmadethemostsenseasitallowedus
toworkontheprojecttogetherfromourownhomes.
TheeffectsthatJapaneseInternmenthadondifferentgenerationsofJapaneseAmericans
wereastonishing.WhiletheIsseibelievedthatJapanwouldeventuallywinthewar,theNisei
believedthattheUSwouldwin,andthattheirserviceinthewarwouldmakethemrecognizedas
truecitizens.ThisfracturedexchangebetweenthetwogroupsledtoadividebetweentheIssei
andNiseifortheyearsthatfollowed.