Tanforan Totalizer, Issues 11 through 15

Note: I do not have newsletter 11.

Vol. 1 # 12 -June 20, 1942

Page 1: More politics as a "Legislative Congress" is being set up at the camp. The police force has had a reorganization.

Page 2: The Reviewing Stand, news about the camp. There will eventually be a shoe repair shop. They have supplies, but lack the equipment to use with the supplies. There will be a watch-repair service, and more articles are requested for the store to stock. As far as clothing goes, residents can pick things from Sears and Roebuck. There's an article on the resident managers, and a short article noting that the file index of the residents is nearing completion.

Page 3: There's an article on the number of visitors, and one on the fire department handling its first fire, a grass fire that could have set fire to a building if it had not been stopped quickly. The post office has some items that have someone gotten out of their packages that can be picked up.

The Medical Center has information on optometry, the pharmacy, the general clinic hours, and a garden being added. There's also an article on church schedules and services they offer.

Page 4: Previews and Reviews. The camp had it's first revue. There is also going to be a dance. There's a fairly lengthy article on the barbershop. In Music, there is a concert that will be held and a musical.

Page 5: Education. There are 75 kids in kindergarten and 30 in first grade. The main part of the article is about various people involved in the educational program at the camp. The previous town hall meeting covered the role of religion. The art school had held an exhibition at a college and made some sales. A notice on first aid classes being offered is also on this page.

Page 6: There's an editorial section, and some material about gambling at the camp. There's also some information from the Tule Lake and the Manzanar newsletters. (Nothing bad going on at either place.)

Page 7: The short editorials section, and the survey with a good question: “What do you think will be the greatest problem facing Nisei in post-war America? A couple of people were worried about whether jobs would be available, and a couple were concerned about how they and their children will be accepted in the society.

There's also a column from the Copy Boy.

Page 8: There's the normal article on The Kitchen, and an article on the prices that will be charged by the new Laundry Service. The With the Womenfolk has a notice that the girls are eating too much candy and art getting fat.

Page 9: A short article on the library. Then there's information about scouting and various recreational activities, including a carnival and a variety show. There was a decathlon, there are girls' clubs, and there will the second regatta.

Page 10: Softball information, and information on badminton, table tennis and football.

Vol. 1 #13: August 1, 1942

Page 1: The winning candidates in the legislative congress poll are given. Scrip books will be issued before long.

Apparently the anti-Japanese San Francisco Chronicle had carried an article that those in the assembly camps would be moved to relocation areas, and the residents found out about this from the newspaper and not from the camp administration.

Page 2: The Reviewing Stand: Paychecks will be coming in. The basic clothing service has an article. Then, there's definitely something interesting.

Apparently the residents had to bring their records in to have them approved, with anything being nationalistic in nature being confiscated. For those people who kept saying how great the camps were and how the Japanese in them had it easy, they might have changed their minds if they had to turn over their own record albums to someone for approval.

There's an article on house managers, and then another interesting bit of information.

This is interesting in that it covers rumors that were going on in the camp itself. Anyone who had a job had to give a two-day notice before quitting, and no one could strike or stop anyone else from working.

Page 3: The Reviewing Stand continues with news of a full-length movie being possible, and the camp has had its second engagement. There have also been four births. There's a section on the churches, one on the Medical Center, and a list of Lost and Found items.

Page 4: Previews and Reviews. There will be a dance, a musical, and a sports rally. There's also been a Par 3 golf course set up. There's also a short article on a marionette troupe.

Page 5: Education. Another article in a series on the leading figures of education at the camp. The Town Hall meeting was on the problems of having an rearing children. There will be a class on flower arranging (Ikebana), and most of those who signed up are women. There's a short article on the Americanization classes, a notice that a student court is being established for high school discipline problems, and the elementary school will have a two week program on "Proper Conduct."

Reading between the lines on those last two, it seems the camp was starting to have some problems with the behavior of the children and young people.

This is about an essay contest. Notice the questions. This can be referred to as learning to assimilate or being brainwashed, depending on one's view.

Page 6: An editorial complains about apathy during the recent election. The first in a series of articles on specific people from the camp serving in the Navy is included, along with a Letters to the Editor column which includes a letter from a guy complaining about the need for some way to guys to meet girls, and one writer who takes issue with the person in the last newsletter who complained about the girls eating candy and getting fat.

Page 7: The short editorials section, and the survey section. The survey had to do with “Would the community benefit from a uniform wage policy.” There's also an article from the Copy Boy.

Page 8: The Kitchen section, and another section focusing on one particular section of barracks. Also included on this page is the With the Womenfolk article.

Page 9: The library is going to have a story hour, and notices for overdue books are being sent out. There's a scouting article, and recreation news which includes a Mah Jongg tournament, a Golf tournament, a decathlon, and a group called The Cossack Chorus. There's also an article on the Rec Halls.

Page 10: There's a big article on softball, odds and ends sport news (including a tennis tournament), and an article on boxing.

Vol. 1 #14: August 8, 1942

Page 1: Watch, radio and shoe repair services will soon be available. Nisei voters can send for absentee ballots.

In what has to be a a huge disappointment is that, they go through the democratic process of election people, and then the military comes along and says forget you. Somebody should have made that kind of decision first and not had these elections rather than have the elections and then tell the voters their wants made no difference at all. The members of the Council give their farewell addresses, basically, in another article.

Page 2: The Reviewing Stand with camp news. A full length movie, Spring Parade, will be shown.

There's an article about house managers, and one about sugar ration books. They have to turn them in so the books can be sent to the relocation camp they end up at (as versus the easier solution of having them hold on to the books and taking the books with them.) There's also an article about the Supply & Warehouse Department.

Page 3: There's an article about the post office, and one noting three recent births at the camp. Someone thanks those who attended a funeral, and there's a church article along with an article on the Medical Center.

Page 4: Previews and Reviews: One dance has been postponed; a folk dance was held, and a variety show will be held and a marionette performance has hit a snag since two of the marionettes seem to have disappeared. There's also an article on North Lake, and one on a concert and other music that is coming up.

Page 5: An article on education says that about half the residents are taking some kind of educational course or courses. About half the high school students who should have graduated didn't. There are 491 students in the music department. There's an article about the principal of the elementary school, and short articles on the art school and the elementary school.

Page 6: On The WRA Front is an article about a presentation about Manzanar that was given to a San Francisco Commonwealth Club. (Why? Giving presentations on the Japanese Americans to nearly anyplace in California at the time must have been a waste of time with the attitude of the Californians towards the Japanese Americans.)

A very, very valuable article. It's trying to point out to the internees that the Japan they may have thought existed had changed radically, and was run by the militarists (the writer uses the term Fascisti). Anyone speaking out against them were dealt with harshly.

A quote is given from someone who had recently visited Tanforan. They have a very positive view of the residents.

Page 7: The short editorials column, and the survey column. The question is "Should the Nisei continue with college education?" There's also the Copy Boy article. Apparently he's come under criticism for some of the things he's been saying about specific people.

Page 8: The Kitchen article, and With the Womenfolk article, which is about how to get young children to understand about the evacuation There's also an article about one of the camp's firemen.

Page 9: Stanford's Department of Education has contributed over 400 books to the camp's library. There's an article on scouting news, and one on the rec halls. There will be a folkfest, a sailfest, and some kind of program for the adults.

Page 10: There will be track relays, and there's an article on camp softball. There are also short articles on badminton, golf, football, tennis and a horseshoe tournament.

A breakdown of the types of activities residents attend. (Noting that residents may attend more than one activity, so the total number of residents given is not necessarily the total number in the camp.)

Vol. 1 #15, Aug. 15, 1942

Page 1: There will be an election for panel, and the first marriage has happened at the center. Some representatives from the WRA were at the camp to talk to residents about the camp's industrial program. There are also some new rules about visitors, but they are relatively minor changes.

Page 2: More on the visitor's rule changes, and more on the wedding.

For some reason instructions are being given for a gas attack by enemy airplanes. There's going to be a folk festival, and there's another rule, this one about residents who own "renewable" property have to register it.

Page 3: Another rule, that all business and professional contacts have to be approved by the Center Manager. The post office is trying to get some packages to the correct people. There's a small notice thanking people who attended a funeral service, and some church news. On the WRA front is information taken from newsletters of other camps, in this case Tule Lake and Manzanar.

Page 4: There's a relatively long article on the center's hospital, and the Previews and Reviews column, and they will be a dance and later a performance that will be a tribute to the music of Stephen Foster. A movie will be shown soon, Abbot and Costello's "Hold That Ghost.""

Page 5: The elementary school will have projects focusing on strengthening the appreciate for literature, music and art. 16% of the junior high enrollment are honor students. Some high school students conducted a panel on "What is Happening to the Family?"" Adult Education is stressing folklore. The elementary kids had a party and sent a note of appreciate to a custodian for keeping the place clean.

Page 6: There's an article about a letter sent from the camp to the Citizens for Victory Second Front Rally in San Francisco. Partial text of the letter:

Again, I think that sending anything like this to the West Coast was pretty much a waste of time, considering how much they still hated the Japanese internees.

There's a letters section, and a notice to residents to send for their absentee ballots.

Page 7: The normal short editorials, and the survey question was "What part should the recreation program play in our community life?" The Copy Boy column is also on this page.

Page 8: There's an article about a 74-year-old resident who had been in the U.S. Navy. There's an article about residents who are living in the former infield area. The With the Womenfolk section has material on leisure, an encouraging section to guys looking for dates, and a note that guys like feminine women.

Page 9: The library has received more books and magazines as a donation. There's the normal scouting article, and the events section has information on a hole-in-one tournament, go, and shogi games. There's also an article about the model sailboats used on Lake Tanforan.

Page 10: Results of a track meet and relays are given. There's also a section on baseball, and one on football.



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