(H)our History Lesson: Japanese American Resettlement in Dayton, Ohio

About This Lesson

This lesson is part of a series teaching about the World War II home front, with Dayton and Montgomery County, Ohio, as an American World War II Heritage City. Japanese Americans were wrongfully relocated and incarcerated in incarceration sites beginning in 1942 under Executive Order 9066. This lesson focuses on the resettlement of Japanese Americans post-detention, and specifically those who resettled in the Dayton area. This occurred from 1943 – 1946 as part of the War Relocation Authority’s (WRA) resettlement of Japanese Americans from the incarceration sites.

The lesson combines primary and secondary source information with readings, questions, and photos, with video extensions. The lesson was written by educator Sarah Nestor Lane.

Photo 1: Mr. and Mrs. Robert Yoshio Kodama and their small son, Junior on March 18, 1944 at the Heart Mountain, Wyoming Bus Depot. Mr. Kodama moved to Dayton, Ohio, to become the first Director of the Committee on Resettlement for Japanese Americans in the area.

Photo by Hikaru Iwasaki, War Relocation Authority. Courtesy of UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library, public domain.

Objectives:

1. Identify the contributing factors that lead to the movement of Japanese Americans to Dayton, Ohio.
2. Summarize the roles of Dayton people and organizations that supported Japanese American resettlement.
3. Consider and describe perspectives of Japanese Americans on the home front in Dayton (and nationwide).

Materials for Students:

1. Essential question and photo
2. Photos 1-4 (can be displayed digitally) by Japanese American photographer Hikaru Iwasaki
3. Readings 1, 2, 3 (background secondary source, two primary sources)
4. Recommended: a map of the Dayton area, Montgomery County, or the state of Ohio, to mark the cities and locations mentioned.

Getting Started: Essential Question

Why did some Japanese Americans resettle in Dayton, Ohio, and how did they help shape the city?

Read to Connect

Reading 1: Japanese American Resettlement to Dayton, Ohio

By Sarah Nestor Lane

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President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. The federal government forcibly removed Japanese Americans from their homes along the Pacific coast (Washington, Oregon, California) and Hawaii. The War Relocation Authority (WRA) forced Japanese Americans to live in remote incarceration sites throughout the US. The Japanese built their own communities there, but they lived in harsh, crowded conditions. 

Resettlement Background 

The WRA resettled Japanese Americans from October 1942 till the closing of the last camp in 1946. Ruth Kingman was a cofounder of the Japanese American Student Relocation Council. This council helped resettle students, but Kingman also supported other Japanese American causes. She said in a 1971 interview, “We felt that as the federal government had forcibly removed them from their homes, the government had a definite responsibility to find housing for them if they were to be forcibly ejected from the relocation centers. We felt also that at least one center should remain open until all evacuees could find adequate housing elsewhere."  

The WRA helped some Japanese Americans to return to the Pacific coast. Many resettled in other areas in the US. Internees were fearful of hostility and the unknowns of places they had never been to before. There was a voluntary period for resettlement, but by the start of 1943, less than 900 had volunteered. All had to resettle by the closure of the last camp. They had to rebuild their lives in new places where they were not always accepted. 

Resettlement to Dayton and Montgomery County 

The Cincinnati WRA field office served the Dayton and Montgomery County, Ohio region. The office aided Japanese American employment and adjustments to the new community. It was the spring of 1943 when the first re-settlers arrived in Dayton. Prior, Dayton did not have a large Japanese population. (Records show only two Japanese residents in 1940.) 

Reverend G. Raymond Booth was an advocate for refugees. He had served in a branch of the American Friends Service Committee, “AFSC.” This Quaker outreach organization supported Japanese Americans. They ran a hostel in Cincinnati for re-settlers to stay at on the way to their destination. The WRA recruited Rev. Booth to run the Cincinnati WRA office.  

Rev. Booth contacted the Church Federation to partner with the WRA office. The Church Federation of Dayton and Montgomery County (“Church Federation”) operated the Dayton resettlement program. The Church Federation had 129 participating churches representing 26 different denominations. It formed a Commission on War Services that later included a resettlement committee.  

The committee supported over 150 Japanese Americans resettling to Dayton, from 1943 to 1946. The committee produced a pamphlet listing information and community resources for incoming families. The committee led efforts to integrate Japanese children into local programs. One of its most important roles was to secure housing and employment for the Japanese Americans.

Housing and Employment 

There was already a housing shortage in the area due to an increased population. Many had moved to Dayton to work at the military bases or in factories. The Women’s Division of the Church Federation worked on finding homes for the re-settlers. They also hosted welcome parties (see Reading 3). The Division also supported with tasks like establishing their credit at stores.  

Rev. Booth focused on employment opportunities for re-settlers. This employment supported the home front war efforts. Factories needed workers to support war production. Those willing to offer employment to the Japanese Americans benefited from more workers. Some companies reported back to Rev. Booth. Fred Stroop, president of Stroop Agricultural Company, said, “they have proven highly efficient and very acceptable – really, God Sent!” Agricultural employees supported home front food efforts. The new residents also participated in home front efforts. These efforts included food rationing, victory gardens, and volunteerism. The resettlement committee reported that twelve re-settlers entered military service.  

Rev. Booth recruited Mr. Robert Kodama to go to Dayton. Kodama was Japanese American. He accepted and left the Heart Mountain War Relocation Center (see essential question photo). He became the first Director of the Committee on Resettlement. Kodama led a resettlement survey in the summer of 1944. He wrote in the report that “Dayton can be presented as sufficient proof and an object lesson that church leaders in local communities can carry through to a successful conclusion . . . the resettlement work that has been initiated...” He also wrote that Dayton was “an unusually good spot for a permanent resettlement program for Japanese Americans.” Mr. Kodama’s work included talk with local unions to support Japanese American workers. He gained support from the Dayton Metropolitan Housing Authority to provide housing units. He also was active in public relations.

The End of the Resettlement Committee

In the fall of 1945, the resettlement committee added more Japanese voices. The first additions were Mrs. E. Ambo and Miss Katherine Sasaki (see photos 1-4 for connections). Over time, more Japanese Americans got involved. At the conclusion of the WRA’s resettlement efforts, the committee had its last meeting in March 1946. “Resettlement” had ended, but Japanese Americans in Dayton had begun to form their own community, including a social club.  

In 1949, the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) formed a Dayton Chapter. The Dayton YWCA and JACL were partners and hosted a “Tea House in August Moon” event at the YWCA. This event grew to become an international festival. JACL joined with other ethnic groups to celebrate diversity located in Dayton and Montgomery County, Ohio. 

Table 1: Nonwhite Population, Dayton, OH, 1940

Note: This table is recreated from the US Census report, "Nonwhite Population of the United States by Race and Nativity: 1940." Its title, groupings, and labels reflect the racially insensitive language used at the time. The total population of Dayton in 1940 was 210,718.

Total Nonwhite Population	Negro			Indian	Chinese			Japanese			Filipino	Hindu	All other
20,304	Total	Native	Foreign Born	9	Total	Native	Foreign Born	Total	Native	Foreign Born	2	3	-
	20,273	20,257	16		15	6	9	2	1	1

Questions for Reading 1

1. What factors lead to the resettling of Japanese Americans in Dayton, Ohio?
2. Demographics: Describe demographic data of Dayton prior to resettlement. (Using 1940 Census data, Table 1) What other details do you notice about the demographic makeup of the area? How do you think this has changed over time, and why? (Hint: Also consider the movement of people to Dayton for war production.)
3. What difficulties did Japanese Americans face during the resettlement process?
4. Summarize the roles of Dayton people and organizations that supported Japanese American resettlement.
5. From the reading and inferences based on the information, how did Japanese Americans contribute to home front efforts and the city of Dayton?

By the numbers:

• Approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans were forced to leave their homes.
• During the resettlement of Japanese inmates, only 35,000 (about one-third) had resettled by the end of 1944.
• In total, approximately 4,400 Japanese Americans resettled in Ohio.
• In 1988, Congress issued a formal apology and passed the Civil Liberties Act, which awarded $20,000 each to over 80,000 Japanese Americans.

Quotation to consider:

“Unfortunately we still have in this state, and in several others, a group of people who make their living or who try to make political capital out of that most un-American practice of creating a scapegoat. As a general rule these operators pick on some minority group and attempt to blame that group for all the ills of the community as a means of covering up their real economic or political interests. Frequently they are quite successful at it for a time and particularly in periods of local or national stress.” - R. B. Cozzens, Assistant Director of the War Relocation Authority, before the Peace Officers of California at Salinas, California, October 9, 1945

Photo 2: Mr. and Mrs. Kumazo Ambo look over their victory garden with their son, Masato Dennis, September 13, 1944.

Photo by Hikaru Iwasaki, War Relocation Authority. Courtesy of UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library, public domain.

Photos

Note: Photos 1-5 were taken by the photographer Hikaru Iwasaki. Iwasaki was of Japanese ancestry but American born. He was sent to a Japanese incarceration site in Wyoming as a teenager. He was hired at the age of 19 to work for the War Relocation Authority’s Photographic Section as a full-time photographer. He was the only Japanese American hired for this work. He traveled to take pictures of Japanese at incarceration sites and of their lives after the war. He became a famous photographer who would go on to contribute to magazines such as Time and Sports Illustrated and documented important events of the civil rights movement.

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The Ambo Family

Photo 2 (right) is from the War Relocation Authority, and taken by Hikaru Iwasaki. The data for the photograph reads: “Mr. and Mrs. Kumazo Ambo, Issei*, with their son, Masato Dennis, are looking over their victory garden. Mr. Ambo is employed by the San Rae Gardens, Florists, and Mrs. Ambo and their two sons live with them. The Ambo family are former residents of Golita, California. They came to the Cincinnati Hostel in April and enjoyed its hospitality until arrangements were made with the San Rae Gardens for their employment. Previous to the Ambos’ employment, several young Nisei boys worked at these gardens until called for service.”

*Note: Issei refers to the first generation to immigrate to the United States. Nisei refers to the first generation born in the United States. For more information on terminology, please visit Terminology and the Mass Incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Mr. & Mrs. Jinjiro Sasaki

The people in Photo 3 (below) are unidentified, but in this picture, they are leaving the Jerome Internment Camp in Denson, Arkansas, where the Sasaki family was incarcerated, before relocating to Dayton. In this photo, also taken by Iwasaki, a teacher is saying goodbye to the students above.

Photo 3: Japanese Americans being moved out of the closing Jerome Relocation Center, otherwise known as an incarceration site, to be relocated. This picture was taken by Hikaru Iwasaki, who also took pictures of relocated families in Dayton.

Photo by Hikaru Iwasaki, War Relocation Authority. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration, public domain.

Photos 4 and 5 (below) are from the War Relocation Authority, where the data input for the Photo 4 read: “Here Mr. And Mrs. Jinjiro Sasaki are shown spraying chrysanthemums in their employer’s greenhouse at Dayton, Ohio. They have come to Dayton with their daughter, Miss Katherine Sasaki, and have made a fine contribution to the greenhouse where they are employed. They are 67 and 64 years of age respectively.” This couple relocated from Jerome War Relocation Center in Arkansas.

Data for Photo 5 reads similarly to the first photo, but with some new details: “Mr. and Mrs. Jinjiro Sasaki shown here are relocatees from the Jerome Relocation Center. They have come to Dayton with their daughter Katherine Sasaki and have made a fine contribution to the greenhouse where they are employed. They are 67 and 64 years of age respectively and are doing very well.” This photo is also taken by Hikaru Iwasaki, on the same day.

Left image
Photo 4: Mr. & Mrs. Jinjiro Sasaki at Carolyn Flower Shop Gardens, Dayton, OH
Credit: Photo by Hikaru Iwasaki, War Relocation Authority. Courtesy of UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library, public domain.

Right image
Photo 5: Mr. & Mrs. Jinjiro Sasaki work at Carolyn Flower Shop Gardens, Dayton, OH
Credit: Photo by Hikaru Iwasaki, War Relocation Authority. Courtesy of UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library, public domain.

Reading 2: “American-Born Japanese Will Be Feted Here”

From the Dayton Daily News, October 2, 1943 (p. 8) 

Thirty American-born Japanese young persons will be guests at the women of the Church Federation of Dayton and Montgomery County at a get acquainted party at the home of Lynton Appleberry, 209 Central Av., Saturday evening.  

Released from relocation centers after investigation by the federal bureau of investigation these Japanese were directed to Dayton by the FBI to obtain employment. The church federation here has taken them in hand, helping them to get rooms and to solve their personal problems.  

“We are making every possible effort to keep them from being conspicuous and to avoid unpleasantness in their relations with other Americans,” said Dr. Kemper McComb, secretary of the federation. “They are just homesick young people, trying to adjust to a difficult situation. Most of them are graduates of American colleges, several having Ph.D. degrees.” 

Reading 3: Dayton, Ohio, from a Japanese American child’s perspective

This is an excerpt from an interview with Kiyoko Masuda. The full interview can be viewed at the Densho Digital Repository, Alameda Japanese American History Project Oral History Collection.

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Kiyoko Masuda: “Well, from Gila, Arizona, after the war we were not able to come back to Alameda, and so we went to Ohio. Apparently the Quakers had hostels there, and they welcomed the Japanese. And I remember we had to take a train, a train ride. It was very long, and when we got off the train in Cincinnati, my mother said that all of these people, they were just staring at us because they'd never seen Japanese before.

So anyway, we were in a hostel for a while in Cincinnati and then we moved to Dayton, Ohio, to a dairy farm. And I remember that dairy farm, not a lot, but we lived in... I called it a shack. There was an outhouse, and from my window, from my bed, I'd turn around and there was a knothole in the wall. And I could look out and I could see the pasture and a cow. And my father worked, he'd never worked in such a place before, but I remember going into the barn, and he said, "Kiyoko, get out, get out." I had on red clothes, I think, and it was thought that that was really dangerous for bulls, working with the livestock there. And I remember my uncle, who also worked on this farm, that he would give me piggyback rides out in the pasture because it was, after the rain it was muddy, and it was a cow pasture, so he didn't want me to get dirty. And then I remember, after the rains, lots of dandelions, and my mom would pick that, and that's what we had for okazu, fresh dandelions.  

And I remember I went to nursery school or something at that time. And my brother, he'd hold my hand and pulled me because I was so stubborn, and had to wait to cross the street, all of this. And then going to the five and dime with my mom, I found some really pretty buttons, so I brought them home and I showed my mom these beautiful buttons I (got). I must have been about five. And I couldn't keep them, she took me back to the store and I had to give them back to the clerk and apologize. So that was Dayton, Ohio. We only stayed maybe a year, year and a half, because my dad felt it was too cold there and he wanted his kids to be around Japanese and the community here.” (Note: The family returned to Alameda, California.) 

Questions for Reading 2

1. What was the purpose of this article being published in the newspaper?
2. Why would Dr. McComb describe the Japanese Americans in this way?
3. How is this article an example of public relations being used to combat negative beliefs and propaganda about Japanese Americans?

Questions for Reading 3

1. Kiyoko recalls her memories as a young child of Dayton. Why do you think these memories stand out to her?
2. What details from her memories connect to details learned from Reading 1?
3. Some Japanese American resettling families stayed in the Dayton area, but others did not. Why does Kiyoko think her father chose to return his family to their original home community?

In summary of the readings and photos, answer the essential question: Why did some Japanese Americans resettle in Dayton, Ohio, and how did they help shape the city?

Extension

Learn more about Japanese American Incarceration

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This lesson focused more on the resettlement rather than relocation, of Japanese Americans. To learn more about the relocation history prior to resettlement, The Center for Arkansas History and Culture has interview clips in the collection “Life Interrupted.” These interviews share the perspectives of Japanese Americans who were forcibly moved to the Jerome Camp in Arkansas, where the Sasaki family (Photos 4 and 5) resettled from. This is a selection of interview clips you could watch, based on the time you have available.

Interview with Sam Mibu, internee at Jerome Relocation Center in Arkansas - YouTube (4:19)

Interview with former Jerome Relocation Center internee Sam Ozaki for the Time of Fear documentary 1 (29:51)

• Shorter excerpt, from this interview: Interview with Sam Ozaki, internee at Jerome Relocation Center - YouTube (4:44)

Outside of the focus on the Jerome Camp for the Sasaki family connection, you may also choose to have students explore digitally collected primary sources that reflect the experiences of the incarcerated Japanese Americans at Densho Digital Repository.

Additional Resources

Dankovich, P. (2012). The Japanese American Resettlement Program of Dayton, Ohio: As Administered by the Church Federation of Dayton and Montgomery County, 1943-1946. Wright State University Theses and Dissertations at Core Scholar.

Home | Densho Digital Repository

Finding Aid to War Relocation Authority Photographs of Japanese-American Evacuation and Resettlement, 1942-1945 circa 1941-1947 (cdlib.org)

Hikaru Iwasaki (Densho Encyclopedia)

Japanese American Citizens League - JACL Dayton — About (daytonjacl.org)

Jerome Japanese American Relocation Center (arkansasheritage.com)

Kodama, "Report on Resettlement of Japanese Americans," Dayton Metro Library.

Payne, R. "Dayton Host to Jap-Americans," Sunday Journal-Herald Spotlight, August 20, 1944.

Terminology and the Mass Incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

REgenerations Oral History Project: Rebuilding Japanese American Families, Communities, and Civil Rights in the Resettlement Era : Chicago Region: Volume I (cdlib.org)