QUAKERS AND AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE

Some of the most courageous acts in support of the Japanese Americans before, during and after the internment came from the Quakers and their American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). The Quakers immediately recognized the injustice of the forced removal and incarceration of the Japanese and were one of only a handful of groups that spoke up in protest. The AFSC worked tirelessly throughout the war in support of the Japanese Americans. They conducted letter writing campaigns and lobbied the federal government against the internment. When those efforts failed, they helped Japanese Americans sell, store or give away their belongings, transport the goods they were taking with them, and found temporary lodging when necessary. They coordinated drives to send gifts and supplies to the internees and established hostels in the Midwest and on the East Coast.

At war's end, the Quakers found housing, helped clean up and repair homes that were left unattended, purchased supplies, and found jobs for the returning Japanese. The Friends' most significant contribution to the Japanese American cause came in the formation of the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council (NJASRC) on May 29,1942. As soon as President Roosevelt signed EO 9066, college presidents, churches, organizations such as the YWCA-YMCA, and justice-minded individuals began organizing to help the approximately 2,500 Nisei college students whose educations were abruptly halted because of their incarceration. The director of the War Relocation Authority, Milton Eisenhower, turned to Clarence Pickett of the AFSC requesting that the Quakers take over the administration of a program that would ultimately help 4,000 Nisei college students out of the camps continue their college educations.