
This week I had the pleasure of attending a gallery talk on “Military Authority and the Internment of Japanese Americans during World War II,” which was given by Robert Brammer of the Law Library and Eiichi Ito from the Library of Congress Asian Division. This gallery talk was one of several that have been given in connection with the Library’s Magna Carta: Muse and Mentor exhibition. The talk covered a time period spanning over a hundred years, tracing the experiences of Japanese Americans in the United States. Eiichi talked about the restrictions and prejudices first and second generation Japanese Americans faced. First generation Japanese Americans could not become citizens while even second generation Japanese Americans who were citizens were not allowed to attend public schools, churches or public facilities. Restrictions on Japanese Americans grew as World War II began and accelerated with the entry of the United States into the war.