In September of 1981, Northeastern Illinois University hosted hearings regarding the authorized internment of approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Ronald Williams Library archivist Hanna Ahn later discovered transcripts and recordings of the hearings that took place at NEIU’s main campus and digitized them.
“These tapes were considered ‘lost’ by the Japanese American community in Chicago for decades,” said Ahn. “There were 62 tapes that were related to the redress hearing.
The digitized recordings of the hearings at NEIU can be viewed on PBS on May 11-12 in part of a new PBS documentary series called “Asian Americans.”
“Northeastern Illinois University Releases Tapes of Hearings on World War II-Era Japanese Internment Camps”
Filed by May 9, 2020on