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{ "url_title": "Chandler Committee", "title_sort": "chandlercommittee", "links": { "json": "http://encyclopedia.densho.org/api/0.1/articles/Chandler%20Committee/?format=api", "html": "http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Chandler%20Committee?format=api" }, "modified": "2023-12-14T16:58:09", "title": "Chandler Committee", "body": "<div class=\"mw-parser-output\">\n <p>\n Subcommittee of the Senate Military Affairs Committee that investigated the\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/War_Relocation_Authority/\" title=\"War Relocation Authority\">\n War Relocation Authority\n </a>\n (WRA) in 1943. Chaired by Senator A. B. \"Happy\" Chandler (1898–1991) of Kentucky, the body was one of several legislative committees at the state or federal level to investigate the WRA. Generally characterized as a publicity seeking endeavor that sought to expose supposed \"coddling\" of the incarcerated Japanese Americans by the WRA and to place administration of the concentration camps in the hands of the army, what became popularly known as the Chandler Committee ended up issuing relatively mild recommendations that largely validated WRA actions.\n </p>\n <p>\n The origins of the Chandler Committee can no doubt be traced to the highly publicized unrest at\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Poston_(Colorado_River)/\" title=\"Poston (Colorado River)\">\n Poston\n </a>\n and\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Manzanar/\" title=\"Manzanar\">\n Manzanar\n </a>\n at the end of 1942. In January of 1943, Senators\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Monrad_C._Wallgren/\" title=\"Monrad C. Wallgren\">\n Monrad C. Wallgren\n </a>\n of Washington and Rufus C. Holman of Oregon introduced legislation calling for the army to take control of the incarceration from the WRA, fueled by distrust of the WRA's general approach to incarceration as what its detractors referred to as a \"social experiment\" rather than punishment. This proposal was referred to the Senate Committee on Military Affairs, which formed a subcommittee to investigate the issue. Along with Chandler, Wallgren, and Holman, the subcommittee included John Chandler Gurney (R–South Dakota), and Joseph C. O'Mahoney (D–Wyoming).\n </p>\n <p>\n Hearings took place in the first three months of 1943. Hearings began in Washington, D.C. on January 20 and featured WRA Director\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Dillon_Myer/\" title=\"Dillon Myer\">\n Dillon Myer\n </a>\n , who downplayed the troubles in the concentration camps and explained the WRA philosophy of reestablishing Japanese Americans outside the camps, as well as former Ambassador to Japan Joseph Grew. Col. William P. Scoby of the U.S. Army General Staff reiterated the army's opposition to the legislation since it would give them \"a responsibility which it is not particularly qualified to handle, because the objective to be accomplished is of a social nature rather than a military nature.\"\n <sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-ftnt_ref1_1-0\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_note-ftnt_ref1-1\">\n [1]\n </a>\n </sup>\n Among the others who testified was\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Tokutaro_Slocum/\" title=\"Tokutaro Slocum\">\n Tokutaro \"Tokie\" Slocum\n </a>\n , who recounted his version of the events at Manzanar. Though the bulk of the committee were hostile to the WRA, O'Mahoney was sympathetic and has been characterized as \"a voice of moderation.\"\n <sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-ftnt_ref2_2-0\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_note-ftnt_ref2-2\">\n [2]\n </a>\n </sup>\n </p>\n <p>\n Subsequently, Chandler and some of the commission members took to the road to \"investigate\" conditions at the camps, visiting the California, Arizona, and Arkansas camps. In addition to brief visits to the camps—according to contemporary chronicler\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Carey_McWilliams/\" title=\"Carey McWilliams\">\n Carey McWiliams\n </a>\n , \"Observers noted that his technique was to breeze into a center, ask a few questions with the rapidity of a quarterback calling football signals, and then depart\"—Chandler held hearings in Phoenix, Arizona and McGehee, Arkansas, while the committee's Special Consultant George W. Malone held hearings at\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Gila_River/\" title=\"Gila River\">\n Gila River\n </a>\n and Poston.\n <sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-ftnt_ref3_3-0\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_note-ftnt_ref3-3\">\n [3]\n </a>\n </sup>\n During his tour, Chandler issued inflammatory remarks, claiming for instance that 60% of inmates were disloyal and stating that \"in my mind there is no question that thousands of these fellows were armed and prepared to help Japanese troops invade the West Coast right after Pearl Harbor.\"\n <sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-ftnt_ref4_4-0\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_note-ftnt_ref4-4\">\n [4]\n </a>\n </sup>\n He was also quoted as advocating proposals to strip Nisei of their U.S. citizenship, though he later claimed he was misquoted.\n <sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-ftnt_ref5_5-0\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_note-ftnt_ref5-5\">\n [5]\n </a>\n </sup>\n </p>\n <p>\n The committee issued its report in April, advocating a three point plan that Chandler claimed would save $50 million: (a) the segregation of the \"disloyal\" in concentration camps, (b) the drafting of the \"loyal\" of military age into the armed forces, and (c) the employment of other \"loyal\" inmates so that they could support themselves. These recommendations did not differ greatly in principle from what the WRA had planned. The committee did not recommend army management of the camps given the army's objection, but, as Chandler stated, \"If the army cannot conduct the relocation centers, it can at least take over those Japanese men of military age.\"\n <sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-ftnt_ref6_6-0\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_note-ftnt_ref6-6\">\n [6]\n </a>\n </sup>\n The committee also grudgingly concluded that the WRA had done a good job of feeding and housing the inmates, but criticized it for not being quicker to segregate.\n <sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-ftnt_ref7_7-0\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_note-ftnt_ref7-7\">\n [7]\n </a>\n </sup>\n Committee member O'Mahoney's moderation—which was further encouraged by a call from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who objected to attacks on the WRA—as well as pushback from Wallgren's constituents have been noted as possible reasons for the relatively mild report and recommendations.\n <sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-ftnt_ref8_8-0\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_note-ftnt_ref8-8\">\n [8]\n </a>\n </sup>\n As historian Phil Roberts concluded, \"Nothing of consequence resulted from the committee's investigations except 'junkets' for members.\"\n <sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-ftnt_ref9_9-0\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_note-ftnt_ref9-9\">\n [9]\n </a>\n </sup>\n </p>\n <p>\n In 1945, Chandler left the Senate to become the commissioner of baseball. Ironically, he supported the integration of baseball and welcomed Jackie Robinson into the league under his tenure in 1947.\n </p>\n <p>\n Other bodies that investigated the WRA included the\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Dies_Committee/\" title=\"Dies Committee\">\n Dies Committee\n </a>\n (the House Committee on Un-American Activities) and the Tenney Committee (the Joint Committee on Un-American Activities of the California State Legislature).\n </p>\n <div id=\"authorByline\">\n <b>\n Authored by\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Brian_Niiya/\" title=\"Brian Niiya\">\n Brian Niiya\n </a>\n , Densho\n </b>\n </div>\n <div id=\"citationAuthor\" style=\"display:none;\">\n Niiya, Brian\n </div>\n <div class=\"section\" id=\"For_More_Information\">\n <h2>\n <span class=\"mw-headline\" id=\"For_More_Information\">\n For More Information\n </span>\n </h2>\n <div class=\"section_content\">\n <p>\n Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians.\n <i>\n Personal Justice Denied: Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians\n </i>\n . Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1982. Foreword by Tetsuden Kashima. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1997.\n </p>\n <p>\n Coombs, F. Alan. \"Congressional Opinion and War Relocation.\" In\n <a class=\"external text offsite\" href=\"https://archive.org/details/japaneseamerican00unse_0\" rel=\"nofollow\">\n <i>\n Japanese Americans: From Relocation to Redress\n </i>\n </a>\n . Edited by Roger Daniels, Sandra C. Taylor, and Harry H. L. Kitano. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1986. Revised edition. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1991. 88-91.\n </p>\n <p>\n Chandler Committee Washington, DC hearing transcripts.\n </p>\n <p>\n McWilliams, Carey.\n <a class=\"external text offsite\" href=\"https://archive.org/details/prejudicejapanes00mcwi\" rel=\"nofollow\">\n <i>\n Prejudice: Japanese-Americans; Symbol of Racial Intolerance\n </i>\n </a>\n . Boston: Little, Brown, & Co., 1944.\n </p>\n <p>\n Murray, Alice Yang.\n <i>\n Historical Memories of the Japanese American Internment and the Struggle for Redress\n </i>\n . Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2008.\n </p>\n <p>\n Robinson, Greg.\n <a class=\"external text offsite\" href=\"https://archive.org/details/byorderofpreside00robi\" rel=\"nofollow\">\n <i>\n By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans\n </i>\n </a>\n . Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001.\n </p>\n </div>\n </div>\n <div class=\"section\" id=\"Footnotes\">\n <h2>\n <span class=\"mw-headline\" id=\"Footnotes\">\n Footnotes\n </span>\n </h2>\n <div class=\"section_content\">\n <div class=\"reflist\" style=\"list-style-type: decimal;\">\n <div class=\"mw-references-wrap\">\n <ol class=\"references\">\n <li id=\"cite_note-ftnt_ref1-1\">\n <span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_ref-ftnt_ref1_1-0\">\n ↑\n </a>\n </span>\n <span class=\"reference-text\">\n Cited in F. Alan Coombs, \"Congressional Opinion and War Relocation,\" in\n <i>\n Japanese Americans: From Relocation to Redress\n </i>\n , edited by Roger Daniels, Sandra C. Taylor, and Harry H. L. Kitano (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1991), 90.\n </span>\n </li>\n <li id=\"cite_note-ftnt_ref2-2\">\n <span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_ref-ftnt_ref2_2-0\">\n ↑\n </a>\n </span>\n <span class=\"reference-text\">\n Coombs, \"Congressional Opinion,\" 90.\n </span>\n </li>\n <li id=\"cite_note-ftnt_ref3-3\">\n <span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_ref-ftnt_ref3_3-0\">\n ↑\n </a>\n </span>\n <span class=\"reference-text\">\n Carey McWilliams,\n <i>\n Prejudice: Japanese-Americans; Symbol of Racial Intolerance\n </i>\n (Boston: Little, Brown, & Co., 1944), 249;\n <i>\n Pacific Citizen\n </i>\n , March 11, 1943, p. 1, accessed on Jan. 11, 2018 at\n <a class=\"external free offsite\" href=\"http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-pc-15-10/\" rel=\"nofollow\">\n http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-pc-15-10/\n </a>\n ;\n <i>\n Pacific Citizen\n </i>\n , March 18, 1943, p. 1, 8, accessed on June 26, 2013 at\n <a class=\"external free offsite\" href=\"http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-pc-15-11/\" rel=\"nofollow\">\n http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-pc-15-11/\n </a>\n ;\n <i>\n Pacific Citizen\n </i>\n , March 25, 1943, p. 8, accessed on Jan. 11, 2018 at\n <a class=\"external free offsite\" href=\"http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-pc-15-12/\" rel=\"nofollow\">\n http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-pc-15-12/\n </a>\n .\n </span>\n </li>\n <li id=\"cite_note-ftnt_ref4-4\">\n <span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_ref-ftnt_ref4_4-0\">\n ↑\n </a>\n </span>\n <span class=\"reference-text\">\n McWilliams,\n <i>\n Prejudice\n </i>\n , 248–49.\n </span>\n </li>\n <li id=\"cite_note-ftnt_ref5-5\">\n <span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_ref-ftnt_ref5_5-0\">\n ↑\n </a>\n </span>\n <span class=\"reference-text\">\n <i>\n Pacific Citizen\n </i>\n , March 18, 1943, p. 7, accessed on Jan. 11, 2018 at\n <a class=\"external free offsite\" href=\"http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-pc-15-11/\" rel=\"nofollow\">\n http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-pc-15-11/\n </a>\n .\n </span>\n </li>\n <li id=\"cite_note-ftnt_ref6-6\">\n <span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_ref-ftnt_ref6_6-0\">\n ↑\n </a>\n </span>\n <span class=\"reference-text\">\n <i>\n Pacific Citizen\n </i>\n , April 1, 1943, p. 2, accessed on Jan. 11, 2018 at\n <a class=\"external free offsite\" href=\"http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-pc-15-13/\" rel=\"nofollow\">\n http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-pc-15-13/\n </a>\n </span>\n </li>\n <li id=\"cite_note-ftnt_ref7-7\">\n <span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_ref-ftnt_ref7_7-0\">\n ↑\n </a>\n </span>\n <span class=\"reference-text\">\n <i>\n Pacific Citizen\n </i>\n , April 15, 1943, p. 3, accessed on Jan. 11, 2018 at\n <a class=\"external free offsite\" href=\"http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-pc-15-15/\" rel=\"nofollow\">\n http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-pc-15-15/\n </a>\n </span>\n </li>\n <li id=\"cite_note-ftnt_ref8-8\">\n <span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_ref-ftnt_ref8_8-0\">\n ↑\n </a>\n </span>\n <span class=\"reference-text\">\n Greg Robinson,\n <i>\n By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans\n </i>\n (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001), 194; Coombs, \"Congressional Opinion,\" 90; McWilliams,\n <i>\n Prejudice\n </i>\n , 249.\n </span>\n </li>\n <li id=\"cite_note-ftnt_ref9-9\">\n <span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_ref-ftnt_ref9_9-0\">\n ↑\n </a>\n </span>\n <span class=\"reference-text\">\n Phil Roberts, \"'Temporarily Side-Tracked by Emotionalism': Wyoming Residents Respond to Relocation,\" in\n <i>\n Remembering Heart Mountain: Essays on Japanese American Internment in Wyoming\n </i>\n , edited by Mike Mackey (Powell, Wyoming: Western History Publications, 1998), accessed on June 26, 2013 at\n <a class=\"external free offsite\" href=\"https://search.worldcat.org/title/246381302\" rel=\"nofollow\">\n https://search.worldcat.org/title/246381302\n </a>\n .\n </span>\n </li>\n </ol>\n </div>\n </div>\n <!-- \nNewPP limit report\nCached time: 20240418160801\nCache expiry: 86400\nDynamic content: false\nComplications: []\nCPU time usage: 0.016 seconds\nReal time usage: 0.022 seconds\nPreprocessor visited node count: 156/1000000\nPost‐expand include size: 514/2097152 bytes\nTemplate argument size: 58/2097152 bytes\nHighest expansion depth: 5/40\nExpensive parser function count: 0/100\nUnstrip recursion depth: 0/20\nUnstrip post‐expand size: 4686/5000000 bytes\nExtLoops count: 0\n-->\n <!--\nTransclusion expansion time report (%,ms,calls,template)\n100.00% 16.577 1 -total\n 23.07% 3.824 1 Template:Reflist\n 9.22% 1.528 1 Template:AuthorByline\n 8.49% 1.407 1 Template:Published\n-->\n <!-- Saved in parser cache with key encycmw:pcache:idhash:1493-0!canonical and timestamp 20240418160801 and revision id 35626\n -->\n </div>\n </div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"toplink\">\n <a href=\"#top\">\n <i class=\"icon-chevron-up\">\n </i>\n Top\n </a>\n</div>", "categories": [ "http://encyclopedia.densho.org/api/0.1/categories/Organizations/?format=api" ], "sources": [], "coordinates": {}, "authors": [ "http://encyclopedia.densho.org/api/0.1/authors/Brian%20Niiya/?format=api" ], "ddr_topic_terms": [], "prev_page": "http://encyclopedia.densho.org/api/0.1/articles/Center%20for%20Japanese%20American%20Studies/?format=api", "next_page": "http://encyclopedia.densho.org/api/0.1/articles/Changes%20(short%20story)/?format=api" }