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{ "url_title": "Hotel Whitcomb", "title_sort": "hotelwhitcomb", "links": { "json": "http://encyclopedia.densho.org/api/0.1/articles/Hotel%20Whitcomb/?format=api", "html": "http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Hotel%20Whitcomb?format=api" }, "modified": "2020-11-03T16:44:35", "title": "Hotel Whitcomb", "body": "<div class=\"mw-parser-output\">\n <p>\n Starting in March 1942, the Hotel Whitcomb served as the headquarters for the\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Wartime_Civil_Control_Administration/\" title=\"Wartime Civil Control Administration\">\n Wartime Civil Control Administration\n </a>\n (WCCA) and later the\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/War_Relocation_Authority/\" title=\"War Relocation Authority\">\n War Relocation Authority\n </a>\n (WRA). A San Francisco luxury hotel, the Whitcomb was built in 1910 following the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. It briefly served as San Francisco City hall and jail in 1916, and was officially opened as a hotel in 1917. Between March and September 1942, the Hotel Whitcomb was an administrative hub for coordinating military and civilian agencies. Whereas the Presidio housed personnel who directed orders for the initial setup of the WCCA, those at the Hotel Whitcomb oversaw the majority of decisions related to camp policies at the \"\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Assembly_centers/\" title=\"Assembly centers\">\n assembly centers\n </a>\n \" and larger WRA camps that remained in place for the duration of the war. Following the transfer of administrative control of the incarcerated to the WRA, the Hotel Whitcomb housed the WCCA until its dissolution in March 1943 and the West Coast offices of the WRA until 1945.\n </p>\n <p>\n Immediately following the establishment of the Wartime Civilian Control Administration on March 11, 1942, the Western Defense Command established the offices of the WCCA on the third floor of the Hotel Whitcomb at the request of Colonel Fulton Magill.\n <sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-1\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_note-1\">\n [1]\n </a>\n </sup>\n As Chief of Civil Affairs, Colonel\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Karl_Bendetsen/\" title=\"Karl Bendetsen\">\n Karl Bendetsen\n </a>\n 's office was set in Suite Room #447. While at the Hotel Whitcomb, WCCA officials like Colonel Bendetsen were given carte blanche on spending for the offices for supplies. Over the course of the WCCA's existence, the Whitcomb hosted meetings between WCCA officials, government agencies impacted by the incarceration such as the Farm Security Administration, and private interest groups such as West Coast agricultural unions. The office of\n <a class=\"mw-redirect encyc notrg\" href=\"/Tom_Clark/\" title=\"Tom Clark\">\n Tom Clark\n </a>\n , civilian coordinator of the Alien Enemy Control Program, were located among the WCCA offices at the Hotel Whitcomb.\n <sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-2\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_note-2\">\n [2]\n </a>\n </sup>\n Because of its strategic importance, the Hotel Whitcomb banned all Japanese Americans from entering the hotel for the duration of the war, directing individuals to visit a separate office in the Financial Center building.\n <sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-3\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_note-3\">\n [3]\n </a>\n </sup>\n </p>\n <p>\n Shortly thereafter, the offices of the WRA and its director,\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Milton_Eisenhower/\" title=\"Milton Eisenhower\">\n Milton Eisenhower\n </a>\n , were established on the third floor adjacent to the WCCA offices. While Eisenhower relocated the WRA headquarters to Washington, D.C. in May 1942, the West Coast office of the WRA remained in the Whitcomb for the duration of the war.\n <sup class=\"reference\" id=\"cite_ref-4\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_note-4\">\n [4]\n </a>\n </sup>\n </p>\n <p>\n The choice of the Hotel Whitcomb is revealing of the corporatist logic of the WCCA towards the incarceration. As a luxury hotel, the Hotel Whitcomb presents a stark contrast with the housing of the confined in hastily-built barracks and horse stalls. While the army chose to cut corners with the construction of the assembly centers and search for \"cost-effective\" means of supporting the incarcerated, officials like Colonel Bendetsen were given full discretion on personal spending at the hotel. At the same time, the commandeering of the Hotel Whitcomb was indicative of other government projects related to the incarceration. For example, the FBI occupied the Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulpher Springs, West Virginia, for the internment of Japanese diplomats. Likewise, two hotels in North Carolina, the Grove Park Inn in Asheville and the Assembly Inn in Montreat, were used by the Department of Justice for housing Japanese American families sent from Hawai'i to internment camps such\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Crystal_City_(detention_facility)/\" title=\"Crystal City (detention facility)\">\n Crystal City\n </a>\n , Texas.\n </p>\n <p>\n Today, the Hotel Whitcomb continues to operate as a luxury hotel that markets the Victorian era of San Francisco. As of present, no historical markers exist noting the presence of the WRA or WCCA offices during the war.\n </p>\n <div id=\"authorByline\">\n <b>\n Authored by\n <a class=\"encyc notrg\" href=\"/Jonathan_van_Harmelen/\" title=\"Jonathan van Harmelen\">\n Jonathan van Harmelen\n </a>\n , UC Santa Cruz\n </b>\n </div>\n <div id=\"citationAuthor\" style=\"display:none;\">\n Harmelen, Jonathan van\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 Bridegam, Martha. \"\n <a class=\"external text offsite\" href=\"https://marthabridegam.com/2015/07/13/what-was-going-on-at-the-whitcomb-hotel/\" rel=\"nofollow\">\n What Was Going On at the Hotel Whitcomb.\n </a>\n \"\n <i>\n Unquiet Titles\n </i>\n blog, July 13, 2015.\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-1\">\n <span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_ref-1\">\n ↑\n </a>\n </span>\n <span class=\"reference-text\">\n John L. Dewitt, Final Report: Japanese Evacuation from the West Coast, 1942 (Washington D.C.: U.S. Army, Western Defense Command), 41.\n </span>\n </li>\n <li id=\"cite_note-2\">\n <span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_ref-2\">\n ↑\n </a>\n </span>\n <span class=\"reference-text\">\n \"JACL Committee, Army Discuss Evacuation Plan,\"\n <i>\n Nichibei Shimbun\n </i>\n , Mar. 13, 1942.\n </span>\n </li>\n <li id=\"cite_note-3\">\n <span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_ref-3\">\n ↑\n </a>\n </span>\n <span class=\"reference-text\">\n \"Notice to Enemy Aliens, Japanese From the WCCA,\"\n <i>\n Nichibei Shinbun\n </i>\n , Mar. 28, 1942.\n </span>\n </li>\n <li id=\"cite_note-4\">\n <span class=\"mw-cite-backlink\">\n <a class=\"\" href=\"#cite_ref-4\">\n ↑\n </a>\n </span>\n <span class=\"reference-text\">\n Dewitt,\n <i>\n Final Report\n </i>\n , 51.\n </span>\n </li>\n </ol>\n </div>\n </div>\n <!-- \nNewPP limit report\nCached time: 20230521153501\nCache expiry: 86400\nDynamic content: false\nComplications: []\nCPU time usage: 0.012 seconds\nReal time usage: 0.017 seconds\nPreprocessor visited node count: 104/1000000\nPost‐expand include size: 558/2097152 bytes\nTemplate argument size: 102/2097152 bytes\nHighest expansion depth: 5/40\nExpensive parser function count: 0/100\nUnstrip recursion depth: 0/20\nUnstrip post‐expand size: 1270/5000000 bytes\nExtLoops count: 0\n-->\n <!--\nTransclusion expansion time report (%,ms,calls,template)\n100.00% 12.938 1 -total\n 20.06% 2.595 1 Template:Reflist\n 10.46% 1.353 1 Template:AuthorByline\n 10.22% 1.322 1 Template:Published\n-->\n <!-- Saved in parser cache with key encycmw:pcache:idhash:4237-0!canonical and timestamp 20230521153501 and revision id 31352\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/Jonathan%20van%20Harmelen/?format=api" ], "ddr_topic_terms": [], "prev_page": "http://encyclopedia.densho.org/api/0.1/articles/Hostels/?format=api", "next_page": "http://encyclopedia.densho.org/api/0.1/articles/Hotel%20on%20the%20Corner%20of%20Bitter%20and%20Sweet%20(book)/?format=api" }