Library Special Collections Blog
Honoring Fred Korematsu
blog post by Genie Guerard
In January 2010, the Governor of California signed a legislative bill that established Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution on January 30 in perpetuity. This is the first state-wide day in U.S. history named after an Asian American.
In 1942, when Japanese Americans were being interned in the United States under Executive Order 9066, Mr. Korematsu refused to leave the community in Oakland where he grew up, and he was arrested, tried and convicted in Federal Court. Despite the valiant efforts of the A.C.L.U. and others, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld his conviction and held that the military orders removing Japanese Americans from the West Coast were lawful under the United States Constitution. Mr. Korematsu's case stood until 1983, when a number of documents were found which proved that the United States government suppressed, altered, and destroyed material evidence during its prosecution of Mr. Korematsu's case. Based on these documents, Mr. Korematsu, represented by a team of young lawyers, filed a petition for writ of error coram nobis, a proceeding which allows a criminal defendant to challenge his conviction based on manifest injustice. Mr. Korematsu's petition was granted.
Mr. Korematsu lived in Northern California until his passing on March 30, 2005. He is survived by his wife, Kathryn, and his two children, Karen and Ken Korematsu, who have established the Fred Korematsu Institute to perpetuate their mission, "Educating to Advance Racial Equity, Social Justice, and Human Rights for All."
Yesterday, I received a book in the mail titled, "Fred Korematsu Speaks Up." Designed for grammar school students, It is the first of Heyday's Fighting for Justice series designed by Heyday's creator, Malcolm Margolis. Thank you, Malcolm! The photos you see here are from the book, and there are more images from the book freely available online.
The UCLA Library Special Collections holds the papers of Fred Korematsu related to the Fred T. Korematsu v. United States Coram Nobis Litigation (1942-1988). as well as the papers of Jack and Aiko Herzig, whose research brought forward the evidence that re-opened the case.
Library Special Collections
UCLA Library Special Collections Blog
Archives
- November 2022 (1)
- October 2022 (2)
- September 2022 (2)
- August 2022 (1)
- May 2022 (2)
- December 2021 (1)
- November 2021 (2)
- October 2021 (2)
- September 2021 (2)
- August 2021 (1)
- April 2021 (5)
- March 2021 (1)
- December 2020 (1)
- September 2020 (1)
- August 2020 (1)
- May 2020 (2)
- April 2020 (2)
- January 2020 (3)
- September 2019 (2)
- August 2019 (3)
- July 2019 (2)
- April 2019 (2)
- March 2019 (1)
- December 2018 (4)
- October 2018 (2)
- May 2018 (1)
- March 2018 (2)
- October 2017 (1)
- September 2017 (1)
- June 2017 (3)
- May 2017 (5)
- April 2017 (2)
- March 2017 (1)
- February 2017 (2)
- January 2017 (2)
- December 2016 (3)
- November 2016 (2)
- October 2016 (2)
- September 2016 (1)
- July 2016 (1)
- May 2016 (1)
- April 2016 (1)
- December 2015 (3)
- November 2015 (3)
- October 2015 (1)
- September 2015 (2)
- July 2015 (1)
- June 2015 (5)
- May 2015 (4)
- April 2015 (5)
- March 2015 (6)
- February 2015 (7)
- January 2015 (2)
- December 2014 (3)
- November 2014 (3)
- October 2014 (2)
- September 2014 (3)
- August 2014 (6)
- July 2014 (4)
- June 2014 (2)
- May 2014 (3)
- April 2014 (7)
- March 2014 (2)
- February 2014 (5)
- January 2014 (2)
- November 2013 (3)
- October 2013 (6)
- September 2013 (4)
- August 2013 (5)
- July 2013 (2)
- June 2013 (5)
- May 2013 (5)
- April 2013 (3)
- March 2013 (3)
- February 2013 (3)
- January 2013 (1)
- December 2012 (3)
- November 2012 (2)
- October 2012 (2)
- September 2012 (3)
- August 2012 (3)
- July 2012 (2)
- June 2012 (4)
- May 2012 (2)
- April 2012 (5)
- March 2012 (1)
- February 2012 (5)
- January 2012 (6)
- November 2011 (3)
- October 2011 (4)
- July 2011 (1)
- April 2011 (1)
- March 2011 (1)
- December 2010 (1)
- October 2010 (1)