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Dear Miss Breed: True Stories of the Japanese American Incarceration During World War II and a Librarian Who Made a Difference

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After Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941 Americans of Japanese ancestry (Nikkei) were considered high security risks and were publicly labeled the enemy. FBI agents quickly imprisoned dozens of Issei (first-generation Japanese Americans). In a few months, the remaining Issei and Nisei (second-generation Japanese Americans) were sent to relocation camps. They could only bring what they could carry and were given one week to store, sell or abandon their possession. Valuables were sold for a fraction of their value.

Dear Miss Breed is a tribute to Clara Breed, the children's librarian at the San Diego Public Library. When Breed learned that the Japanese-American families were going to be interned, she worried about what would happen to the children and teens. She went to the railway station to say good-bye and gave each a postcard addressed to her, urging them write to her. This gave them a way to stay connected with the outside world. Breed sent back letters, books and gifts and provided them hope and faith during their incarceration.

Oppenheim wrote Dear Miss Breed when she looked online for a childhood Japanese-American friend and learned her friend had been interned--and how Miss Breed was a lifeline during the war years. Oppenheim uses personal letters, political cartoons and recent oral histories to tell about life in the Santa Ana and Poston internment camps. The conditions were pretty horrible: communal showers and toilets that offered little privacy; being surrounded by barbed wire and being watched by armed soldiers in a guard tower. They remember long lines for laundry; the bland communal meals; and the racism and hatred that the Nisei encountered when they temporarily left the camps to work.

My own grandparents were sent to a relocation camp and still do not talk about those events. A passage from the book explains why: "The pain, trauma, stress of the incarceration experience was so overwhelming we used the psychological defense mechanism of repression, denial, and rationalization to keep us from facing the truth...that America was being racist and unfair.... On the surface we do not look like former concentration camp victims, but we are still vulnerable. Our scars are permanent and deep." (p.224)

Armchair Interviews says: This book what that life was like and how Clara Breed fought injustice through acts of kindness--and what terrible things can happen when fear and racism dictate laws.

Can we stand firm for JUSTICE in wartime? HOW CAN WE NOT??

Clara Breed had a passion for children. She could not be silent when witnessing unjust actions taken by our government following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941). In the Foreword for this 2006 book, Elizabeth Kikuchi Yamada wrote "I am appalled I did not realize that I was a prisoner of my own government." (Read her moving poem on page 265).

The first children's librarian in San Diego, Miss Breed had become well-acquainted and friends with many children of first generation immigrants from Japan. As a child I learned from a sermon the Japanese numbers *ichi* - *ni* - *san* - *shi* - *go* ~~ On page 17 the author explains that "sei" is translated "generation" and is the key to the words *issei* - *nisei* - *sansei* - *yonsei*. ALL persons of Japanese ancestry in America are called "Nikkei" - - *kei* meaning thread or lineage.

When families were forced to leave for internment camps (the U.S. govt. says "internment" is not the correct title), the librarian's compassion was not 'switched off'. The children must have hung on desperately to their parents' stoic optimism to get them through the shock of being so ill-treated by the nation in which they were born, and other cruel ironies. Joanne Oppenheim's research and story-telling turned up pictures and letters of those young people & gathered them into a book well worth its "heft"!

It is easy to believe that Joanne Oppenheim was *destined* to tell this story. While 'tracking down' members of her own graduating class in upstate New York, she used her detecting skills to locate Ellen Yukawa who had been a classmate in 1945-1946 after release from internment. This is a poignant story in itself. Involvement in the extensive research in finding Miss Breed's other young friends seemed inevitable for Oppenheim.

It is disheartening to read that persons who later gained significant prominence (i.e., Chief Justice Earl Warren & cartoonist-author "Dr. Seuss") allowed their prejudices to surface publicly. (See the cartoon on page 40). Racism dictated laws which fed the greed of many who bought up confiscated land. Politicians who foisted their prejudices on the public deliberately fed the wildfires of Fear. This happened despite the efforts of *First Lady* Eleanor Roosevelt, and many respected clergy & Quakers.

Reviewer mcHAIKU deeply respects Clara Breed for being a positive influence in the lives of children who suffered greatly from the traumas of that war. Readers must ensure that Joanne Oppenheim's work stays visible in libraries and classrooms to remind teachers & students that all of us must be careful to respect the victims of any conflict.

*Believing that JUSTICE must be our standard, we shall act with compassion.*

What happens when America forgets her ideals and operates on fear, greed, and bigotry? In 1942, 120,000 Americans were put into prison camps just because the "looked like" the enemy. Joanne Oppenheim's fascinating account of the incarceration uses a unique perspective to give relevance to this stain on American history: the letters of the children who lived it.

It turns out that Clara Breed, the children's librarian of San Diego, had entered into a correspondence with her young, incarcerated patrons and those letters are at the heart of this amazing read. The letters and books she sent to the children (and their informative responses) are at the heart of this documentary history, along with articles, photographs, cartoons, oral histories, and a wealth of other primary materials lovingly integrated by the author.

Beyond a mere "history", the book is the story of how one person can make a difference - to history and to the lives of others.

_Dear Miss Breed: True Stories of the Japanese American Incarceration During World War II and a Librarian Who Made a Difference_ by Joanne Oppenheim is the remarkable story of one woman who "fought injustice through the power of words and small, but constant, acts of kindness."

In 1942 Clara Breed was the first children's librarian at the San Diego Public Library. She loved children, and she loved books. Most of all, she loved connecting the two.

On April 1, 1942, Americans of Japanese ancestry, considered a threat to the security of the United States, were given one week to prepare for evacuation to an unknown site. They could take with them only what they could carry. They had to store, sell, or abandon the rest of their possessions.

As Miss Breed said good-bye to her young patrons at the railroad station, she gave them stamped postcards addressed to herself so that they could write her when they reached their new home. Thus began correspondences that would see families through their short-term "home" (horse stalls at the Santa Anita racetrack) and their home for several years (the relocation camp in Poston, Arizona). Over the years Miss Breed sent the children books, Christmas and birthday gifts, treats, and requested items. Even more important, she showed the children and their families that she cared for them. She wrote articles about their treatment for _Library Journal_ and _Horn Book Magazine_, awakening teachers and other librarians to their plight.

_Dear Miss Breed_ contains excerpts from the 200+ letters that Miss Breed received from the children between 1942 and 1945. Sadly, only one of the letters she had written could be found. However, the content of her letters can often be inferred from the children's letters.

Oppenheim introduces the children with photographs and brief biographies. Then she begins an account that is basically chronological. Through primary sources such as drawings, cartoons, official notices, articles, and letters to the editor, she reveals the attitudes of that time. Through their letters the children present first-hand accounts of their experiences in the detention camps. The families inspire us with the optimism they demonstrate in the face of oppression. Excerpts from Oppenheim's interviews with the correspondents decades later and excerpts from testimony during CWRIC (Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians) hearings held in cities across the United States in 1981 provide the perspective that is possible only after time has elapsed.

_Dear Miss Breed_ is masterfully told. The story is especially important as we find ourselves in the midst of another war when questions of detention and freedom are again an issue.

Recommended for sixth grade and older, including adults.

This is an excellent resource for both English teachers and Social Science Teachers! This book is to Japanese Internment what The Diary of Ann Frank is to the Holocaust. It provides a first hand account of Internment without making you feel sorry for the Internees. It helps students and teachers to understand the impact of Internment on today's society. In reading this students and teachers will come to understand the deep seeded paranoia that swept over the nation and its impact on Civil liberties the effects which can be felt today.

In many ways, "Dear Miss Breed" may be the best way to share the JA WW II experience with middle and high school students as the letters leave a personal touch to the story; yet there are plenty of accurate historical references about WW II events that affected the JA community. Even if you have read every book about life in Camps for JAs, Miss Breed's story just may move up the list and become your favorite book on this topic...everyone should read "Dear Miss Breed."

I was assigned to write a paper about the Japanese internment camps. Dear Miss Breed was the perfect resource for my paper. The author made history come to life. I can't imagine living through what those kids went through. It doesn't seem very american to me. The book is really easy to read and has great photographs and letters from the kids that wrote to Miss Breed. I'd recommend this book to anyone else assigned this subject.

In telling the story of Clara Breed, the children's librarian of the San Diego Public Library and her devotion to the Japanese American children, once her patrons, who were incarcerated in prison camps during World War II, Joanne Oppenheim reminds us not only of a shameful and pain-'lled chapter in American history, but also how as individuals we can often make a difference. The story of this remarkable woman and her relationship with her children is told through the letters the children wrote, testimony given to the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians in 1980-81, recent interviews and correspondence with the now adult children, as well as news accounts from the war period. Dear Miss Breed is an accessible account of World War II for children ages ten and up, and would be a wonderful guide to spark discussions with children about democracy, freedom, war and Nikkei history in America. Thoughtful parallels can be drawn between the events in Dear Miss Breed and events in our own times.

My wife and I both loved the book. It is a wonderful book and Joanne Oppenheim is an outstanding writer.

The book should be ready by every adult in this country - especially the people that run this country. There are so many times that we have fallen far from the principles upon which this country was established. The book describes our treatment of the Japanese Americans during the second World War. There are many other similar examples: the practice of slavery, the way we destroyed the indigenous people that were here first, the prejudice against Jews and Blacks...the examples go on and on...

The focus of this book is an in depth look at a young female librarian during WWII and the relationship she fostered with the children whom she had served that were "relocated" into camps for those of Japanese ancestry on the West coast. The majority of the book depicts the experiences of the children and their relationship with the librarian through the publication of letters written to their beloved Miss Breed. It is a one way conversation as Miss Breed's letters to them have not survived. The author enhances this information with a history of the internment program and Miss Breed's efforts to publicize the inequal and racist policies of this program. Interesting news articles and a column by Mrs. Roosevelt explain the American mood of the time. As a student pursuing a Masters in Library Science, I recommend this book for all future librarians to remind us of the far-reaching role of a librarian - that by serving information needs, we also are serving human needs. I also recommend this book for students in high school studying the aspects of US history that involve: prejudice, government injustice, the holocaust. The voices of the children will make this book meaningful and easy to read and will provide a different perspective not often heard.