Faith Terasawa
Faith Terasawa was born in 1899 in Japan and immigrated with her family to San Franciso in 1910. Her father was an Episcopal minister and her mother was the first Japanese American woman to work in immigration in San Francisco, assisting with translating for recent immigrants. Faith was the first ethnic Japanese woman to be admitted to and graduate from the University of California, Berkley. [1]
After the attack on Pearl Harbor Faith remembers the Japanese American community being filled with uncertainty.
...the FBI just swooped down into these buildings and just took the menfolks away... We had to pull all of the shades down, and we had to put black paper on the towel so that no lights will shine out. They said, otherwise if the lights shine out from our windowns, we were signalling some Japanese airmen or something like that. [1]
Reverend Terasawa assisted many Japanese Americans in their difficult forced removal as they were left with very few options for the businesses, houses, and other personal belonging they had to leave behind. He was a community leader in San Francisco and continued to be a pillar of the community during incarceration. While in Topaz Rev. Terasawa assisted in mediating conflicts between incarcerees, as well as between officers and incarcerees. He led one of the many religious services offered in the camp, and when he eventually passed away in late 1942 many sent letters of condolences to his family, with half of the Topaz newsletter dedicated to his memory.[2]
Faith Terasawa, circa 1935
Unidentified building in Topaz, circa 1943
Faith arrived in Topaz in 1942 with the rest of her family, [3] only able to bring what they could carry. Each person was forced to wear an identification tag with their family's identification number which would be used to identify them for the entirety of their incarceration. [2]
Faith was employed in many positions while held at Topaz in an effort to earn additional funds, including social work, assisting in the hospital, and teaching English to adults. As all official camp reports and documents were printed in English, the classes she taught greatly increased their accessibility for many first-generation Japanese immigrants. Japanese text was allowed but first had to be approved by Topaz officials. [2]
The US Army attempted to recruit many of the young incarcerated men. While some refused, others did enlist for reasons including providing extra benefits for their families or to express patriotism. This created the awkward situation of Japanese American soliders fighting on the frontlines of WWII while their families were incarcerated by the US government. By the beginning of 1944, over 150 men from Topaz where approved to enlist and left to fight in the US army. [4]
Perhaps the most famous example of this is the 442nd Infantry Regiment, an Army regiment comprised entirly of Japanese American soldiers. To this day, the 442nd remains the most decorated unit in US military history. While fighting in Europe the regiment's motto "Go for Broke" became famous. [5]
After being released from Topaz, Faith returned to San Francisco. She was told by her neighbors that the day after she and the other incarcerees were taken away, "all the mobs went all over the Japanese homes and just ransacked the whole place." One of the neighbors gave her a few necessities such as a new table and food. After the end of WWII, Faith applied for and received US citizenship.[1]
Faith Terasawa Papers Archival Finding Aid
Faith Terasawa Photographs Archival Finding Aid
[1] Faith Terasawa Oral History Interview | Utah Historical Society Oral History Collection. (2024). Utah.edu. https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6e19m4b
[2] Faith Terasawa papers, ACCN 1473, Box 1-3. Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah.
[3] Faith Terasawa papers - Archives West. (2019). Orbiscascade.org. https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv27124
[4] Taylor, S. C. (1993). Jewel of the desert: Japanese American internment at Topaz.
[5] Gentry, C. (2020, September 24). Going For Broke Part Two: The 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The National WWII Museum | New Orleans. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/442nd-regimental-combat-team