IV. Case Studies of the ASEAO Program

Brief Case Summaries

The records of the ASEAO program are grouped, in part, by state, with at least a small amount of records for each of the states and territories participating in the program. The state files contain occasional case history reports produced by the state social workers who provided the services under the ASEAO program. These case studies are illustrative of how the program worked at the level of the individual clients. For purposes of this analysis, the records of three states were examined in depth: California, New York and Wisconsin--in order to have a state from the west coast, the east coast, and the Midwest. The only selection criterion used in selecting cases to report was the size of the report--the longer reports from each of the three states were chosen, on the assumption that the longer reports would contain more useable detail. ⁽¹⁾

While on the west coast the cases receiving assistance were overwhelmingly those involving Japanese, on the east coast the surnames were almost always Italian or German. Indeed, in the initial phases of these governmental actions, the predominant clients were persons of European origins since many of the families of Japanese ancestry were interned as a family unit. While in internment, ASEAO benefits were not payable, so it was situations in which a dependent family was left behind (which tended to be European cases) that initially were the focus of the program. At the end of the internments, however, the pattern reversed as it was mostly Japanese families who received the resettlement assistance as they were the bulk of those being resettled.

In any case, both the families left behind and the internees themselves petitioned for help. For example, Mrs. Catherine Pinto of Brooklyn, New York wrote a plaintive handwritten letter in November 1942 seeking help. She wrote: "My husband is being held at Ellis Island for over a month and I don't know when he is coming home. I have no means of support as I just got a baby on Oct 17, 1942 and I need money for the baby milk and food & rent for myself as I don't know were to go to for help. Will you please tell me where I should go for support." ⁽²⁾

On November 26, 1942, Mr. Hans-Georg Rother wrote directly to BPA head Jane Hoey, from his internment room on Ellis Island.

Will you please permit me to approach you in a matter of helping my wife in her present, especially financial status. . . . Due to my long detention in Ellis Island since July 10, 1942, her financial status has reached such a point that something should be done about it. . . . I have been taken away from my wife leaving her without any income, not to mention the sentimental part connected with it, . . . help has to come soon, very soon, for it is nearly the end of November and another month's rent is due again, even so it is for a very small apartment only, but also the problem is coming up for selling the few furniture, belongings, etc., in order to live on for another few days, because our savings are simply gone. ⁽³⁾

How the ASEAO program functioned in individual cases can be illustrated by the example of a west coast case, that of Nancy Hada. Miss Hada, a Japanese-American and a Catholic, was working as a nurse's aid at the Catholic Maryknoll Sanatorium in Los Angeles when the eviction orders were issued. She was taken into custody and placed in the Manzanar internment center. In mid-1943 she was released from internment and was relocated, through ASEAO funds, to Madison, Wisconsin, where she was assisted in setting up a new household and in securing employment at St. Mary's Hospital. Two years later, she became infected with tuberculosis, and became a patient at St. Mary's. After 60 days of coverage under her employer--provided Blue Cross plan her benefits were exhausted and she was left without means to pay for her continued medical care. At that point, the ASEAO program again temporarily took up responsibility for her and continued to pay for her care and treatment using ASEAO funds until a more permanent solution could be arranged.

Miss Hada wanted to return to California to pursue her long-term care, where she had friends at Maryknoll. But the state declined to accept her because she was not currently a resident of California. (In 1945 the restrictions on the Japanese were lifted and they were free to return to their homes in California, if they wished to do so.) The state of California's view on Nancy Hada was that she had now established legal residence in Wisconsin and so the case was Wisconsin's problem.

The case went from Wisconsin state officials up through the local SSB representative, to the Regional Representative of the BPA, to the head of the Field Division of the BPA, Mary Austin, who supported the most liberal possible interpretation of the various regulations involved.

Nancy Hada has, according to our thinking, a presumptive settlement in either Wisconsin or California. She is, therefore, free to declare her intent as to which place she would wish to live. . . . persons who were evacuated, whether or not they had resettled, retained their right to residence in their former State. We would assume that such persons resettled in other communities would have the calendar year of 1945 in which to make other plans just as the people who are now in relocation centers have this current year for relocation. . . if she wishes to return to California, we see no reason why she should not be accepted at Maryknoll Sanatorium. ⁽⁴⁾

In another example, in November 1944 a caseworker in the New York City office of the State Department of Public Welfare was assigned by her supervisor to review recent WRA referrals of resettled Japanese for the year-to-date to see if they had all been appropriate. Her notes detail 18 cases that she reviewed, most with a need for medical care, and they give a glimpse of some of circumstances in which the ASEAO program provided help. ⁽⁵⁾

Seven-year old Kaoru Gishifu and his parents were relocated by the WRA to New York City in May 1944. Mr. Gishifu had a job, but when young Kaoru had to have an emergency hospitalization for tonsilitis, the family could not pay the medical bills. The file shows "hospitalization was chargeable to Social Security Board."

Shigeru Satow, age 44, had been ill with tuberculosis while living in California and so he was spared being evacuated, but his wife was relocated to Toledo, Ohio. Eventually Mr. Satow joined his wife in Toledo where they were employed as domestics. But when Mrs. Satow lost her job the couple relocated again to New York City, where, in July 1944, they found work. But within two weeks of starting their new jobs Mr. Satow relapsed and had to be admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was still hospitalized in late November. Again, the records show: "Cost of hospital care chargeable to Social Security Board."

Kenji Nogacki was a single man interned in the Tule Lake camp. In September 1943 he was relocated to New York City, where he had relatives. He got a job in the flower shop at Bloomingdale's where he earned $25 a week. But in early 1944 he came down with pulmonary TB and was hospitalized for two weeks and was unable to pay the bill. The case files show the annotation: "Cost of hospitalization chargeable to Social Security Board."

Joe Amai arrived in New York City in April 1944 leaving his sister and mother in the relocation center. He found work as a saw operator and pipe carver. Despite being only 24 years old, Joe suffered from multiple illnesses, including TB, arthritis, and osteomyelitis. In August the WRA asked the welfare agency to place him in a TB sanatarium. The social work staff obtained a placement for him at Sea View sanatarium and sent him to Bellevue Hospital for a preliminary exam. When he was seen at Bellevue he was hospitalized immediately, and was still in the hospital in November. The case records indicate: "On October 5, the W-152 form was received and hospital charges were approved as chargeable to the Social Security Board."

Homer Fujiwara, age 29, arrived from the relocation center in February 1944. On March 29th he was admitted to the hospital and on April 2nd he died from carcinoma of the liver. Having no relatives to claim the body, his corpse was donated to the medical college. The Social Security Board paid his hospital bill.

1. Although only a sample of the case reports is presented here, the examples provided are representative of the case reports found in the records. It should be understood that there are no systematic sets of case reports in the state files; the presence of case reports is spotty at best and for many states there is a complete absence of any case-level information.

2. Letter from Catherine Pinto to Mr. Anthony, dated November 13, 1942. National Archives II, records of the Bureau of Public Assistance- State Files of Civilian War Assistance to Enemy Aliens, 1940-1948, box 10.

3. Letter from Hans-Georg Rother to Jane Hoey, Director of Public Assistance, SSB, dated November 26, 1942. National Archives II, records of the Bureau of Public Assistance- State Files of Civilian War Assistance to Enemy Aliens, 1940-1948, box 10.

4. Memorandum from Mary E. Austin, Chief, Field Division, Bureau of Public Assistance, to Regional Director, Chicago. Subject: Wisconsin Inquiry Concerning Use of Resettlement Funds for Japanese-American Girl Who Has Lived in Madison for Two Years. Date April 11, 1945. National Archives II, records of the Bureau of Public Assistance- State Files of Civilian War Assistance to Enemy Aliens, 1940-1948, box 3.

5. Memorandum to Files from Julia C. Sattler, State Department of Social Welfare, New York City Office, dated November 16, 1944. National Archives II, records of the Bureau of Public Assistance- Master File of Civilian War Assistance to Enemy Aliens, 1940-1948, box 14.