Also, district maps, a foldout map of capitol hill, and a look at congressional committees, the president s cabinet, federal agencies and state governments. Order your copy today. It is 13. 95 plus shipping and handling through the cspan online store at www. Cspan. Org. Recently, American History tv with that organization of american historians annual meeting in st. Louis, missouri. We spoke with professors, authors, and graduate students about the research this interview is about 20 minutes. You are an assistant professor at Michigan State university. First, tell us your research with japaneseamericans, who are for most whats of us. I am doing the historical restoration of japanese america. And korean americans as well who were born in the state but happened to be either in hiroshima and not a sake in 1945 when the bomb was dropped on cities. Hiroshima and not a sake. Nagasaki. The numbers are not huge but substantial. They are somewhere between 2040,000 asianamericans mostly japaneseamericans. But two generations as well who were in japan. Specifically hiroshima. Hiroshima as a prefecture was at area that had the largest number of japanese immigrants to america before world war ii started. In the 1920s and 30s. Out of those 2230,000 people, there were about 3000 people that were japaneseamericans who survived the bomb in hiroshima. And then they decided to come to america, beginning in 1947. Because america is obviously where they were born and grew up in. Their history is very fascinating, although it is being relatively littleknown. Fascinating in that it really changes our perception of survivors as japanese citizen who were loyal to the japan as an empire at the time, in that they were both victors and victims at the same time. The japaneseamericans who were at hiroshima and not a sake, why were they there . Hiroshima and nagasaki, why were they there . That is what immigrants do they go back and forth. Naoko they may be living in america, and yet their parents may still be back in japan. That was the case with most of the people i studied. They may have been visiting their grandparents because they wanted to see them or maybe some of them were ill so they wanted to see them before they passed away. there are so many reasons why they were there. The other reason is that there are some questions about japanese americans prince as first generation immigrants parents as first generation immigrants. Given in the Race Relations in of the u. S. West coast in of the 1930s, america was not the best way to give them education. They decided to bring their children back to japan so that they could receive the best education, including education about japanese language and culture, those things that are really for immigrant families to maintain. Educational purposes is another region. Another reason i like to mention is that there were a lot of japanese americans towards the end of the 30s in america that saw violence or mass incarceration. They decided to leave america to escape such a fate. Many of them have a degree in hiroshima and nagasaki. Delia is there a name that the japanese use for those people who survived the bombing . Naoko yes. It refers to people who were exposed to radiation from the bomb. It is a commonly used term among japanese people. Delia this term also applies to the japanese americans in nagasaki. After the bombs were dropped him happened to the japaneseamericans . What was their situation . Naoko immediately after the explosion, the situation was very comparable to many survivors, regardless of their nationality. The devastation was simply overwhelming. As part of my work, i have been conducting oral history interviews with you but survivors. With u. S. Survivors. One thing i am fascinated by is how their national longing to both japan and america came out very strongly, even as they try to respond to the devastation in 1945. To give you an example, there are some japanese American Family members who left each other. They did not know where they were. They spent a lot of time looking for each other. One u. S. Survivor that i talked to, she was a young girl at the time, and unfortunately her sister died from the bomb. But her family could not locate her body or even a no whether or not she was still life. Or even know whether or not she was still alive. The family looked and looked around. At the end of the 30 day, they were able to find their sister. At the end of the third day. The way they found the sisters body, is that she was on top of it after. They were able to see her on top of a poster. More importantly, the sisters body still had american underwear, which was made in america. Which the family was very much used to seeing. Immigrant life before the work,ar it was common practice for families to share a bedroom among family members, between siblings and parents and children. It was the japanese style of sleeping that they transferred to america. They were able to recognize that. It was made in america, and that was something families were exposed to in prewar life. They were able to identify this persons body because of that. In many ways, it is really an unfulfilling story because we think about the bomb attacking japanese nationals people who had allegiance to japan as a nation, and yet this person not only had a cultural affinity in many cases, a sense of National Belonging to america at the same time as being from japan. Delia the japaneseamericans who spoke english where the evil to have better access were they able to have better Access Services afterwards . Naoko by the u. S. Army, you mean . Delia in many ways, the immediate need for medical assistance, i think was not met by anybody. Naoko not only americans medical assistance, but japanese medical institutions and personnel who were incapable of offering any support. At that level, their ability to communicate in english was not any weight near the quality that benefited them. After a while, they were able to work more for u. S. Occupational forces then at the japanese institutions. Not only because of language ability, but the ability to Cross Cultural boundaries. I can remember one survivor who was born in the u. S. , and his english was good because of that. That was the primary link which of communication for him. But he was bombed in hiroshima. He was also looking for a job obviously after people started to pick up the pieces and reconstruct their lives. He was not actually interested in working for the occupational forces at the time, but he was accompanying his japanese friend who was interested in having a job. I cant remember exactly what branch of the American Occupational forces that he was looking at a job for. This americanborn person was going with him, and then they run into unamerican officer in the hallway. An american officer in the hallway. He said something like, how are you, or what are you guys up to . These were two people that he thought were japanese, because they both look like that until they start to converse with them. The japaneseamericans first responded in english, and that was how he was group. Hey, you look like somebody who can work for us. Unfortunately, the japanese guy who is looking for the job did not get the position, but the american a japanese man did. In some cases, it worked as a benefit for japanese american people. Delia how long did it take for the japaneseamericans to make their way back to the United States . Naoko some started to come back in 1947, that is the year in which the first ship from japan back to america was populated. From the beginning of that year all the way up to the late 1950s, in some cases the 1960s, there were people who just continue to come back. That is the era not only when u. S. Warning japaneseamerican u. S. Born japaneseamericans were american citizens. Someone citizenship was japanese, but because of the family conditions, they had an estate and decided to migrate from japan to america. That is when i versification of the americans started. It started to include not only u. S. Survivors of the bomb, but also japan born and immigrant survivors of the bomb. Later, they all came together. But it took a long time to come to america. It really varied. Delia naoko there was a propensity of the japaneseamericans in internment camps who did not want to talk about their experiences. What about the people, japaneseamericans who had been in hiroshima or nagasaki, when they came back to the u. S. , had they talked about their experience . Naoko the answer to that is largely no. One practical reason why they were being silent about the experiences is that if they come out as survivors then their Health Insurance policy may be taken away from them. Radiation was considered to be one of the preexisting additions preexisting conditions in of the health care system. They were very afraid that they might lose the benefit of that Health Insurance policy because they are survivors. But also i think there was a stigmatization in general, that they were considered to be not a good investment from an employer perspective, because they might mean a lot of work, because they may have radiation illness in the future. But they might not be able to reproduce, or if they do, the baby might be deformed because of the mothers exposure to radiation. There are those medical reasons also political reasons why they remain silent about their survivorhood. It is interesting that you raise the example of japanese americans in internment camps. Again, there is the big story of the bomb, but there are also intimate stories of the families. Sometimes, japaneseamerican families included some survivors of the bomb, but work irradiated. But others who stayed in america during wartime who lifted japaneseamerican internment camps. When they came back together after the war, it was very difficult for them to talk about each others experiences. They were exposed to the massive power of the nationstate and state violence, and yet, in very different ways. So how can you have a conversation about vastly and yet equally traumatizing experiences . In some ways, they mutually created a silence. Delia are oral histories a way to break the silence now . Naoko i believe so. I hope that is what oral history is able to do for the benefit of better understanding the past. Also, as you note, although i am collecting a lot of histories right now there was an army effort for the history project back in the 1970s. Most of the people who wanted to create oral histories were asianamericans of the Younger Generation mostly thirdgeneration americans. Just like they were not aware of japaneseamerican internment camps, but came to realize that this is definitely a part of my past. That is when asian Americas Civil Rights Movement started. That is when they came together as a group of people on University Campuses on the west coast, but also on the east coast to some degree. They tried to assert an american identity. Part of that emerging identity really put them to find out the legacy and history of their own ethnic and racial group. Part of that discovery was about their community members, the Older Community member experiences of the bomb. They talked to survivors in the community. That is very precious historical record. There are only so many oral History Collections that i am aware of about u. S. Survivors and their experiences. There are few oral history interviews that we have about them. I am not going to say an oral history is the best way to think about the past, there are various ways in which we can think about the past. Oral history has a power of bringing out individual voices, but also it will always be based on interaction between the interviewer and interviewee. In the case of oral histories it is not really only about survivors themselves, but also about people finding out their own history. It is a mutual process that is very unique to this particular kind of historical period. Delia thank you very much. Naoko thank you. Pleasure to talk to you. This sunday night at 8 00 eastern. First ladies, influence and image. We look into the personal lives of three first ladies. Letitia tyler and julia keller