ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH 2005

HISTORICAL TIMELINE

1763 - 1899 | 1900 - 1950 | 1950 - present

1903

The Japanese American Baseball League

The Fuji Athletic Club, the first Japanese American baseball club, was organized in San Francisco. Made up of immigrants who had learned the game in Japan, it would grow into several semi-pro baseball leagues, with clubs in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nebraska, Tijuana, Vancouver, Washington and Wyoming.

The teams competed on the regional and state level within the Nisei (second generation Japanese American) League, and played against university teams in the United States, Japan, Korea, and China.

By World War II, there were over 50 Nisei teams in California alone.

Click here to learn more at the Nisei baseball leagues of the early 1900s.

1907

Koreans Arrive on the Mainland

Discouraged by the difficulties they found working in Hawaii's sugar plantations, hundreds of Koreans remigrated to the mainland of the United States. Though the majority settled in California, others found work as far away as Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming.

1910

Angel Island

Located in the middle of San Francisco Bay, Angel Island, the "Ellis Island of the West", was previously a quarantine station during the Spanish-American War. From 1910 to 1940, an estimated 175,000 Chinese and 60,000 Japanese immigrants were detained and processed according to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

Thousands were crowded into communal barracks which separated families for weeks, and sometimes years at a time.

Click here to learn more at the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation Website.

1942

Japanese American Internment During World War II

After the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, over 120,000 American citizens of Japanese descent were uprooted from their homes and sent to relocation camps in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming.

Three men, Gordon Hirabayashi, a devout Quaker and conscientious objector to military service, Fred Korematsu, and Minoru Yasui, an officer in the U.S. Army reserve, were convicted and imprisoned for violating curfew and failing to report for relocation.

In 1944, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld their convictions. In his dissenting opinion, Justice Robert H. Jackson stated,

"But here is an attempt to make an otherwise innocent act a crime merely because this prisoner is the son of parents as to whom he had no choice, and belongs to a race from which there is no way to resign. If Congress in peace-time legislation should enact such a criminal law, I should suppose this Court would refuse to enforce it."

In 1983, Fred Korematsu's conviction was reversed by the San Francisco Federal District Court. Click here to read more about Fred Korematsu v. United States.

1943

The 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team

The U.S. War Department formed the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, made-up of second-generation Japanese Americans ("Nisei"). They were sent to Europe to fight with the 100th Infantry Battalion, a Nisei team from Hawaii which had already seen action in North Africa and Italy.

Nearly half were volunteers from internment camps in the American Southwest. These battalions participated in the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau.

The 100/442nd RCT became the most decorated unit in U.S. military history. Their many awards include 18,143 individual decorations for bravery, 9,486 Purple Hearts, and 20 Congressional Medals of Honor.

Click here to learn more about Nisei soldiers who served during World War II at the Go For Broke Educational Foundation Website.

Repeal of The Chinese Exclusion Act

When America entered World War II, China became an ally in the war against the Japanese Empire. On December 17th, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act. It permitted Chinese immigration to the U.S., and granted the right to apply for naturalization to Chinese already living in America.

1948

The Japanese American Evacuation Claims Act

President Harry Truman signed the Japanese American Evacuation Claims Act. According to the law's provisions, $38 million was paid out to Japanese Americans for economic losses suffered due to forced internment.

The First Asian American Olympic Gold Medalists

Dr. Samuel Lee, a Korean American born in Fresno, California, won the Olympic Gold Medal in the 10-meter platform diving event, becoming the first Asian American to earn a gold medal. He earned another gold medal for the same event at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki.

Dr. Lee went on to coach gold medalist Bob Webster (1960, 1964) and silver medalist Greg Louganis (1976).

At the Olympic Games in London, England, Victoria Manalo-Draves became the first woman to win two gold medals in diving (the 3-meter springboard and 10-meter platform).

Ms. Manalo-Draves was a Filipina American raised in the South of Market neighborhood in San Francisco. After retiring from competition, she began performing in water shows such as Buster Crabbe's "Aqua Parade", "The Minneapolis Aquatennial" and "The Seattle Sea Fair."

1763 - 1899 | 1900 - 1950 | 1950 - present

Historical Timeline | Prominent Asian Pacific Americans | Quiz | Links

return to APA Heritage Month 2005 Home Page

back to top