Police
With the purpose to maintain peace and order in the
center, the Police Department was organized in mid-April with a
membership of 115 on the force. Originally located at 7-1-1, under the
WCCA regime it was headed by Police Chief Kenneth Horton, Assistant
Chief Lloyd F. Day and Captains Williams, Sturdevant and Newton. In July
the department moved to its present location at the entrance of the
center.
Revision of the police personnel was made following
WRA supervision. Willard E. Schmidt and John W. Gilkey were appointed
and replaced the former chiefs. After the new officers took charge the
department underwent a complete revision. Classes in criminology and
traffic were started to teach the men fundamentals of police work. The
Police Department's building also went through a complete remodeling.
Cells were brought in for the jail and a squad room was made for the
patrolmen and offices were constructed to accommodate the officers.
In November, Chief Schmidt was appointed National
Director of Internal Security Division of all the centers. Assistant
Chief Gilkey was promoted to replace Schmidt and Captain Williams was
given the assistant chief berth.
The police force is headed by the following: Chief of
Police Kiyoshi Higashi, Assistant Chief Ken Ozeki, Captain Bunkichi
Hayashi, Lieutenant (traffic) Yoshio Ishida, Lieutenant (investigation)
Harry Okamuro, Lieutenants Henry Kinoshita, George Endow, James Oda;
Sergeants Dick Tani, Jack Kurokawa, Frank Kasuyama.
* * *
Peace Committee
Created during the confusing aftermath of the
"disturbance" the Peace Committee was formed to help in the task of
promoting and maintaining order in the community. Headed by Seigo
Murakami, Shigeo Tashima and Tooru Takamatsu, their members are pledged
to cooperate with the Police Department in every way but do not conflict
with the routine duties of the police force. Most of the members are
from the Judo Yudansha Kai.
* * *
Procurement
All authority to make purchases of materials and
supplies required in the center and the execution of necessary orders
and contracts is vested in the Procurement Division. With such a heavy
responsibility, shifted to the local department with the abolishment of
the San Francisco office, the department is continuously rushed, despite
a materially increased personnel.
Headed by B. O. Wilson, senior officer, the staff
includes: J. F. Proff, procurement officer; Fred Ohi, office manager;
William Taynaka, chief clerk.
* * *
Property Control
Handling an average of 50 tons of incoming supplies
daily for the maintenance of the center, receiving and redistributing
all materials and supplies and keeping official property records, is the
enormous task of the Property Control and Warehouse Section.
Keeping the work running smoothly are the following
staff headed by Paul Lorenzo, Senior Administrative Assistant; Lewis K.
Thuesen, Junior Assistant; Lester R. McCallam and Ralph A. Lipson,
Storekeepers.
* * *
Public Works
The actual physical work of building and maintenance
of the center lies in the Public Works Division. Under Hervey Brown,
Jr., Senior Engineer, the division is divided into two sections.
The Construction section, as the name implies, takes
care of all building, from surveying, drafting of plans to the finished
work. Heading this section is A. M. Sandridge, with O. E. Sisler
heading partitioning, lining, plasterboard work; Clyde Bradshaw in
charge of roads and irrigation facilities; R. F. Kato, rock work;
Procurement Bunyemon Wada, landscaping; Kiyoshi Maruyama and Tom Ichien,
surveying; Genshiro Nakamura, drafting.
* * *
Relocation
Almost impenetrable at first, the gates leading to
the outside world gradually opened to evacuees. Initial step was
inaugurated with an announcement by Dillon S. Myer, national director of
WRA, which paved the way for permission to resettle.
Hopes of the evacuees brightened with the arrival of
Thomas W. Holland, WRA chief of employment in the first week of
September. He interviewed approximately 150 applicants interested in
permanent resettlement during his stay. After his departure, Walter
Heath of the Employment office continued the work, as more than 250
persons took advantage of the new policy.
The first to leave the center were the 139 volunteers
who left in June to work for the Amalgamated Sugar Co. in Idaho. Then
1018 harvesters left in September to join the 58 who remained outside.
Out of this total, 183 established themselves in new communities.
The first official departure occurred in October and
after the first few evacuees left and sent back word of satisfactory
reception, an average of 30 persons applied for leave clearance daily.
By the end of last year, 961 applications were taken in.
Offers of employment have increased with a majority
for domestic help, although a few have come in for skilled and
professional people. Church organizations have assisted with the program
by arranging for hostel groups whose experiments have proved successful.
With mass registration in all centers completed, leave clearance
procedure is expected to be speeded up.
Formerly branch of the Employment Division, the
office expanded and is now a separate department with headquarters at
1-2-3. Leave Officer Walter A. Heath supervises the office with Ray F.
Buzzetti as placement officer. Miss Genevieve Baird is office manager
and counselors are Virginia Asaka, Mrs. Martha Nakao and Elmer
Uchida.
* * *
Office of Reports
Among a number of "firsts" claimed by
Manzanar—first assembly center, relocation center, co-op,
etc.—is the newspaper published here a few weeks after the arrival
of the volunteer contingents. Not too shy about taking bows for its
accomplishments, with (or without) encouragement, the Manzanar Free
Press was the first to publish the paper in printed form.
Chief attendant at its birth, its godfather and
shepherd of the flock which edits the publication has been Bob Brown;
now promoted to the position of acting assistant project director. Since
his promotion last December, Roy M. Takeno, his assistant, has been the
acting assistant reports officer, supervising the work of the staff and
the office.
The Office of Reports, which is responsible for the
Manzanar Free Press, has four other departments under its wings: the
documentary reports, the Japanese translation, the mimeographing and the
business departments. All told, some 50 persons are employed in the
various departments housed in the four apartments at block one, building
one.
Past editors of the Manzanar Free Press—Tomomasa
Yamazaki, Chiye Mori, Sam Hohri and Joseph Blamey—have contributed
materially toward building good public relations not only between this
center and the American public-at-large, but they have spoken for all
evacuees. Roy Hoshizaki is its present editor. Kiyotoshi Iwamoto is the
chairman of the Japanese section's editorial department and Fumi
Fukushima is head of the mimeograph department.
One-half of the printing cost for the newspaper is
paid for by the Cooperative Enterprises. Under the management of
Business Manager Dennis Shimizu, who steadily has increased its
advertising revenue, the remaining one-half of the newspaper's cost is
being paid for by the advertisements.
