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For Planning Purposes
May 15, 2018

MEDIA ADVISORY

State Archives Speaker Series: California State Government and Incarceration of Japanese Americans During World War II

The California State Archives Speaker Series continues Thursday, May 17, with speakers Charles Kobayashi and Veronica Lara. The presentation, titled “California State Government and Incarceration of Japanese Americans During World War I," provides a look at President Roosevelt's 1942 Executive Order 9066, that allowed for the Secretary of War to create military zones from which certain groups would be excluded. These federal orders lead to the eventual incarceration of 120,000 people of Japanese descent for the duration of World War II. However, exclusionary laws existed in the state of California before that, and more were passed immediately leading up to and during incarceration.

In this joint presentation, retired Judge Charles Kobayashi will discuss discriminatory legislation passed by the State and Veronica Lara will reveal her findings from the State Archives’ collections on California’s cooperation with the Federal Government to displace all people of Japanese descent.

About the Speakers

Charles Kobayashi graduated from UC Berkeley Boalt School of Law and opened a private law practice. He served as Deputy Attorney General in California and eventually became Senior Assistant Attorney General in charge of statewide Business and Tax litigation for the state. In 1988, he was appointed as Municipal Court Judge, and was elevated to Superior Court Judge in 1990.

Veronica Lara is the project archivist working on the State Archives CCLPEP grant project. She has been working for the California state archives for the past two years. Veronica received her master’s in Library and Information Science from San Jose State University. Project funding provided by the California State Library. Lara's research was funded by the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program grant project will make available online materials relating to California’s role in the incarceration of people of Japanese descent. This online collection will launch in June 2018.

The speaker series is sponsored by the Friends of the State Archives.

This is a free, but ticketed event.

Tickets: http://www.sos.ca.gov/archives/public-events/speaker-series/

*Media planning to attend need to RSVP to sos.press@sos.ca.gov

What:

California State Archives Speaker Series

Who:

Charles Kobayashi and Veronica Lara

When:

Thursday, May 17, 2018
5:00 - 6:30 p.m.

Where:

California State Archives
1020 O Street, 4th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814

Contacts:

Nancy Lenoil – State Archives, (916) 653-7715
Sam Mahood – Secretary of State, (916) 653-6575

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