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Immigration through Angel Island
A photograph of a note left by a Japanese prisoner of war held at Angel Island during World War II.

A photograph of a note left by a Japanese prisoner of war held at Angel Island during World War II.

This photograph of an exhibit at Angel Island State Park shows a note left by a Japanese prisoner of war (POW), and a panel translating the note to English for park visitors. The POW wrote the note on the wall before he returned to Japan on November 7, 1945—two months after Japan surrendered. This detainee had previously been at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, another prisoner of war camp.

During World War II, Angel Island housed Japanese, German, and Italian prisoners of war, some of whom were detained for almost the entire war. Additionally, Japanese Americans from Hawaii were temporarily housed in the dormitories at Angel Island before being sent to internment camps. West coast Japanese Americans deemed dangerous by the US government were imprisoned in the US Army camp on another part of the island, before being sent to detention centers like Fort McCoy rather than internment camps with their families.

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Citation Information
Berndt, Jerry, “Note written by Japanese POW, released and returning to Japan, November 7, 1945, Angel Island, Detention Center, San Francisco Bay, San Francisco, California, 2003,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/547b066c889fdd84341e2c0c1ba7a101.
Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.
Courtesy of University of Southern California Libraries.

Tips for Students

For this source, consider:

  • the author's point of view
  • the author's purpose
  • historical context
  • audience

Item 13 of 15 in the Primary Source Set Immigration through Angel Island

Previous ItemNext Item
A 1901 letter from a Los Angeles banker asking US Secretary of State John Hay to reconsider a portion of the Chinese Exclusion Act.
A letter from a Sing Fat & Company executive asking immigration officials to cancel sponsorship for two employees, 1905.
An excerpt from Angel Island: The Ellis Island of the West by Mary Bamford, 1917.
A photograph of immigrants arriving at Angel Island, 1939.
A photograph of young immigrants standing outside Angel Island’s hospital, 1923.
A photograph of an Angel Island dormitory room as it looked when the immigration station was in use, 2003.
A photograph of immigration officials interviewing an Angel Island detainee, 1923.
A photograph of a missionary conducting an English lesson for a group of immigrant women, 1933.
A photograph of a Chinese poem carved into an Angel Island dormitory wall by a detainee.
A photograph of the Lee family, including their “paper son,” in San Francisco, ca. 1920.
A photograph of the Angel Island administration building soon before the station’s closure, 1930s.
A photograph of the Angel Island administration building on fire, August 12, 1940.
A photograph of a note left by a Japanese prisoner of war held at Angel Island during World War II.
A poster advertising a San Francisco art gallery’s exhibition about the Chinese experience at Angel Island, 1976.
A photograph of a former Angel Island detainee returning with his family, 2003.

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