Following the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan on December 7, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, a presidential executive order that authorized the deportation of Japanese-Americans and Italian-Americans to prison camps. Shortly following this, orders were issued to Japanese Americans for their forced relocation.

This flyer references Civilian Exclusion Order No. 69, issued by the Headquarters of the Western Defense Command and Fourth Army to all persons of Japanese ancestry. It is dated May 12, 1942, and Lieutenant General J.L. DeWitt signed off on the order. This Order contains instructions for the “evacuation” and relocation of people of Japanese ancestry. Learn more at the National Museum of American History>>

Nearly 60 years later, following the attacks of September 11, 2001, activists invoked this shameful history as a call to action to preserve civil liberties and protect minority rights.

Special thanks to the USC Digital Imaging Lab for their support in digitizing this item.