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California at War

Web Credits

Juan Devis, Producer
Digitaria Interactive, Inc., Design
Jackie Kain, Executive Producer, KCET
Gwynn Dandridge-Perry, Associate Producer/Production Assistant, KCET

TV Credits

Executive Producer:
Bret Marcus

Executuve in Charge of Production:
Mary Mazur

Anchor/Correspondent:
Judy Miller

Senior Producer:
Justine Schmidt

Producers:
Joseph Angier
Jonathan Dann
Lisa McRee

Editor:
Michael Bloecher

Archival Producer:
Patty Newton

Story Editor:
Randa Cardwell

Researcher:
Erica Gillespie

Camera:
Bill Sheehy
John Kabasakalis
Jeff Simons

Sound:
Ryan Agostino
Morgan Schmidt
Greg Stidham
Robby Blelloch
Tony Smyles

The War at Our Doorsteps

Essay
The War at Our Doorsteps by Eric Avila

Interviews
Kevin Star, Historian
Frank Kappeler, Doolittle Raid Navigator
Eugene Tarrant, Marine at Pearl Harbor

Video
Newsreel: The Doolittle Raid
(video of plane taking off)

Universal Newsreel - Welcoming Patton and Doolittle at the end of war
Los Angeles: An estimated 2,000,000 Southern Californians wildly cheer General George S. Patton, Jr., and Lt. General Jimmy Doolittle as they pass in triumphant parade. General Doolittle makes an impassioned speech in which he asks the 'home team to continue supplying the goods to the field team' to assure an early victory over Japan." scenes of Patton, Doolittle greeted by 2 million in parade.

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo - Movie Trailer
The movie tells the story of the April 1942 Doolittle Raid on Japan. The raid was mostly a morale booster; it didn't really accomplish much but it did lead to the famous battle of Midway.

President Proclaims Nat'l Defense Week For All Americans
Hyde Park, NY: sound of FDR speaking, declares week of Nov. 11-16 as National Defense Week, says we are united against the "would-be dictators of the world.

Wartime Nutrition
Wartime work of public welfare agencies in the field of nutrition.

Victory Gardens
Secretary of Agriculture endorsed movie on home-grown food as a supplement to rations.

Why We Fight: Prelude To War
"Prelude to War," Chapter I of Frank Capra's "Why We Fight" series, describes World War II as a battle between the "slave world" of fascism and the "free world" of American liberty. In the "slave world," the entire populations of Germany, Italy and Japan have been hoodwinked by madmen, opportunists who capitalized on their people's desperation and weakness to rise to power. These demagogues promised revenge for past losses, and in the process convinced their people to give up their rights and accept dictatorship. In the "free world," the principles of equality, freedom, and liberty characterize the greatest leaders, embodied in the works and words of Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln. This freedom is a threat to the fascist dictators of the Axis powers, who claim that democracy is weak and must be eradicated. The film claims that the ultimate goal of the Axis powers is to enslave the nations of the "free world," a desire made manifest in the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and Mussolini's destruction of Ethiopia.

Multimedia Module
Song:
"Cowards over Pearl Harbor"
Performed by Denver Darling

The War Against Ourselves

Essay
The War Against Ourselves by Eric Avila

Interviews
Ron Takaki, Historian
Archie Miyataki, Japanese Relocation Camp experience
Betty Soskin, African American experience in CA
Benigno Diaz, Mexican American war veteran
Peter Alvarez Muñoz, Mexican American war veteran

Video
Japanese Relocation
U.S. government-produced film defending the World War II internment of Japanese American citizens - perfect - CA based

My Japan
Complex and disturbing anti-Japanese propaganda film produced to spur the sale of U.S. war bonds. CONTENT ADVISORY: Explicit racism and extreme violence.

Valor
This was originally produced by KCET in the mid-90s as an episode of a series back then called, "The L.A. History Project".This half-hour program consists of three Latino veterans of World War II reviewing their memories of their military service, and also the greater Los Angeles area during the pre-war and war years, and how Latinos fared in that environment with racism and prejudice.

Negro Colleges in Wartime
WWII recruitment film aimed at African Americans. The film opens with an African American Education and training of African Americans as part of the World War II effort.

Why Braceros
Produced to justify the bracero farm labor program to the general public, especially American citizens in California who felt threatened by the influx of workers over the border from Mexico.

Avenge December 7
War bond sales promo stridently advocating vengeance against Japan for bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Our Enemy: The Japanese
Stridently anti-Japanese film that attempts to convey an understanding of Japanese life and philosophy so that the U.S. may more readily defeat its enemy. Depicts the Japanese as "primitive, murderous and fanatical." With many images of 1930s and 1940s Japan, and a portentous and highly negative narration by Joseph C. Grew, former U.S. ambassador to Japan.

Multimedia Module
Song:
"Draftin' Blues"
Performed by Count Basie and his orchestra

The War Industry

Essay
The War Industry by Eric Avila

Interviews
Debley, Kaiser historian
Maggie Gee, Chinese woman pilot
Dottie Green, Migrant worker

Video
Dream Hospital
Scenes at the brand-new, $2 million Kaiser Hospital somewhere in California.

Doctor in Industry
Epic history of industrial medicine in the first half of the 20th century, showing how manufacturers and the medical profession came to terms with one another and culminating in GM's rehabilitation program for returned World War II veterans. Directed by Haford Kerbawy.

Birth of the B-29
Design, production and testing of World War II bomber.

A Tale of Two Cities (1946)
How the atomic bomb destroyed the people and cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.

Training Women For War Time Production
Narrator: Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Conquer by the Clock
Encourages American workers to make the best possible use of their time in a war where industrial production and combat are synchronized on an international level.

Multimedia Module
Songs:
"Any bonds today"
Performed by the Andrews Sisters with Vic Schoen and his Orchestra

"Defense Factory Blues"
Performed by Joshua White

Homefront

Essay
Homefront by Eric Avila

Interviews
Leo Braudy, Entertainment/Warner Bros., expert
Kerwin Lee Klein, Historian

Video
Hollywood Boogie (1946)
Thelma White and Her All-Girl Orchestra

Soldiers Stage "Girlie" Show
This show was originally scheduled for before Christmas 1941. According to the post newspaper, The Casual News I(15) 15 Nov 1941, it "centers around the vicissitudes of an intellectually inhabited Army post once it has been invaded, via the draft, by a group of swing musicians." The libretto was written by Pfcs Richard Burdick and Horace Sutton; music by Capt. Louis E. Tepp, Miss Marcelle Meyer and Burdick. (Burdick had civilian stage experience, Meyer was with the YMCA which sponsored the production. The film clip seems to be of the YMCA stage, basement of bldg. 82.) It was written specifically for the talent on post, and included Pfc Danny Lapidos (director of the Ft. Slocum Dance Band), S/Sgt Abraham Small (director of the Post Band; that may be him directing the music in the film clip), Kay Sharp (daughter of a Sgt on post), Lt. Samuel Ogden, Capt Eric Anderson & Lt John Steele. The post newspaper completely downplayed the crossdressing aspect (which the newsreel plays up). Before the WAACs arrived in 1943 there were few women on post (only daughters & civilian employees e.g. the YMCA); later stage productions at Slocum would feature more integrated casts, and the WACs would be active participants. As in the Army generally the post band was very important. This is a rare clip of the band as well as of social life at Ft Slocum (1861-1965), "the Ellis Island of the US Army."

Why We Fight: War Comes to America
Produced by the U.S. Army Special Service Division, and directed by Frank Capra "Why We Fight" is a seven part propaganda/documentary series that traces the earliest beginnings of the second world war starting with Japan's invasion of China in 1931, to the Nazi's march across Europe.

Remember These Faces
Intense view of American soldiers in combat, produced to sell World War II bonds.

Loretta Young Trailer
On location with Loretta Young filming the movie "China," and the actress speaks about Women At War Week begins Nov. 22, a "call to arms for all American women.

Japanese Surrender
First Pictures of Japanese Surrender, delegates carried by Japanese planes to and then on to Manila; MacArthur ; Halsey on USS Missouri with special cake decorated with Japanese rising sun; (2) Armed Jap Mercy Ship Captured; (3) De Gaulle Arrives - Byrnes meets De Gaulle, meets Truman at White House; (4) U.S. Turns From War To Peace - sailors are first groups to be released in Long Beach on point system; workers leave war plants, line up in cities for new jobs, washing machines and cars soon to start rolling; (5) Pin-Up Derby - baby crawling race over 50-foot course. (complete newsreel)

Falling Hare (Bugs Bunny)
Bugs Bunny goes to a military base where he meets up with a mischievous gremlin who gets the better of him. Animation by Rod Scribner, music by Carl W. Stalling. Produced in 1943.

Private Snafu-Spies (1943)
A cartoon in which Private Snafu, while drunk, reveals military secrets that allow the enemy to torpedo his ship. This is one of 26 Private SNAFU ('Situation Normal, All Fouled Up) cartoons made by the US Army Signal Corps to educate and boost the morale the troops. Originally created by Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss) and Phil Eastman, most of the cartoons were produced by Warner Brothers Animation Studios - employing their animators, voice actors (primarily Mel Blanc) and Carl Stalling's music.

Multimedia Module
Songs:
"We Are All Americans"
Performed by Kate Smith


Web Video

Courtesy of:
http://www.worldwar2database.com
http://www.archive.org
http://www.authentichistory.com
The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley - Regional Oral History Office
BuyoutFootage.com
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting
efootage.com
F.I.L.M. Archives Inc.
Internet Archive.org
Kaiser Permanente Heritage Resources - "Birth of Victory" & "Henry Kaiser, The Builder"
The National Archives
Office of War Information - Bureau of Motion Pictures
Producers Library
R. Schwemmer/NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Program
ThoughtEquity
UCLA Film & Television Archive
USC Special Collections, The Russell M. Saunders Collection
WETA, Washington, DC
Wisconsin Public Television

Web Images

AmericanPostcardArt.com
AP Images
Chevron Corporate Archive
Corbis
Dorothea Lange

© The Dorothea Lange Collection, Oakland Museum of California, City of Oakland. Gift of Paul S. Taylor


Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
Getty Images/Michael Ochs Archives
Herald Examiner Collection/Los Angeles Public Library
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA-OWI Collection
Lompoc Public Library
Los Angeles Times Collection, UCLA Library Department of Special Collections
Monterey Public Library
Naval Historical Foundation
Oxnard Public Library
Pictorial Histories Publishing, Missoula Montana
San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
Santa Barbara Public Library
Shades of L.A. Archives/ Los Angeles Public Library
The American Italian Historical Association, Western Regional Chapter
The Toyo Miyatake Manzanar Relocation Camp Collection
Vancouver Maritime Museum

World War II Veteran's Protest Lack of Low-income Housing, 1946
The Oakland Tribune Collection, the Oakland Museum of California, Gift of Alameda Newspaper Group Newspapers

Toyo Miyatake, Toyo Miyatake Studio
http://www.toyomiyatake.com


Additional Photos Graciously Provided From the Private Collections of:
Jack Herron
Rudolph Estrada
Celso Jaquez
Benigno Diaz
John Sudden
Frank Kappeler
Richard Quincy
Betty Soskin
Dottie Green
Archie Miyatake