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RASRL Series Notes - Confidential Research Files

Introduction

The records of the Romanzo Adams Social Research Laboratory (RASRL) cover the years 1919 through 1966. The Confidential Research Files of RASRL constitute one of several series of records created by RASRL over the years. The Confidential Research Files came to the University Archives within an accession received in 1989 from Mrs. Andrew Lind. Except for the short War Brides’ Interview Project, A1989:007, the other series in this accession remain unprocessed and unavailable for research (as of May 1997).

The Confidential Research Files cover the years 1932 to 1959 with the bulk of the records falling in the range 1940-1950. The Confidential Research Files appears to have paralleled another series of RASRL files, the Research Files. The distinction appears to be that field workers preserved the anonymity of sources contributing to the Confidential Research Files. In their work with Confidential Research Files, archival staff have not discovered any content that would warrant the files being closed or restricted; simultaneously, they have noted an absence of personal identification. Although the documents in the Confidential Research Files generally omit personal names, researchers are expected to respect the privacy of anyone inadvertently named therein, as well as the privacy of their families and heirs.

Related records include the RASRL Clippings Files (Manuscript A1979:042b); the Bernard Hörmann Collection and other papers from the University of Hawaiʻi Sociology Department. The Clippings Files finding aid is available in the Archives reading room in Hamilton Library.

During the Fall of 1991, interns from the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies at UH, Judy Kearney, Laura Gerwitz, and Kathy Furukawa, surveyed the accessions received from Mrs. Lind and processed the Confidential Research Files. Their work includes the inventory linked here. They also prepared a folder list of the short War Brides Interview Project. Researchers must obtain all copyright permissions. Photocopying of records is permitted for individual scholarly or personal research, although the archival staff may refuse permission to photocopy items based upon their physical size or condition.

The suggested citation to these records is “[Item Title],” [folder label], Confidential Research Files, Romanzo Adams Social Research Laboratory Records, University Archives, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi.

Description originally prepared by Kathy Furukawa, Judith Kearney, and Laura Gerwitz, December 1991; revised 2 December 1996 and 24 February 1997.

Scope Notes

While the bulk of the records in the RASRL collection cover the years 1919-1966, the major component of the Confidential Research Files cover the period 1941-1959. The records within this series are maintained in the order developed by RASRL, alphabetically by subject. The items within each file were numbered beginning with the number 10. Though the items were described and foldered numerically in ascending order, they were frequently stored in descending order. To overcome the confusion resulting in this dual arrangement order, archival staff reordered the physical arrangement to put the items in ascending numerical order; where needed, the order within the inventory has also been revised.

Prior to transfer to the Archives, occasional items were removed from their original files to other subject files for the Lab’s own research purposes. Documentation of each transfer was provided by the researcher in question and left intact by the Archives.

Generally the contents of the Confidential Research Files are arranged in alphabetical order and thus the numerical order of the boxes tends to coincide with alphabetical order. The exceptions occur because some items in the collection were either on legal size paper or in larger format. These items were pulled from the original files in order to be stored following better preservation practices. Thus boxes 4, 9, 14, and 15, which are legal size, and f1 and f2, which are oversize boxes, contain repeated file labels to match their counterparts in the regular files. Finally, a few artifacts and photographic materials were removed and stored in the Vault (box V1). File titles for the Confidential Research Files were transcribed to acid-free folders as they appeared on the original RASRL files. Titles or information provided by the archival staff were enclosed in square brackets [].

This collection is particularly rich in materials that reflect the rapid social and societal changes of the 1940’s and post-War period. “Hawaiʻi represents a microcosm of the world, which made it a useful laboratory and social observatory” (Hörmann, 1955).

The CRF includes term papers, excerpts from journals and diaries, interviews, and summaries of discussions with individuals, as well as newspaper clippings and documentation on political, industrial, and community groups. The section on “The Sugar Strike” and labor issues following the War includes materials addressing the perspectives of the ILWU (International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union), the local citizenry, and the sugar industry. Other organized bodies with documentation in the Confidential Research Files include American Friends Service Committee, the War Relocation Board, Post-War Employment Planning Commission, and American Veterans Committee.

Informal groups also find representation. The section on AJAs (Americans of Japanese Ancestry) includes letters and transcripts of conversations by members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and other AJAs about their experiences during the War. The section of Diaries includes accounts written by a wide variety of residents of Hawaiʻi regarding the effects of war on their lives and on relations among various ethnic groups in the Territory. Another section in the records documents the Hissho Kai, Japanese aliens living in the United States who were not convinced that Japan had lost World War II. Included in these papers are two sheets of Japanese characters written by an advisor to Hissho Kai (not yet translated). One of the items is painted on paper made in the U.S.; the other item is painted on an unidentified type of paper, without watermarks.

Inventory

  • Boxes 1-3: American Friends Service Committee – Census
    • Box 1 / Folders 1-4.  AFSC American Friends Service Committee.  Items 10-47, 1942-1944
    • Box 1 / Folders 5-27.  AJA Americans of Japanese Ancestry Letters.  Items 11-77, 1942-1946
    • Box 2 / Folders 1-22.  AJA Letters.  Items 78-178b, 1942-1946
    • Box 2 / Folder 23.  AVC American Veterans Committee.  Item 10, [no date]
    • Box 2 / Folder 24.  BF Big Five, Castle and Cook Annual Report.  Item 10, 1948
    • Box 2 / Folder 25.  BH Bell Hops.  Items 10-11, 1943
    • Box 2 / Folder 26.  BHS Bureau of Health Statistics.  Item 10, [no date]
    • Box 2 / Folders 27-29.  BM Business Men. Items 10-48, 1942-1943
    • Box 3 / Folder 1.  Ce Census [?] [Demographics of RASRL research interviewees] (Title supplied by archival staff according to understanding of folder contents.).  [no item numbers], 1950-1957
    • Box 3 / Folders 2-3 Ce Census.  [Unnumbered], 1950-1957
    • Box 3 / Folders 4-7.  Ce Census.  Items 11-35, 1940-1958
    • Box 3 / Folders 8-25.  Ce Census.  [Unnumbered], [no date]
  • Box 4: Americans of Japanese Ancestry – Hawaiʻi Civil Liberties
    • Box 4 / Folders 1-2.  AJA Americans of Japanese Ancestry.  Item 91, [no date]
    • Box 4 / Folders 3-8.  Ce Census.  [Unnumbered, Removed from Box 3], [no date]
    • Box 4 / Folder 9.  HACU Hawaiʻi Association for Civic Unity.  Items 10-25, 1945-1947
    • Box 4 / Folder 10.  HCC Honolulu Chamber of Commerce.  Items 11-12, 1945-1947
    • Box 4 / Folder 11.  HCLC Hawaiʻi Civil Liberties Committee.  Items 56-72 [Removed from Box 8, fd. 8], 1947-1959
  • Box 5: Contact Group – Defense Workers
    • Box 5 / Folders 1-2.  CG Contact Group.  Items 10-14, 1942-1944
    • Box 5 / Folders 3-5.  Ch Chinese.  Items 10-37, 1942-1944
    • Box 5 / Folder 6.  Chu Churches.  Items 10-11, 1942-1949
    • Box 5 / Folders 7-10.  Cl Club 100.  Items 10, 1946-1949
    • Box 5 / Folders 11-14.  Co Communism. Items 10-40, 1947-1949
    • Box 5 / Folders 15-20.  C Conversations. Items 10-139, 1943-1949
    • Box 5 / Folders 21-24.  Dis Disorganization. Items 10-28, 1942-1951
    • Box 5 / Folders 25-26.  DW Defense Workers. Items 10-25, 1942-1944
  • Boxes 6-8: Doctors – House Holdover Committee
    • Box 6 / Folders 1-6.  D Doctors.  Items 10-76, 1942-1948
    • Box 6 / Folders 7-25.  Dy-Diaries [I, II, III]: Part I. fds. 7-14, Items 10-16.  Part II fds. 15-20, Items 17-27.  Part III. fds. 21-25, Items 28-30, 1941-1946
    • Box 6 / Folder 26.  Ec Economics.  Items 10-12, 1944-1945
    • Box 6 / Folder 27.  Em Employment & unemployment.  Item 10, 1949
    • Box 7 / Folders 1-29.  ESC Emergency Service Committee.  Items 10-94, 1942-1946
    • Box 8 / Folders 1-2.  F Filipino.  Items 10-23, 1946-1947
    • Box 8 / Folders 3-5.  FEPA Fair Employment Practices Act.  Items 10-17, 1946-1949
    • Box 8 / Folder 6.  GO Government Official.  Items 10-13, 1943-1945
    • Box 8 / Folder 7.  H Housewives.  Items 10-13, 1943
    • Box 8 / Folders 8-10.  HCLC Hawaiʻi Civil Liberties Committee.  Items 10-55, [no date]
    • Box 8 / Folders 11-14.  HCSA Honolulu Council of Social Agencies. Items 10-22, 1944-1946
    • Box 8 / Folders 15-16.  HEA Hawaiʻi Education Association. Item 10, 1947
    • Box 8 / Folders 17-20.  HEF Hawaiian Economic Foundation. Items 10-14, 1947-1949
    • Box 8 / Folders 21-26.  HHC House Holdover Committee. Items 10-30, 1944-1945
  • Boxes 9-11: Hawaiʻi Employer’s Council – Japanese Post-War
    • Box 9 / Folders 1-4.  HEC Hawaiʻi Employer’s Council.  Items 10-28, 1947-1951
    • Box 9 / Folder 5.  Ho Housing.  Items 10, 15, 1943-1945
    • Box 9 / Folders 6-12.  ILWU International Longshoremen’s & Warehousemen’s Union.  Items 10-57, 1946-1952
    • Box 10 / Folders 1-4 . His Hissho Kai.  Items 10-34, 1946-1948
    • Box 10 / Folders 5-7 . Ho Housing.  Items 10-18, [no dates]
    • Box 10 / Folder 8.  HPWB Hawaiʻi Public Welfare Bulletin [Index only].  Items 10-59, [no date]
    • Box 10 / Folder 9-10.  I Incidents (Racial).  Items 10-58, 1944-1947
    • Box 10 / Folders 11-15.  ILWU-SS Shipping Strike-1949.  Items 10-42, 1949
    • Box 10 / Folder 16.  Int Intermarriage.  Items 10-12, 1949-1950
    • Box 10 / Folders 17-28.  J Japanese.  Items 10-68, 1940-1947
    • Box 11 / Folders 1-11.  J Japanese. Items 69-168, [no date]
    • Box 11 / Folders 12.  J(AA) Japanese (Aliens by Accident).  Items 10-17, 1944-1946
    • Box 11 / Folders 13-16.  J(E) Japanese (Enlistment).  Items 10-15, [no date(s)]
    • Box 11 / Folders 17-25.  JP Japanese Post-War.  Items 10-118, 1946-1951
  • Boxes 12-15: Japanese Post-War – Rural Hawaiʻi
    • Box 12 / Folders 1-3.  JP Japanese Post-War.  Items 119-156, [no date]
    • Box 12 / Folders 4-8.  J(K) Japanese (Kibei).  Items 10-15, 1943-1947
    • Box 12 / Folders 9-11.  J(VA) Japanese (Views of Aliens). Items 10-39, [no dates]
    • Box 12 / Folders 12-17.  JD Juvenile Delinquency.  Items 10-24, 1942-1947
    • Box 12 / Folders 18-19.  K Korean.  Items 10-45, 1942-1947
    • Box 12 / Folders 20-24.  Ka Kauaʻi. Index, Items 10-26, 1941-1949
    • Box 13 / Folders 1-9.  Ka Kauaʻi.  Items 27-61 [Ka-32 is located in Box 14, fds. 1-3; Ka-62 is located in Box 14, fd. 4], [no dates]
    • Box 13 / Folders 10-11.  Ko Kona.  Items 10-19, 1942-1952
    • Box 13 / Folder 12.  L Lawyers.  Items 10-14, 1942-1944
    • Box 13 / Folder 13.  LEd Letters to the Editor.  Items 10-12, 1942-1946
    • Box 13 / Folder 14.  LRB Legislative Reference Bureau.  Items 10-11, 1946
    • Box 13 / Folder 15.  La Labor [All contents transferred to LaIR by RASRL Staff.]
    • Box 13 / Folders 16-24.  LS Language School.  Items 10-39, 1948-1949
    • Box 14 / Folders 1-4.  Ka Kauaʻi.  Items 32, 62, [no dates]
    • Box 14 / Folders 5-13.  LaIR Labor & Industrial Relations. Items 10-53, 1942-1949
    • Box 15 / Folder 1.  LS Language School.  Item 33, [no dates]
    • Box 15 / Folder 2.  Pla Plantation.  Item 14, [no date]
    • Box 15 / Folders 3-5.  PPEC Post-War Planning Employment Commission.  Items 10-20, 1944-1945
    • Box 15 / Folder 6.  Puerto Puerto Ricans.  Items 10-11, 1947-1950
    • Box 15 / Folders 7-8.  RHa Rural Hawaiʻi.  Items 10-74, 1942-1948
  • Boxes 16-22: Ministers – War Research Laboratory Report
    • Box 16 / Folders 1-10.  M Ministers. Items 10-60, 1942-1947
    • Box 16 / Folders 11-13.  Ma Maui.  Items 10-33, 1942-1944
    • Box 16 / Folders 14-17.  MJ Mainland Japanese.  Items 10-37, 1942-1945
    • Box 16 / Folder 18.  MRH Mainland Reactions to Hawaiʻi.  Items 10-12, 1945
    • Box 16 / Folder 19.  MO Military Orders.  Items 10-11, 1943-1945
    • Box 16 / Folders 20-22.  Mor Morale Reports.  Items 10-13, 1941-1943
    • Box 16 / Folder 23.  MsL Miscellaneous Letters.  Items 10-20, 1941-1946
    • Box 16 / Folders 24-29.  Ne Negro.  Items 10-74, 1943-1948
    • Box 17 / Folders 1-4.  N Nurse.  Items 10-21, 1941-1943
    • Box 17 / Folder 5.  O Okinawa.  Item 10, 1947
    • Box 17 / Folder 6.  OPA Office of Price Administration.  Items 10-11, 1945
    • Box 17 / Folder 7.  P Portuguese [Empty folder]
    • Box 17 / Folder 8.  PC Panel of Correspondents / 10-13, misc., 1946-1947
    • Box 17 / Folder 9.  PI Panel of Interviews / 10-15, [no date]
    • Box 17 / Folders 10-22.  PH Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, diaries.  Items 10-136, 1941-1943
    • Box 17 / Folder 23.  Pla Plantations.  Items 10-24, 1945-1946
    • Box 17 / Folder 24.  Po Politics.  Items 10-22, 1946-1948
    • Box 17 / Folder 25.  PR Post-War Rumors.  Items 10-19, 1945-1946
    • Box 17 / Folders 26-29.  RE Real Estate.  Items 50-83 (Fd 27 contains summaries of transactions Jan. – Oct. of 1935-1943 inclusive.), (1935-1947, inc.) 1942-1947
    • Box 18 / Folders 1-9.  RHa Rural Hawaiʻi.  Items 10-74, [no dates]
    • Box 18 / Folders 10-12.  Rep Reprints.  Items 10-27, 1942-1945
    • Box 18 / Folder 13.  RNC Radio, News & Communication.  Items 10-18, 1942-1943 >
    • Box 18 / Folder 14.  RO Rural Oʻahu.  Items 10-13, 1942
    • Box 18 / Folder 15.  RR Race Relations.  Items 10-12, 1932-1949
    • Box 18 / Folder 16.  (R)UHS (Rumors), Soc 258 papers.  Items 10-19, 1942
    • Box 18 / Folder 17.  Sa Sabotage.  Items 10-16, 1941-1945
    • Box 18 / Folder 18.  SES Selective Service.  Items 10-15, 1940-1947
    • Box 18 / Folders 19-24.  SM Service Men.  Items 10-57, 1940-1946
    • Box 19 / Folders 1-29.  SMN Staff Meeting Notes (Hawaiʻi Social Research Lab). Items 10-141, 1944-1952
    • Box 20 / Folders 1-3.  ST Statehood.  Items 10-33, 1946-1950
    • Box 20 / Folders 4-13.  SW Social Workers. Items 10-72, 1942-1944
    • Box 20 / Folder 14.  SU Sugar Plantations [Empty folder],
    • Box 20 / Folder 15.  SS Sugar Strike-46.  Items 10-11, 1946-1947
    • Box 20 / Folders 16-30.  TS Teachers, Schools.  Items 10-117, 1941-1946
    • Box 21 / Folder 1.  TW Tidal Wave.  Items 10-16, 1946
    • Box 21 / Folders 2-3.  UHF University of Hawaiʻi Faculty.  Items 10-37, 1942-1948
    • Box 21 / Folder 4.  Vet Veterans.  Items 10-16, 1945-1947
    • Box 21 / Folders 5-7.  Wai Wayne Altree Interviews.  Items 10-29, 1946-1947
    • Box 21 / Folder 8.  W Women, 1946
    • Box 21 / Folders 9-25.  WRA War Relocations Authority. Items 10-45, 1942-1946
    • Box 22 / Folders 1-7.   WRA. Items 46-59, 1942-1946
    • Box 22 / Folder 8.  WRLR War Research Laboratory Report [Transfered]
  • Flat Boxes and Files: A-Z
    • Box f1 / Folder 1.  Ce Census. Tabulation sheets, Index list and cover letter.  [Unnumbered], [1955]
    • Box f1 / Folder 2.  HEC Hawaiʻi Employers’ Council. Poster, “Report to the Public: Pineapple Industry of Haw.” Item HEC-14-1, [n.d.]
    • Box f1 / Folder 3.  HHC House Holdover Committee. Real Property Tax Statistics by County (part missing).  [Unnumbered], 1933-1943
    • Box f1 / Folder 4.  J Japanese. “Hawaiʻi and the Japanese Problem,” [Detroit?] Sunday News.  Item J-19-0, 15 Mar. 1942
    • Box f1 / Folder 5.  J Japanese. “50th Anniversary of the First Japanese Immigrants in Hawaiʻi: 17 Feb. 1885–17 Feb. 1935,” Honolulu Sunday Advertiser. Item J-167, 17 Feb. 1935.
    • Box f1 / Folder 6.  LaIR Labor & Industrial Relations. Employment Estimates, 1955
    • Box f1 / Folder 7.  ILWU International Longshoremen’s & Warehousemen’s Union. Three items: “End The Maritime Strike Now,” / ILWU-40; “You’re Next,” / ILWU-49; and “Territorial Sugar Strike Machinery.” / ILWU-16-I, 1947-1948
    • Box f1 / Folder 8.  The Zero Hour, 8 July 1947 / ILWU-25-I and “Church Group Reports on Sugar Strike,” Star Bulletin, 23 Oct. 1946 / ILWU-20-I, 1946-1947
    • Box f1 / Folder 9.  The Dispatcher, 6 Sept. 1946 (Hawaiian Edition), Item ILWU-10-I; and 16 May 1947, Item ILWU-24-I, 1946-1947
    • Box f1 / Folder 10.  JP Japanese Post-War. Keizai Kenkyu. Item JP-139-I; and “Agreement on the Social Improvement.”  Item JP-140, 1949
    • Box f2 / Folder 1.  Ce Census. Forms P-2100 and P-87.  [Unnumbered], 1950
    • Box f2 / Folder 2.  HEC Hawaiʻi Employers’ Council. “Without This Hawaiʻi Would Die,” Broadside (with return address of Castle & Cooke and postage permit printed on verso), and “The Strange Case of the Taft-Hartley Law,” reprinted from Look.  [no numbers], [no date] and 30 Sept. 1947.
    • Box f2 / Folder 3.  His Hissho Kai. / Two items.  [Unnumbered], [no dates]
    • Box f2 / Folder 4.  J Japanese “Golden Jubilee: A Tribute to the Japanese Who Arrived in Hawaiʻi 50 Years Ago,” Honolulu Star Bulletin.  [Item J-168], 16 Feb. 1935
    • Box f2 / Folder 5.  K Koreans. Los Angeles Korean Independence 2, no. 52, [Item K160], 27 Dec. 1944
    • Box f2 / Folder 6.  LaIR Labor & Industrial Relations. “The Big Five Declares War.”  [Item LaIR28]; ILWU International Longshoremen’s & Warehousemen’s Union. “There is a Crisis.”  [Item ILWU-31-1], and “The Union Shop is Not the Issue.” [Item ILWU-19-1], c. 1947
    • Box f2 / Folder 7.  MO Military Orders. General Orders 114, printed by Honolulu Advertiser.  [Item MO-10], 10 March 1943.
    • Box f2 / Folder 8.  O Okinawa. Kosei Okinawa, [Items O-11 and O12].  Po Politics, [Items Po-10-1], Nov & Dec 1947
    • Box f2 / Folder 9.  SES Selective Service. Summary of Registrations by Nationality or Race.  [Unnumbered], [no date]
    • Box f2 / Folder 10.  SES Selective Service.  Items 10-13, [no date]
    • Box f2 / Folder 11.  ST Statehood Statehood News. Item 15, 1948-1950
    • Box V1 / Folder 1.  AJA Americans of Japanese Ancestry. Five and Ten Yen Notes, Empire of Japan, [no date].
    • Box V1 / Folder 2.  J(K) Japanese (Kibei). Five and Ten Peso Notes, Empire of Japan, [Philippines Islands], [no date]
    • Box V1 / Folder 3.  ESC Emergency Service Committee. Four 4×5 photographic negatives in envelope with return address: War Dept., Military Intelligence Division, Dillingham Building, Honolulu, TH. and “Kallam and Blake” handwritten on env., [no date]
Romanzo Adams Social Research Laboratory (RASRL)

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