In Good Conscience:
Supporting Japanese Aamericans
During the Internment*
by Shizue Seigel
AACP Inc, 2006
First printing 2006, second printing 2026
320 pp. 100 historic photographs.
Vivid portraits of two dozen teachers, ministers and just plain folks
who stood up against the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.
Brings new insight into what transforms ordinary people into extraordinary advocates for justice and compassion.
During World War II, over 110,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly removed from the West Coast and incarcerated for three years or more in ten remote concentration camps. The American public largely ignored the mass removal of their neighbors.
The Federal Government justified its actions on the basis of national security, but not a single person of Japanese ancestry living in the U.S. was convicted of a serious act of espionage or sabotage during the war.
The majority of detainees were American-born citizens, and 50% of them were minors.They were given a week or less to pack only what they could carry in two suitcases leave their homes, jobs and schools, and board buses or trains to unknown destinations.
On this website you'll find summaries, reflection questions and links to download entire chapters that shed light on people of conscience and the ways they were able to help.
During this time of overwhelming stress, some people reached out. Their kindnesses, large and small, kindled hope and reasserted humanity in the darkest of times.
That courage and compassion is badly needed today. As of January 2026, the Department of Homeland Security reported that over 73,000 immigrants were being held by U.S. Immigration and Enforcement (ICE)., the majority with no criminal convictions. DHS reported that over 2.5 million undocumented immigrants left the the U.S. in 2025 , over 605,000 forcibly removed or returned by the govenrment and almost 1.9 million self-deporting.
*In Good Conscience was made possible by the Kansha Project, initiated in 2002 by the late Col. Harry Fukuhara and the Military Intelligence Service Assocition of Northern California, aa service organization of Nisei veterans of the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Service (MIS). The original book, the reprint and this website were funded by grants from the California State Library's California Civil Liberties Public Education Program (CCLPEP) and contributions from individual donors.
Resources: A Brief History of Japanese American Relocation During World War II https://www.nps.gov/articles/historyinternment.htm
Confinement and Ethnicity: An Overview of World War II Japanese American Relocation Sites by J. Burton, M. Farrell, F. Lord, and R. Lord, University of Washington Press, 2002
Selected chapters:
“Our Constitution Must Not Be Tossed Aside”
George Knox Roth:
The Price of Integrity
Virginia Swanson Yamamoto:
Eviction from Terminal Island
Herbert & Madeline Nicholson:
"God's Sunshine Came In to Stay"
Elizabeth and Catherine Humbargar:
A Sense of the Possible
Earl Finch: The One-Man USO"
The Hannan Family: Joan of Arc and Her Little Sister
Why the Mainland and Not Hawaii?
Introductory Lesson Plan: Japanese American immigration, Confinement and Redress
Timeline of Japanese American History
Glossary
Maps