FBI Report on Japanese Internees in the United States, July 9, 1942
National Security Archive
A 1942 FBI memo details how the U.S. barred Japanese diplomats from the press during their exchange, exposing the tightrope between security and censorship.
Source: FBI Report on Japanese Internees in the United States, July 9, 1942 Date: Jul 9, 1942 Archive: NARA, RG-60, Case File 146-7-23-25, box 1, file: “Serial 6, July 1 - August 13, 1942.” Collection: Secrecy And Leaks: When The U.S. Government Prosecuted The Chicago Tribune Oct 25, 2017
Editorial Analysis
Original analysis by the DriftSeas editorial desk. The complete primary-source document, transcribed from the National Security Archive scan, appears in full below.
A Prisoner Exchange in the Shadow of Internment
The July 9 1942 FBI memorandum is not a routine personnel file; it is a snapshot of the bureaucratic choreography that followed the United States’ decision to repatriate Japanese diplomatic personnel after Pearl Harbor. Within weeks of the December 1941 attack, President Roosevelt ordered the seizure of Japanese‑American property, the closure of West Coast internment camps, and the internment of roughly 120,000 civilians. Parallel to that domestic crackdown, the State Department negotiated a reciprocal exchange of diplomats on the Swedish liner SS Gripsholm. The FBI’s note to Attorney General William D. Mitchell was drafted to answer a specific query about whether any of the internees could have seen the June 7, 1942 newspaper articles that exposed the government’s own “leak” of the exchange plan.
The memo enumerates three transport groups—Arizona, North Carolina, and West Virginia—detailing the agents who escorted them, the dates of departure, and the strict newspaper restrictions imposed. The stark contrast between the Hawaiian diplomats, who were denied any press at all, and the other groups, who were allowed only the New York Times, reveals a calculated information blackout. The FBI’s concern was not merely whether the Japanese could read the press, but whether they could ingest the specific June 7 story that described the exchange, potentially compromising operational security or providing propaganda fodder for Tokyo.
The Diplomatic Exchange as a Legal and Propaganda Battleground
The exchange itself was a rare moment of wartime civility: the United States sent 1,063 Japanese diplomats and civilians aboard the Gripsholm, while Japan released an equivalent number of American diplomats from Tokyo. The operation was cloaked in secrecy because any public knowledge could have inflamed anti‑Japanese sentiment already boiling over in the United States and could have encouraged sabotage among the interned civilian population. The memo’s meticulous record of who saw which newspaper underscores the government’s anxiety that the June 7 article—published in the New York Times and other papers—might have reached the detainees and, through them, the Japanese government.
The agents named—Wells Bailey, Frank Madden, J. Huskey, Edward O. Poole, George Newkirk, William Mangels—were State Department operatives, not FBI personnel, highlighting inter‑agency cooperation. Their testimonies were meant to create a paper trail proving that the United States had taken “all reasonable steps” to prevent the flow of sensitive information. That paper trail later became part of the legal justification used when the Justice Department prosecuted the Chicago Tribune in 1945 for publishing the same exchange details, arguing that the press had endangered national security.
What the Memo Reveals About Internment Policy
Beyond the exchange, the document offers a granular look at the broader internment apparatus. It notes that roughly 500 Japanese nationals—civilians, not diplomats—were also placed on the Gripsholm after being gathered at the Pennsylvania Hotel, screened, and stripped of all printed material. The memo distinguishes between “diplomats,” who escaped personal searches, and “nationals,” who were thoroughly inspected. This disparity reflects the legal hierarchy the government imposed: diplomats retained certain protections under international law, while civilians were treated as security risks.
The mention that many civilians remained “at liberty” until June 10‑11, able to purchase newspapers, hints at a chaotic transition from free movement to forced confinement. The FBI’s concern that some may have already read the June 7 story underscores how the internment process was not a monolithic, pre‑planned operation but a rapidly assembled system reacting to wartime pressures.
Legacy of the Document
The memo’s declassification in the 1970s, and its resurfacing in the 2017 Secrecy and Leaks exhibition, illuminate how wartime secrecy continues to shape public memory. It shows that the government’s efforts to control information extended not only to the home front but also to the very diplomats it was exchanging. The careful logging of newspaper access anticipates modern debates over media censorship in national‑security contexts. Moreover, the memo provides historians with concrete evidence of the layered bureaucracy behind internment—a reminder that the tragedy of Japanese‑American incarceration was administered by countless low‑level officials, each recording a tiny piece of a larger injustice.
In sum, the July 9 1942 FBI memorandum is a micro‑history of wartime governance: a bureaucratic ledger that reveals how the United States balanced diplomatic propriety, domestic security, and press control while orchestrating one of the war’s most unusual prisoner‑exchange operations.
DECLASSIFIED Authority NND 76716
Federal Bureau of Investigation United States Department of Justice Washington, D. C. JUL -9 1942
[Stamp: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL RECEIVED - 1942]
MEMORANDUM FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Re: STANLEY CLAUDE SAMUEL JOHNSTON
This memorandum furnishes information requested in a memorandum from Mr. William D. Mitchell to me. Mr. Mitchell desired to be informed as to the repatriation of the Japanese diplomats and other nationals and desired that certain inquiries be made as to what, if any, access they could have had to the newspaper articles which appeared on June 7, 1942.
One thousand sixty-three Japanese diplomats and nationals left the Port of New York City at 11:20 P.M. on June 13, 1942, aboard the S S Gripsholm, a Swedish chartered vessel, en route for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The S S Gripsholm is at the present time on the high seas proceeding from Rio de Janeiro to Port Lourenco Marques, Portuguese East Africa, where it is due to arrive on or about July 22, 1942. It is expected that the exchange of the Japanese and American diplomatic corps will be effected within one day of the arrival. The representative of the United States State Department aboard the S S Gripsholm at the present time is Raymond D. Muir who can always be reached in care of the State Department, Washington, D. C. The Japanese diplomats who were included in the above group prior to their arrival in New York City had been stationed in three localities, Asheville, North Carolina; White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia; and Dragoon, Arizona. There were twenty-three Japanese diplomats at Dragoon, Arizona, and all of this group had formerly been stationed in the Hawaiian Islands. Special Agent Wells Bailey of the State Department accompanied this group when they left Arizona and was with them until their arrival in New York City on June 10, 1942. They were immediately taken to the Pennsylvania Hotel in New York City and were held incommunicado until they were taken aboard the S S Gripsholm on June 13, 1942. Agent Bailey can testify to the fact that they were not allowed to see any newspapers whatsoever during the time they were in Arizona and while they were en route to New York City. Special Agent Frank Madden, State Department, can testify that this group was not allowed access to any newspapers after their arrival in New York City. He can also testify to the fact that this group was placed aboard the S S Gripsholm on June 13, 1942.
A second group of Japanese diplomats, the majority of whom had, prior to the declaration of war, been stationed in South American countries, was located at Grove Park Inn, Asheville, North Carolina, until June 10, 1942, when they were transported to New York City and immediately upon their arrival there were taken aboard the S S Gripsholm. Special Agent J. Huskey, State Department, can testify to the fact that while held at Asheville, North Carolina, and while en route to New York City, this group was allowed to receive copies of the New York Times newspaper and was not furnished copies of any other newspapers.
FOR DEFENSE BUY UNITED STATES SAVINGS BONDS AND STAMPS
FILE BY RCT On
G.T.
176-7-232
[DECLASSIFIED] [Authority NND 76716]
Memorandum for the Attorney General Page 2
The largest group of Japanese diplomats was held at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, until they were placed on two trains to be transported to New York City. The first train left for New York at 11:30 P.M., June 10, 1942, and the second train left at 12:30 A.M., June 11, 1942. Both trains arrived in New York City on June 11, 1942, and the diplomats were immediately placed aboard ship. Special Agent Edward O. Poole, State Department, was present with the group during the sojourn at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, where they were located from April 8, 1942, until their departure for New York City. Special Agent George Newkirk traveled with the group aboard the first train, and Special Agent William Mangels was aboard the second train which left White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The three State Department Agents can testify to the fact that while in West Virginia and while en route to New York City this group was allowed to read the New York Times only.
After the arrival of the various groups in New York City, all Japanese diplomats, with the exception of the twenty-three formerly stationed in the Hawaiian Islands, were placed aboard the S S Gripsholm, where they remained until the ship sailed on June 18, 1942. They were allowed to read the New York Times only. The twenty-three diplomats from Hawaii were not allowed to read any newspapers whatsoever at any time.
Approximately 500 Japanese nationals, in addition to the members of the Japanese diplomatic corps, were on the S S Gripsholm at the time she embarked from New York City. These 500 Japanese started to assemble in New York City on June 7, 1942, and by June 11, 1942, all had reported at the Pennsylvania Hotel, where they were guarded, questioned, and searched by various Government agencies. Some of these individuals, prior to their reporting at the Pennsylvania Hotel, had been held on Ellis Island. Others had been in concentration camps, some had been in various Army camps, and a great number had been at liberty. Many of those who were at liberty did not report to the Pennsylvania Hotel until June 10 or June 11, 1942, and, of course, had access until that date to any newspaper which they might desire to purchase. All of the Japanese nationals who were not connected with the diplomatic corps were searched prior to their going aboard ship, and likewise their baggage was thoroughly searched. They were not allowed to take with them any printed matter. The members of the diplomatic corps were not subjected to personal search nor was their baggage examined.
Special Agent Frank Madden can testify as to the sailing of the S S Gripsholm on June 18, 1942, and also regarding the placing of the various
DECLASSIFIED Authority NND 76716
Memorandum for the Attorney General Page 3
diplomatic groups aboard ship upon their arrival in New York. He can also testify as to the Japanese nationals who were located in the Pennsylvania Hotel and is in a position to furnish information regarding the fact that some of these nationals did not report to the hotel until June 11, 1942, and that a great number of them were at liberty prior to their arrival at the Pennsylvania Hotel.
All of the Special Agents of the State Department mentioned above can best be contacted through Mr. T. F. Fitch, Chief Special Agent, State Department, Washington, D. C.
Respectfully,
[signature: Edgar Hoover] John Edgar Hoover Director
NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVE
National Security Archive, Suite 701, Gelman Library, The George Washington University, 2130 H Street, NW, Washington, D.C., 20037, Phone: 202/994-7000, Fax: 202/994-7005, nsarchiv@gwu.edu