Guide to Clarice Chase Dunn Papers,​ 1942–​2001

Overview of the collection

Repository:
Special Collections & Archives
McIntyre Library
University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire
P.O. Box 4004
105 Garfield Ave.
Eau Claire, WI 54702-4004
(715)-836-2739
https://library.uwec.edu/archives/

Reference Code: USGZE UHC268

Accession Number: 06-100

Collection Number: University Historical Collection 268

Creators: Dunn, Clarice Chase

Title: Clarice Chase Dunn Papers

Dates: 1942–2001

Quantity: 2.6 linear feet (3 archives boxes, 1 flat box)

Location of Collection: A10/2e, A3/2b

Languages: Collection materials are in English and Japanese.

Summary: Personal papers of a teacher who worked in the Heart Mountain (Wyoming) Japanese American relocation camp during World War II.

Biographical Note

Clarice Chase Dunn, a 1937 Eau Claire State Teachers College graduate from Cornell, Wisconsin, was a school teacher for 35 years. In addition to teaching in high schools and junior college, she taught illiterate adults, foreign students and homebound children. From 1942–1943, she was an English teacher at the Heart Mountain (Wyoming) relocation camp school for Japanese Americans. While at Heart Mountain she taught classes including English, social science and civics, along with an adult evening class on cooperatives. In 1943, Dunn was sent back home to Washington, D.C., following a battle with chronic bronchitis. She went on to teach English to Russians on a Lend-Lease Mission and later worked with the USO in Texas. During the Korean War she was a program director at a service club in Yokahama, Japan, for Army Special Services. In addition to teaching, Clarice became an accomplished writer and speaker, publishing hundreds of articles in magazines and newspapers and receiving many awards. Her work in special education included developing projects for the Wisconsin Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and the Madison Association for Retarded Citizens. Dunn has retired from teaching and currently resides in Madison.

As of 2022, through the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire Foundation, a scholarship is named in Dunn’s honor, the Clarice Chase Dunn Endowed Scholarship. The scholarship is available for $400, to a student from an ethnically diverse background who has a demonstrated financial need. Preference is given to an ethnically diverse student who also has a disability. The scholarship was established in 2011 with an estate gift from Clarice Chase Dunn. Claire taught in many locations, including a Japanese relocation camp during World War II. An accomplished writer, she had articles and short stories published in local papers and national magazines. In Madison, she developed classes for intellectually challenged adults and initiated a program to encourage senior citizens to write their reminiscences.

Content Description

The collection contains materials documenting the operation of the Heart Mountain relocation camp, as well as efforts in the 1980s to establish redress payments to those who were interned in these camps. The collection is divided into five series: Relocation, Redress Payment Documents, Memorabilia, Publications, and Clarice Chase Dunn’s Personal Library.

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information: Donated to the University Archives and Special Collections, University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire by Carole Halberg on behalf of Clarice Chase Dunn in February 2004.

Access Restrictions: Collection is open to the public.

Use Restrictions: Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. Copyright not owned by the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire.

Processing Note: Processed by Heather Muir in 2004. Finding aid completed by Colleen McFarland in May 2006.

Arrangement: By series.

OCLC #: 69666812

Subjects

Personal Names:
Dunn, Clarice Chase – Archives

Corporate Names:
Heart Mountain Relocation Center (Wyo.)

Subject Terms:
Japanese Americans—Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945
Teachers – United States – History – 20^th century
Teachers – United States – Biography

Detailed List of Contents

Series 1: Relocation
Reports, fliers, and publications produced by the Relocation Authority (Washington, D.C.) and the Heart Mountain Relocation Center administration.
Dates: 1942–1943
Extent: 0.1 cubic feet (2 folders)

Series 2: Redress Payment Documents
Primarily fliers and handouts on reparations to Japanese Americans produced by the Japanese American Citizens League.
Dates: 1979–1991
Extent: 0.04 cubic feet (1 folder)

Series 3: Memorabilia
Awards, scrapbooks, and autograph books; also an undated oral history interview on cassette tape with Clarice Chase Dunn.
Dates: 1942–1981, undated
Extent: 0.4 cubic feet (1 archives box)

Series 4: Publications
Primarily consists of newspapers and newsletters from the Heart Mountain Relocation Center and other Japanese American internment camps. Also includes a subject clipping file maintained by Clarice Dunn.
Dates: 1942–2001
Extent: 1.2 cubic feet (1 archives box, 1 flat box)

Series 5: Clarice Chase Dunn’s Personal Library
Books with personal marginalia. Titles include: Years of Infamy: The Untold Story of America’s Concentration Camps by Michi Weglyn; Nisei: The Quiet Americans by Bill Hosokawa; Heart Mountain: The History of an American Concentration Camp by Douglas W. Nelson; Prejudice; Japanese Americans; Symbol of Racial Intolerance by Care McWilliams; The Concentration Camp Conspiracy: A Second Pearl Harbor by Lillian Baker; The Governing of Men; General Principles and Recommendations Based on Experience at a Japanese Relocation Camp by Alexander H. Leighton; Executive Order 9066: The Internment of 110,000 Japanese Americans by the California Historical Society; The Japanese American Incarceration: A Case for Redress by the National Committee for Redress, Japanese American Citizens' League; Born Free and Equal: The Story of Loyal Japanese Americans, Manzanar Relocation Center, Inyo County, California with photographs and text by Ansel Adams.
Dates: 1944–1981
Extent: 0.4 cubic feet (1 archives box)