In the Aftermath of Pearl Harbor

In the Aftermath of Pearl Harbor

A sentry patrols the waterfront as black smoke towers over Pearl Harbor

It’s hard to overstate the sense of shock and anxiety that spread across the United States following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Nearly all Americans knew immediately that their lives were going to be changed in profound ways in the days, months, and years ahead. Nowhere was the shock more immediate and profound than in tens of thousands of Japanese American households, where entire families found themselves equated with the enemy as anti-Asian sentiments that had festered for decades, especially in the American West, again ran rampant.

This excellent short film provides an overview of some of the immediate effects on those who experienced these events firsthand:

Densho’s YouTube channel on the Bombing of Pearl Harbor and Mass Removal offers video recordings of many more first-hand recollections of that day: