Community Corner
June 25, 1920: Stopping the ‘Japanese Invasion’
The Glendora Gleaner reports of efforts to limit Japanese immigration.
In June 1920, then Gov. William D. Stevens sent a letter to Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby asking for help in Washington in dealing with the ‘Japanese problem.’
By this time, there are 111,000 Japanese Americans in the U.S. – 82,000 are immigrants and 29,000 were born in the U.S. There were 87,279 Japanese Americans in California, according to the 1920 Census.
According to a June 25, 1920 report in the Glendora Gleaner, Stevens’ letter requested for ‘immediate and practical relief from the Japanese invasion of the State,” asserting his plea on “economic and social grounds.” He added that “California will go to the extreme limit in dealing with the Japanese problem.”
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The newspaper reported that Japanese farmers operated 623,725 acres of “the very best lands of California.”
Stevens asked that Washington negotiate with Japan to curb the flow of Japanese immigrants into the country.
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