Support reflecting Fair Treatment of Citizens - Sgt. Ray W. Davis and Merle L. Piper

Additional nuanced arguments of support came from various residents. As Sargeant Ray W. Davis, stationed in Camp Adair, Oregon, expressed in his letter,

"the persecution of your students by the warlike Mothers [Club] will not help win our war" (Letter from Sgt. Ray W. Davis to Dr. Young, Sept. 7, 1942).

Davis emphasized how persecution of citizens at home did not help the war front, but rather created divides within the United States that would be quite damaging. Another supporter, Parkville resident Merle L. Piper, in a letter sent to Mayor Dyer, highlighted how: 

"Consistency would demand that all those young people of German and Italian background be treated in the same manner as you are insisting these of Japanese background be treated. Neither you or I are responsible for our heritage of birth. Neither are these young people who are to be enrolled at Park this Fall" (Letter from Merle L. Piper to Mayor Herbert A. Dyer, Aug. 30, 1942).

Persistent local and national support for the admittance of Nisei students at Park College demonstrated a divide in national opinions on Japanese Americans in the United States. However, support for Nisei Students at Park College did not always reflect an acceptance of Japanese Americans as fully American citizens, nor did it always reflect a sense of trust towards the students or their families. Such differences in thoughts reflect the findings of social scientist Brian Masaru Hayashi, who determined that white Americans in different educational and professional backgrounds had varying understandings of “race” and “culture" (Hayashi 4).

Diverse reactions to Japanese American incarceration, Nisei student attendance, and other issues related to the loyalty and citizenship of Japanese Americans could be due to the various professional and cultural ideas that spread throughout the United States. However, considering the small Japanese population within the area prior to the beginning of the war, the onslaught of support, however conditional, was a shocking find.

By the end of 1942, the "Battle of Parkville," or the “Parkville Controversy,” mostly dissolved due to the support and encouragement the school received. As Reverend Gordon K. Chapman remarked in a letter to Dr. Young,

"I am very glad to hear that things have adjusted themselves at Parkville and that you no longer have to put up with objections from the local community" (Letter from Gordon K. Chapman to Dr. Young).

While Nisei students were still cautioned when moving outside of the Park College campus, outright hostility was not as prevalent in the community as originally believed. 

Hayashi, Brian Masaru. Democratizing the Enemy: The Japanese American Internment. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2008. 

“Letter discussing the admission of Clifford Nakadegawa,” letter from Gordon K. Chapman to President Wm. L. Young, Sept. 14, 1942. Located in Francis Fishburn Archives and Special Collections, Park University Nisei Collection, Park University, Parkville, MO, ID: PC-L-1942.1.716. 

“Letter from Sgt. Davis to Dr. Young,” letter from Sgt. Ray W. Davis to Dr. Young, Sept. 7, 1942. Located in Francis Fishburn Archives and Special Collections, Park University Nisei Collection, Park University, Parkville, MO, ID: PC-L-1942.1.648. 

“Letter to Mayor Dyer,” letter from Merle L. Piper to Mayor Herbert A. Dyer, Aug. 30, 1942, page 1. Located in Francis Fishburn Archives and Special Collections, Park University Nisei Collection, Park University, Parkville, MO, ID: PC-L-1942.1.455.