Steinbeck petition from CSUMB’s archive key part of exhibition

By Mark Muckenfuss

A framed petition in the current “Artistic Alliance in Monterey, 1942–1946” exhibit at the Monterey Art Museum not only carries historic significance, but it is also an important piece from Cal State Monterey Bay’s collections. 

The 1946 letter is signed by over 400 local residents, including John Steinbeck. 

The faint signature of the Nobel Prize-winning author of “The Grapes of Wrath” is found on the third page of the document that called for welcoming the return of the Monterey region’s Japanese citizens. They had been sent to internment camps five years earlier in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. 

Steinbeck’s support of the Japanese community was nothing new, said Susan Shillinglaw, a local Steinbeck historian and a professor emeritus of English at San Jose State University.

“He was the first nationally recognized author to protest the Japanese internment,” Shillinglaw said, by writing a letter to President Roosevelt in December 1941, shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack. 

The petition was in response to a group of Salinas Valley growers who had threatened the small community if its members returned.

“They said, ‘The Japanese may think they’re coming back, but they’ll be here no more than one night,’” Shillinglaw said, referring to a published letter by the grower’s association. 

She said the group threatened the Japanese with burning their houses down and, if that didn’t work, shooting them.

Local fisheries historian Tim Thomas said there was immediate pushback from the broader community.

“Letters began to appear in the Herald the next day in support of the Japanese,” Thomas said. And, within a short while, the petition was generated. 

It was initiated by Toni Jackson, an important community figure in Monterey and Salinas, and the partner of Ed Ricketts, who opened and ran the Pacific Biological Laboratories from 1923 until his death in 1948. Jackson, who had already been involved with anti-racist groups, never married Ricketts, but she sometimes used his last name and did so in the case of the petition. 

Ed Ricketts was Steinbeck’s closest friend and served as the model for the Doc character that appears in several Steinbeck novels, including “Cannery Row.” The petition is believed to be the only document on which both Ricketts’ and Steinbeck’s signatures appear. 

Jackson was close to the author as well. She typed the manuscript for his novel “The Pearl,” according to Shillinglaw. 

“While it’s important,” she said, “I think the (resulting) petition represents a much larger, more complex story.” 

Thomas said he found the petition several years ago, rolled up and stuffed in a desk at the Japanese American Citizens League hall in Monterey. It was subsequently donated to CSUMB in 2019, with the promise that it would be publicly available.

Jordan Leininger, Cultural Heritage Collections manager for CSUMB, said the university had better facilities for preserving the document, as well as some photos that were found with it. This is the first time it has been publicly displayed since being acquired by CSUMB. In fact, it is the first time that an object from the archive has been shown outside the university.

“As a public university committed to equity, justice and community engagement, we have a responsibility to engage in these kinds of exhibitions,” Leinenger said. “It goes along with our values.”

It’s also a chance to spotlight some of CSUMB’s holdings.

“This is a fantastic way for us to showcase our archive,” Leininger said. “People tend to think of a university as being only for students, but the beauty of the library is that it is open to the community. This is a way to let people know that we do have resources outside of academic learning.”

Most of that material is available to researchers, he said, and much of it is digitized on the archive website.

The petition, Leininger said, has importance beyond the uniqueness of the names that appear on it. It’s a good example of using a historical object for education.

“Documents like the Monterey petition encourage reflection on the power of speaking out against injustice,” he said. “This document is very unique. To have notable locals sign this and stand up publicly, it resonates with what’s happening today in our country. This is extremely relevant as we are currently grappling with issues of civil liberties and racism.” 

Thomas said the petition is an important reflection of the times and of the local region.

“Monterey was the only place this happened,” he said, referring to the outpouring of support for the Japanese and speculating that the small size of the local community may have helped. “The real key was those boys [from the Japanese and wider communities] all grew up playing baseball together.”

As a result, he said, where a lot of Japanese citizens didn’t return to their former homes due to negative sentiment, here they did.

“A higher majority did return because of those petition drives,” Thomas said, “but also because there was work here. Many Japanese fishermen who lost their boats [as a result of internment] were welcomed.”

Leininger said it’s important to recognize Monterey’s inclusive history.

“It makes me proud to be part of a community that believed that in 1945,” he said, “and that still believes in standing up to the injustices of today.”

The museum exhibition runs through April 26.