Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses Fall 12-29-2015 Questions of Citizenship: Oregonian Reactions to Japanese Immigrants' Quest for Naturalization Rights in the United States, 1894-1952 Alison Leigh Jessie Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Social History Commons, and the United States History Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Jessie, Alison Leigh, "Questions of Citizenship: Oregonian Reactions to Japanese Immigrants' Quest for Naturalization Rights in the United States, 1894-1952" (2015). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 2644. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.2640 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible:
[email protected]. Questions of Citizenship: Oregonian Reactions to Japanese Immigrants’ Quest for Naturalization Rights in the United States, 1894-1952 by Alison Leigh Jessie A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History Thesis Committee: Kenneth J. Ruoff, Chair Katrine Barber Tim Garrison Christopher Shortell Portland State University 2015 ABSTRACT This study examines the discrimination against Japanese immigrants in U.S. naturalization law up to 1952 and how it was covered in the Oregonian newspaper, one of the oldest and most widely read newspapers on the West Coast. The anti-Japanese movement was much larger in California, but this paper focuses on the attitudes in Oregon, which at times echoed sentiments in California but at other times conveyed support for Japanese naturalization.