Americans React to Pearl Harbor in the Days Following the Japanese Attack
Channel: Omnibus
Date: 2022-07-05

On December 7th, 1941, the Japanese Empire attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. 

The next day, The Library of Congress sent a telegram  to fieldworkers in ten different localities across the United States, asking them to collect "man-on-the-street" reactions of ordinary Americans to the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

I have selected a few interviews and put together some of their highlights in this video. 

Here is the collection description on the LOC website:

"After the Day of Infamy: "Man-on-the-Street" Interviews Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor presents approximately twelve hours of opinions recorded in the days and months following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, from more than two hundred individuals in cities and towns across the United States. On December 8, 1941 (the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor), Alan Lomax, then "assistant in charge" of the Archive of American Folk Song (now the American Folklife Center archive), sent a telegram to fieldworkers in ten different localities across the United States, asking them to collect "man-on-the-street" reactions of ordinary Americans to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the subsequent declaration of war by the United States. A second series of interviews, called "Dear Mr. President," was recorded in January and February 1942. Both collections are included in this presentation. They feature a wide diversity of opinion concerning the war and other social and political issues of the day, such as racial prejudice and labor disputes. The result is a portrait of everyday life in America as the United States entered World War II."

You can find out more and see the collection here: https://www.loc.gov/collections/interviews-following-the-attack-on-pearl-harbor/about-this-collection/



citations:
"Man-on-the-Street" interviews collection (AFC 1941/004), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Faulk, John Henry, Joe Jirosik, and Joe Jirosik. "Man-on-the-Street," Austin, Texas, December 9. Austin, Texas, December 9, 1941. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc1941004_sr15/.

Allen, Robert Eugene Barton, Donald E Bowin, Mr Boyer, Merritt A Calvert, Miss Fargo, Miss Fossil, Mike Fox, Burt Laws, Mr Russell, and Paul Martin. "Man-on-the-Street," Bloomington, Indiana. Bloomington, Indiana, 1941. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc1941004_sr04/.