On Tuesday, May 7th, the New Jersey State Library will be hosting a virtual author talk with Andy Urban, Associate Professor of American Studies and History, as well as subject matter expert on the history of Seabrook Farms. This conversation will kick off at 12pm on Zoom. As with other New Jersey State Library events, the discussion is completely free to attend. That said, advanced registration is required, so please be sure to enroll on Zoom, linked here: Register – NJSL.
Seabrook Farms was a canning and frozen food agribusiness located in Cumberland County during the Second World War. Seabrook Farms employed more than 7.000 laborers to work in their offices, plants, warehouses, and more than 50,000 acres of farmland. The company went on to recruit more than 2,500 Issei (Japanese immigrants) and Nisei (American-born citizens of Japanese descent). These individuals typically worked in a number of roles, including vegetable sorting, cleaning, and packaging. Their time at Seabrook Farms was marked by a fierce battle to avoid deportation, and later, a prolonged struggled to have their American citizenship restored. A humbling and profound period in shared public memory of New Jersey, the story of Seabrooks farms is a period of NJ history worth examining.
Throughout the afternoon’s discussion, Andy Urban will be highlighting the role Seabrooks Farms played in the history of Japanese Americans in New Jersey, and how these experiences shaped the lives of Asian Americans in the wake of the Second World War. His work will specifically focus on the lives of 300 “renunciants” who were sent to Seabrook Farms in 1946. These individuals were sent by the U.S. Department of Justice under the “relaxed interment” system, a direct offshoot of the atrocities of the internment camps of the 1940s. During World War II, Japanese Americans were subjected to incarceration and forceable relocation at the hands of the United States government. Records suggest that over 125,000 people of Japanese descent were subjected to these atrocities, marking one of the gravest moments in American history.
Andy Urban serves as an Associate Professor of American Studies and History at Rutgers University. Mr. Urban is currently embarking on a book project exploring the history of Seabrook Farms and how this agribusiness framed the lives of Japanese Americans and other migrant workers throughout the 20th century. Mr. Urban’s work is centered on labor, migration, and public memory. He has had his opinion pieces featured in the Journal of Asian American Studies, the Journal of American Ethnic History, and the Journal of American History.
To learn more about this and other upcoming events at the New Jersey State Library, please visit their website, linked here: NJSL – Home. You can also learn more by contacting the NJSL at (609) 278-2640 for further assistance. A remarkable and thorough glimpse at the New Jersey of the 1940s, this conversation is certain to set the stage for an enlightening and educational afternoon.
