In September 1942, the Church Federation of Dayton and Montgomery County (Church Federation) was established. It created a Commission on War Services that coordinated social services to the thousands of military personnel and migrant war workers who flooded into wartime Dayton. Strategically, Dayton supported the nation's defense through the presence of two Army airfields and many vital industrial facilities.
Beginning on October 1, 1942, the War Relocation Authority (WRA) permitted those of Japanese descent to leave the internment camps on indefinite leave, and resettle outside of the West Coast exclusion zones. The WRA supported this program by opening field offices across the nation including the Cincinnati office which opened in March 1943. The Cincinnati office served a multistate district that included Dayton, Ohio. In the spring of 1943, the first Japanese resettlers arrived in Dayton. Initially, the Church Federation drew upon the resources of the Commission on War Services to assist the resettlers. By May 1944, the steady flow of resettlers led the Church Federation to create a Committee on Resettlement.
This study explores the Church Federation's role as it assisted over 150 Japanese resettlers to Dayton, and in doing so, it will assess the relationship between the Church Federation and the WRA's Cincinnati field office.