In the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued on February 19th, 1942, Executive Order 9066--which designated military zones along the United States coast and directed the army to remove all residents of Japanese ancestry from these areas. The president then created the War Relocation Authority (WRA), a federal agency tasked with caring for the approximately 110,000 Japanese-Americans uprooted by Executive Order 9066. The WRA saw to the planning and construction of long-term internment camps located in the interior of the country where the displaced population would be held for the duration of World War II. Two of the selected sites were located in the Arkansas Delta, one at Rohwer in Desha County--which operated from September 18, 1942-November 30, 1945--and the other at Jerome in sections of Chicot and Drew counties--which operated from October 6, 1942-June 30, 1944. The internment camps at Rohwer and Jerome would incarcerate over 16,000 Japanese-Americans between October 1942 and November 1945.
This collection exhibits materials from school administrators and superintendents, pastors, teachers, social welfare workers, and WRA administrators associated with the internment camps. Materials also source from the Homer Adkins’ gubernatorial papers, articles from the McGehee Times and Dermott News, and the official closing roster of the Rohwer Relocation Center.
All materials within this online exhibit are available for research at the Arkansas State Archives. These items were digitized by the Arkansas State Archives as part of a joint project entitled “Rohwer Reconstructed,” overseen by the University of Arkansas’ Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies and funded in part by a grant from the National Park Service through the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program.
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Administrative Report checklist and instructions
Handwritten checklist of formal and personal narrative reports, questions regarding the required contents of reports, and information regarding the indexing of reports after they have been collected.
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Block managers' meeting minutes
Minutes from a block managers' meeting at Rohwer Relocation Center on July 26, 1943.
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Christmas calendar for the month of December
Single page calendar for the month of December. The calendar has an image of Santa Claus at the top.
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Graphite drawing of Jerome Relocation Center barracks
Graphite drawing of the barracks at Jerome Relocation Center. Drawn by internee Bill Uyema.
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Group photograph of Joseph Boone Hunter and two unidentified people
Group photograph of Joseph Boone Hunter and two unidentified people.
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Image of unidentified man on boat
A man with white hair and sunglasses stands on a boat in front of a rocky urban shoreline. Crowds of people and guardrails are visible on the shore. "Rene'" is handwritten on the back of the photo, possibly indicating Rennes, France.
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Incomplete block managers' meeting report
Incomplete block managers' meeting minutes for one of the Japanese-American relocation centers. The minutes are missing previous pages.
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Index of personal narratives from Rohwer Relocation Center
The document contains an index of personal narratives from appointed personnel staff at Rohwer Relocation Center compiled by the War Relocation Authority.
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Index to photographs submitted by the Rohwer reports Division
Index to photographs submitted by the Rohwer reports division of the War Relocation Authority.
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Leave clearance hearings protocol
Document giving instructions for leave clearance hearings held at Rohwer Relocation Center.
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Letter, George Kaneko to Friends of Rohwer
Typed letter from George Kaneko, chairman of the Committee on Arrangements for the War Relocation Authority, to the Friends of Rohwer. The letter is an invitation to a conference addressing the future of Japanese Americans after World War II.
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Letter, Mary Kuriyama to Hazel Retherford
Partial letter from Mary Kuriyama at an internment camp in Arizona to Hazel Retherford in Arkansas. Kuriyama talks about life in the camp she's been transferred to.
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Letter, Mike Masaoka to A. Clark Stratton
Official correspondence from Mike Masaoka to A. Clark Stratton concerning the Rohwer Relocation Center Cemetery.
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Line drawing for cutout of vase with flowers
Printed line drawing of a cutout of a vase with flowers.
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Newspaper article, "From the Frying Pan"
Joseph Hunter published a autobiography in 1972 titled, "Along the Way", about his life in Japan and the United States. This article is promoting that book.
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Newspaper article, "Rohwer Relocation Center Contributes 866 Men to Service in the U.S. Armed Forces"
Newspaper article listing everyone from the Rohwer Relocation Center serving in the United States military.
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Pertinent facts about relocation centers and Japanese Americans
Typed fact sheet about interned Japanese Americans.
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Photograph of Betty Hunter and unidentified woman
Photograph of Betty Hunter and unidentified woman.
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Photograph of Japanese individuals in traditional attire
Photograph of Japanese individuals in traditional attire.