Title

Senate Bill No. 11 Act 47, Alien Land Act

Creator

Files

Date Original

1943 February 13

Description

This is the original Senate Bill passed by the Arkansas State Legislature that banned all Japanese and their descendants from owning land in Arkansas.

Biographical/Historical Note

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9022, creating the War Relocation Authority (WRA). The WRA selected ten sites in which to imprison more than 110,000 persons of Japanese ancestry, over two-thirds of whom were American citizens. Two of these centers were in the Arkansas Delta, one at Rohwer in Desha County, and the other at Jerome in sections of Chicot and Drew counties. Over 16,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated in these two centers between October 1942 and November 1945. On February 13, 1943, the Arkansas State Legislature, with the approval of Governor Homer Adkins, passed Senate Bill No. 11, Act 47, also known as the Alien Land Act. This bill stated " Japanese or a descendant of a Japanese shall ever purchase or hold title to any lands in the State of Arkansas." This act was later ruled unconstitutional.

Transcription

Senate Bill No 11 Act 47
A Bill
For An Act to Safeguard the Real Property of the State of Arkansas and
The Citizens Thereof and for Other Purposes: Because, on Account of the
Standards of Living of the Japanese People; A White Person Can Not Profitably
Compete With the Japanese Either in Agriculture or Business; Now Therefore,
Be It Enacted By The General Assembly Of The State Of Arkansas
Section 1. One or after the effective date of this Act, no Japanese or a descendant
of a Japanese shall ever purchase or hold title to any lands in the State of Arkansas.
Section 2. No corporation, trustee, agent or any person whatever shall purchase or
own any lands in the State of Arkansas in which a Japanese or a descendant of a
Japanese is interested directly or indirectly.
Section 3. No corporation, trustee, agent or any person whatever shall rent for
a term of over one (1) year any lands in Arkansas in which a Japanese or a descendant
of a Japanese shall be interested directly or indirectly.
Section 4. All sales, conveyances or leases in conflict with this Act shall be
absolutely void and of no effect whatever. Provided that any tax payer in any county in which
an attempted sale or lease is located shall have the authority to file suit for the purpose
\ of ousting any pretended purchaser or lessee in violation of this Act.
Section 5. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are
hereby repealed.
Approved: 2/13/43
RW Giffith
Speaker of the House of Representative
Homer M Adkins 2/13/43
Governor of the State of Arkansas
Secretary of State
________________ Lieutenant Governor

Physical Description

Ledger book

Subjects

Adkins, Homer Martin, 1890-1964; Evacuation of civilians; Military assistance; Military camps; Camps; Internment camps; Relocation camps; World War, 1939-1945--Concentration Camps--United States--Arkansas; Rohwer Relocation Center; Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945

Contributor

Arkansas State Legislature

Geographical Area

Little Rock, Pulaski County (Ark.)

Language

English

Identifier

Acts of Arkansas 1943, Act 47

Resource Type

Text

Collection

Acts of Arkansas, MS.000659

Publisher

Arkansas State Archives

Contributing Entity

Arkansas State Archives

Recommended Citation

Senate Bill No. 11 Act 47, Alien Land Act, Acts of Arkansas, Arkansas State Archives, Little Rock, Arkansas.

Rights

Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.

Disciplines

United States History

Preview

Additional Content

Hazel Retherford papers, MS.000643; Amon Guy Thompson papers, MG04582-MG04586; Austin Smith papers, 1942-1945, MG04350; Beauty Behind Barbed Wire: The Arts of the Japanese in Our War Relocation Camps, MG01299; Community Analysis Reports and Community Analysis Trend Reports of the War Relocation Authority, 1942-1946, MG03846-MG03847; Japanese Camp papers, MG03848-MG03869