Title

Letter, Dr. Joseph Hunter to A. Clark Stratton

Creator

Files

Date Original

1964 May 18

Description

Letter from Dr. Hunter thanking A. Clark Stratton, associate Director National Park Service for meeting with him and Mike Masaoka with the Japanese American Citizens League about the possibility of Rohwer Center Cemetery and the Nisei GI Memorial qualifying for National Park status. Dr. Hunter wants the thirty-one Japanese American men that fought and died for the United States to receive recognition of their service.

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. The Rohwer Center Cemetery in Desha County is one of only three Japanese relocation center cemeteries still maintained in the United States. The Nisei GI Memorial commemorates the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Infantry Battalion. These units were made up of Japanese Americans and draftees from Hawaii. Over 800 men from these two units were killed or missing in action by the end of the war. The 100th Battalion/442nd Infantry Regiment has been recognized for being the most-decorated unit of their size in American miltary history for service during World War II.

Physical Description

Document, 8" x 10"

Subjects

Japanese; Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945; World War, 1939-1945--Concentration Camps--United States--Arkansas; Cemeteries; National parks & reserves; Memorial rites & ceremonies; Organizations; United States. Army. Infantry Battalion, 100th; United States. Army. Infantry Regiment, 442nd

Contributor

Hunter, Joseph Boone, 1886-1987

Geographical Area

Washington, District of Columbia

Language

English

Identifier

MS.000119, Box 1, Folder 3, Item 10, Page 1

Resource Type

Text

Collection

Joseph Boone Hunter collection, MS.000119

Publisher

Arkansas State Archives

Contributing Entity

Arkansas State Archives

Recommended Citation

Letter, Dr. Joseph Hunter to A. Clark Stratton, Joseph Boone Hunter collection, 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