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Date Original
1944 June 20
Description
Correspondence from the War Location Authority to Hazel Retherford and other personnel transferring to Rohwer, informing them that they will have to file formally in writing a request to move personal property during their transfer to Rohwer Relocation Center.
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. Hazel Linam Retherford was born on January 27, 1906. During World War II, she was a teacher at both the Jerome and Rohwer Japanese relocation centers in Arkansas, eventually helping to close both centers. She later went to Washington, District of Columbia, to complete War Relocation Authority records on the camps.
Transcription
5-30-44
Dear Mrs. Retherford,
The Washington office has asked us to confirm your willing-
ness to Jerome Relocation Center
Denson, Arkansas
Memorandum
June 20, 1944
To: Vance Martin Mrs. Verna Lee Ridge
Marie Cash Mrs. Bettye Lou Wheat
A.L. Reed Mrs. Lena Mae Martin
Virgie Morris Mrs. Lucretia Overby
Ellen Morrow Mrs. Hazel Retherford
Mary Moore Mrs. Lexie Swofford
Jewel Palmer Leathel Paxton
John Anders
SUBJECT: Personnel Transfers to Rohwer
A memorandum has been received from Mrs. E. B. Whitaker
as follows:
"Please adrive personnel transferring to Rohwer to
file a request in writing for the movement of whatever per-
sonal property they wish WRA to move. This should be filed
with Miss Hogan in my office. After we have assembled all
these requests then we will arrange for transfer by either
Rohwer or Jerome.
"It is also suggested that these people find out what
their address will be in Rohwer, and mark each package which
WRA is to move plainly with their names and Rohwer addresses.
This is important."
A.G. Thompson
Superintendent of Education
cc: Mr. Melton
Mr. Merrifield
Mrs. Ray Johnston
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
WAR RELOCATION AUTHORITY
Denson, Arkansas
OFFICIAL BUSINESS
PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE TO AVOID
PAYMENT OF POSTAGE, $300
Hazel L. Retherford
Denson, Ark.
Physical Description
Letter, 8.5" x 11"
Subjects
Evacuation of civilians; Military assistance; Military camps; Camps; War; Japanese; Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945; World War, 1939-1945--Concentration Camps--United States--Arkansas; Internment camps; Relocation camps; Rohwer Relocation Center (Ark.)
Contributor
War Relocation Authority
Geographical Area
McGehee, Desha County (Ark.); Jerome, Drew County (Ark.)
Language
English
Identifier
MS.000643, Box 1, Folder 1, Item 19
Resource Type
Text
Collection
Hazel Retherford papers, MS.000643
Publisher
Arkansas State Archives
Contributing Entity
Arkansas State Archives
Recommended Citation
Memorandum, War Relocation Authority to Hazel Retherford and other Rohwer personnel, Hazel Retherford papers, 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
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Additional Content
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
