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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Newspaper article, "Local Groups Want Hospital at Jerome"
Newspaper article discussing the community's desire to have a hospital established on the site that the Jerome Relocation Center was located.
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Newspaper article, "Military Minutes"
Newspaper article about the awarding of the bronze medal to Sueo Takahashi.
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Newspaper article, "Nisei Performed Heroic Deeds Prior to Death in Action"
Newspaper article discussing the heroic service and death of Rohwer Relocation Center resident Togo S. Sugiyama.
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Newspaper article, "No Plans to Close Rohwer Center"
Newspaper article discussing the Rohwer Relocation Center staying open.
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Newspaper article, "Permanent Prosperity"
Newspaper article describing the economic impact of internment on McGehee.
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Newspaper article, "Predicts Slow Migration of Japs Back to Coast"
Newspaper article about the migration of Japanese-American back to the West Coast.
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Newspaper article, "Public Invited to 2nd Annual Rohwer Christian Mission Beginning Sunday"
Newspaper article about the speakers for the 2nd Annual Rohwer Christian Mission.
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Newspaper article, "Rohwer GI Drowned in New Guinea: Pvt. William G. Shook Jr. Went Overseas in January"
Newspaper article about the death of a Rohwer resident in New Guinea.
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Newspaper article, "Soldiers Killed in Italy Honored at Rohwer," addition to General Comment by project director
Newspaper article included as an addition to general comments by project director.
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Newspaper article, "Soldiers Provide Evacuee Kids With Egg Hunt"
Newspaper articles talking about an Easter egg hunt hosted by Camp Shelby soldiers for children from the Japanese-American relocation centers in Arkansas.
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Newspaper article, "Talk of the Times"
Newspaper article about the outside perception of McGehee, Arkansas.
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Newspaper article, "These Were American Soldiers," addition to General Comment by project director
Newspaper article included as an addition to general comment by project director.
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Newspaper article, "To Keep Jap Center Open for 6 Months"
Newspaper article about the plan to close Rohwer Relocation Center following 6 more months of operation.
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Newspaper article, "Tribute to Japanese-American Soldiers"
Newspaper article discussing a rescue effort by the 442nd Infantry Battalion in France.
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Newspaper article, "Trouble Rumor is Unfounded"
Newspaper article discussing rumors surrounding the transfer of Japanese Americans to Tule Lake Center.
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Newspaper article, "USO for Jerome Soldiers"
Newspaper article about the establishment of the USO in McGehee, Arkansas.
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Newspaper article, "What the Californians Have to Say About Japanese Americans"
Reprint of a newspaper editorial from the Fresno Bee describing the Californian perception of Japanese Americans.
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Newspaper article, "Whitaker to Leave WRA, Return to Agriculture Department"
Newspaper article discussing E.B. Whitaker leaving the War Relocation Authority to return to the Department of Agriculture.
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Newspaper article, "Wounded in Italy, Soldier Visits at Rohwer Camp"
Newspaper article about a visit from a Japanese-American Silver Star and Purple Heart recipient to Rohwer Relocation Center.
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Official correspondence from the War Relocation Authority to Hazel Retherford
Official correspondence from the War Location Authority to Hazel Retherford. The letter requests that Hazel transfer to Rohwer Relocation Center to teach elementary school. It also discusses pay and food allowances.
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"Our Japanese-American Soldiers," Arkansas Gazette Editorial & addition to project director's general comment
Arkansas Gazette editorial titled, "Our Japanese-American Soldiers" included as an addition to general comment by project director.
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Postcard, Ikuko Motsumoto to Hazel Retherford
Postcard from Ikuko Motsumoto in Arizona to Hazel Retherford in Jerome, Arkansas.
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Postcard, Michiko S. to Hazel Retherford
Postcard from Michiko S. at one of Arizona's Japanese relocation camps to Hazel Retherford at Jerome Relocation Center in Arkansas.
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Postcard to Hazel Retherford
Postcard from unnamed person in New Britain, Connecticut, to Hazel Retherford at Rohwer Relocation Center.
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Postcard, Toshimi Kurisu to Hazel Retherford
Postcard sent from Toshimi Kurisu at one of the Japanese relocation camps in Arizona to Hazel Retherford in Arkansas.