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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Letter, John L. Byers to Governor Homer M. Adkins
John Byers, a resident of Los Angeles County, California, is writing to Governor Adkins to inform him that Japanese immigrants, referred to as Issei, had discovered a way to own land in California despite the laws against non-citizen ownership. He says younger Japanese Americans, who were born in the United States and referred to as Nisei, are the most dangerous Japanese individuals in the world. He believes that the young Japanese Americans have no loyalty to the United States and that they will work with the Japanese Emperor to bring down the West during the war.
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Letter, Levon V. Twyford to Army Private Winston M. Laughin
Governor Adkins' Secretary, Levon Twyford, writes to Private Winston Laughin telling him that the new Alien Land Act of 1943 is to protect the welfare of both the State of Arkansas and its interned Japanese Americans.
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Letter, P.A. Lasley to Governor Homer M. Adkins
Governor Adkins asks Attorney P.A. Lasley to review a Notice of Jurisdiction filed by Dillon Seymour Myer, War Relocation Authority (W.R.A.) director. Lasley is of the opinion that the Governor should sign the documents and concede authority and responsibility of land occupied by the W.R.A. to the federal government. The enforcement of criminal statutes is still the jurisdiction of the state and local authorities, though.
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Letter, P.A. Lasley to Governor Homer M. Adkins
Governor Adkins had asked Attorney P.A. Lasley to review the Notice of Jurisdiction filed by Dillon Seymour Myer, War Relocation Authority Director (W.R.A.) claiming jurisdiction over land. In this letter, Lasley states that he is of the opinion that the Governor should sign the documents and concede authority and responsibility of the land occupied by the W.R.A. to the Federal government.
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Letter, Private Winston Laughlin to Governor Homer M. Adkins
This is a letter from Private Winston Laughlin in Virginia to Governor Homer Adkins protesting the internment of Japanese Americans.
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Letter regarding leave clearance hearings
This is WRA correspondence regarding leave clearance hearings
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Letter, Roberta Clay, Legislative Chairman of the American Association of University Women to Governor Homer M. Adkins
Legislative Chairman Roberta Clay of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) is informing Governor Homer Adkins that the AAUW is registering a protest in Arkansas newspapers about legislation passed by the Arkansas Legislature. The legislation in question is Senate Bill No. 11, Act 47, also known as the Alien Land Act, which prevents Japanese Americans or their descendants from owning or purchasing land in Arkansas. This act is later ruled unconstitutional.
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Memorandum from Dillon S. Meyer to all War Relocation Authority staff members
Memorandum from Dillon S. Meyer to All War Relocation Authority staff members.
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Memorandum from the War Relocation Authority regarding suggestions for conduct of leave clearance hearings
Memorandum from the War Relocation Authority regarding suggestions for conduct of leave clearance hearings.
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Memorandum, Ray D. Johnston to Dillon S. Myer
Memorandum from Ray D. Johnston to Dillon S. Myer concerning the segregation program.
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Memorandum, Ray D. Johnston to Dillon S. Myer
Memorandum from Ray D. Johnston to Dillson S. Myer concerning the segregation program.
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Memorandum, Ray D. Johnston to Dillon S. Myer
Memorandum from Ray D. Johnston to Dillon S. Myer concerning the relocation counseling program.
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Newspaper article, "$120,000 Drainage Ditch Completed At Jerome Relocation Center Last Week"
Newspaper article about drainage work completed at Jerome Relocation Center and the thoughts of Arkansas congressmen Harris and Norrell on the project.
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Newspaper article, "$120,000 Drainage Ditch Completed At Jerome Relocation Center Last Week"
Newspaper article about drainage work completed at Jerome Relocation Center and the thoughts of Arkansas congressmen Harris and Norrell on the project.
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Newspaper article, "150 Evacuess Are Given Outside Employment In Week"
Newspaper article discussing Japanese Americans being given outside employment in Arkansas.
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Newspaper article, "$200,000 Suit Goes To Trial Here"
This article discusses a lawsuit between F.A. Mote and A.J. Rife Construction Co for the amount of $200,000.
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Newspaper article, "2 in Hospital, 5 are Jailed in Rohwer Riot: Japanese Fight Among Themselves Wednesday"
Newspaper article discussing a riot at Rohwer Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "$86,000 Goes to Rohwer Road: Norrell Says Work to Start at Early Date"
Newspaper article discussing funding for the repairs of the road into Rohwer Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "Are They Americans?"
Newspaper article discussing the behavior of Japanese-American internees in McGehee.
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Newspaper article, "Are We Prejudiced?"
A reaction to an earlier McGehee Times editorial entitled, "Are they American?"
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Newspaper article, "Attorney General Rules Japs [sic] May Buy Land Here"
Dermott News article discussing Attorney General Guy E. Williams' decision to overturn a bill disallowing Japanese Americans from buying land in Arkansas.
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Newspaper article, "Between the Lines: And Speaking of the Proposed Segregation"
Editorial discussing the local reaction to the removal of disloyal Japanese Americans from the Jerome Relocation Center
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Newspaper article, "Between the Lines: Beginning next Wednesday, the first 500 out of more than 1,500"
Newspaper article discussing the beginning of the relocation of disloyal Japanese Americans to Tule Lake Relocation Center in Newell, California.
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Newspaper article, "Between The Lines: California May Have Had Other Reasons For Wanting The Japanese Americans Out Of The State"
This article discusses reasons why California may have wanted the Japanese Americans to be relocated.
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Newspaper article, "Between The Lines: Congressional Investigation Committee on Jerome"
Newspaper article about the congressional investigation committee investigating the activities of the Jerome Relocation Center.