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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Photograph of Joseph Boone Hunter and Betty Hunter
Photograph of Joseph Boone Hunter and his wife, Betty Hunter.
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Response to Analysts' report to War Relocation Authority Director Dillon S. Meyer from Austin Smith, Jr.
Report on the progress of the segregation program at Rohwer Relocation Center.
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Rohwer Relocation Center evacuee reaction to the registration program
Special report on the evacuee attitude toward the implemented registration program.
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Still life color drawing of a fruit bowl by Natsumi Tomita
Color still life of a bowl of fruit. Drawing by Natsumi Tomita.
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Still life color drawing of a fruit bowl by Yasuko Hizayama
Color still life drawing of a bowl of fruit. Drawing by Yasuko Hizayama.
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Still life drawing of flowers in a vase by Mary Saki
Still life drawing of a vase of flowers by Mary Saki.
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Suggestions for conduct of leave clearance interviews
Document giving instructions for leave clearance hearings held at Rohwer Relocation Center.
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The Womanless Wedding presented by the Rohwer Recreation Association
Program from the play, "A Womanless Wedding" presented by the Rohwer Recreation Association.
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Weekly report from Rohwer Relocation Center and general comment by project director
Weekly report from Rohwer Relocation Center on Feb. 29, 1943.
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Newspaper article, "Golden Anniversary"
In 1923, Joseph and Mary Hunter, both Christian missionaries, married in Japan. This article is discusses their 50th wedding anniversary celebration.
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Newspaper article, "Joint Celebration"
In 1923, Joseph and Mary Hunter, both Christian missionaries, married in Japan. This article discusses their 50th wedding anniversary celebration.
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Pacific Citizen: The National Publication of the Japanese American Citizens League
Pacific Citizen newspaper covering a wide range of topics, including the Japanese-American community within the Untied States.
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Photograph, friends of Joseph Boone Hunter
Group photograph of Japanese-American friends of Joseph Boone Hunter, 1983.
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Newspaper article, "A Lesson for the Future"
Newspaper article with an explanation and an apology from Desha County to the Japanese Americans that were held in Arkansas.
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Newspaper article, "At Rohwer, Arkansas Remembers"
Article giving a brief history of the Japanese Americans interned at Rohwer during World War II with historic images of Rohwer Relocation Center and photographs from a memorial service held at the site.
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Newspaper article, "Dedication of Memorial to Nisei a Triumph to Former Internees at Relocation Center"
Article detailing the dedication of the new 17' tall granite and marble monument at the Rohwer Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "Memorial Day Focus Comes to Rohwer"
Newspaper article describing Memorial Day services held at Rohwer Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "Rohwer Relocation Center Revisited"
Newspaper article describing Memorial Day services held at Rohwer Relocation Center.
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Proposed memorial for the 442nd Regiment and the 100th Battalion
These documents show a drawing of the proposed memorial at Rohwer for the 442nd Regiment and the 100th Battalion and a description of the scheduled dedication.
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"A Place Called Rohwer" by Joseph Boone Hunter
Hunter was a part of a documentary called "A Place Called Rohwer." This document is about his participation in that film and about the people who lived in Rohwer during their incarceration. The film is housed at the Arkansas State Archives with the Joseph Boone Hunter Papers supplement II, MS.000653.
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Fundraising Letter from Sam Yada, Director of the Rohwer Center Memorial Fund
Fundraising letter asking for $10,000 to replace the memorial stone in Rohwer Cemetery and to maintain its upkeep.
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Newspaper article, "Camp's World War II Monument Crumbling"
Article about the historic monument to those who served in the military from Rohwer Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "Internment of Japanese Studied"
Newspaper article about the nine member appointed body on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians established in 1980. This commission was appointed to review the facts about Executive Order 9066 by President Carter.
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Newspaper Articles, "Couple Raising Money To Mark Internment of Japanese Americans"; "Imprisonment Was Wrong, Retired Minister Believes"
Articles about time spent at Rohwer Relocation Center by Sam Yada and his family.