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, "Birth Certificates Denied Japanese"
Newspaper article discussing the denial of birth certificates to children born in Japanese-American relocation centers.
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Newspaper article, "Brooks Hays Visits Jerome: Find Conditions There 'Satisfactory'"
Newspaper article discussing Brooks Hays' visit to the Jerome Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "Buddhist Ceremony Held at Denson"
Article discussing a Buddhist ceremony held at Jerome Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "Bus Service for Rohwer is Sought: Is Requested by WRA and Military Police"
Newspaper article discussing a WRA request to have a bus service at Rohwer Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "Californian Says Nisei are Loyal: Says Less than Three Percent Untrustworthy"
Newspaper article discussing Japanese-American loyalty.
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Newspaper article, "Chicot County to Get Jap Colony"
Article discussing the plans for constructing a relocation center at Jerome.
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Newspaper article, "Christmas is Celebrated by Japanese: Gala Holiday Festivities at Rohwer Colony"
Newspaper article discussing Christmas celebrations at Rohwer Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "Colonies Will Have 5000 Pupils"
Article discussing the number of students and the construct of schooling at Rohwer Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "Contract Let For Jerome Jap [sic] Evacuation Camp: Construction To Start Tomorrow. General Contractor To Have Offices Here"
This article discusses an awarded contract for Jerome Relocation Center and the beginning of construction at the camp.
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Newspaper article, "Contract Let Jerome-Rohwer Jap Colonies: A.J. Rife Construction Co. Awarded Contract for Jerome Project"
Article discussing contracts being granted for both Rohwer and Jerome relocation centers and the cost of construction.
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Newspaper article, "Cupid Pays Visit to Jap [sic] Colony"
Newspaper article discussing the first marriage ceremony at Rohwer Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "Dermott To Have Influx Of 3,000 People Shortly: Second Japanese Relocation Center At Jerome To Be Started Immediately"
This article discusses the addition of an internment camp at Jerome, Arkansas.
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Newspaper article, "Directors of Ass'n. of Commerce Hold Meeting"
Article discussing the Association of Commerce's meeting during which the proposed Japanese-American relocation center was discussed.
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Newspaper article, "Discuss Problem Jap Education: 200 Teachers May be Used at Rohwer-Jerome"
Article discussing the need for teachers at Rohwer Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "Drainage One Of Big Problems At Jap Site: Relocation Authority Offices to be Located in McGehee"
Article discussing problems with the relocation camp at Rohwer and steps that will be taken to mitigate problems in addition to details about internee work and the establishment of a War Relocation Authority office in McGehee.
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Newspaper article, "Dr. Lynch Can Practice Says Court"
Article discussing a ruling regarding M.B. Lynch's medical practice at Rohwer.
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Newspaper article, "Dumas Man Hurt at Rohwer"
Article discussing a guard being injured during construction at Rohwer Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "Educating Japanese up to the WRA"
Article discussing the educational provision of the War Relocation Authority at Rohwer Relocation Center.
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Newspaper article, "Election is Held by Japanese"
Newspaper article discussing Japanese-American internment center elections.
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Newspaper article, "Evacuees at Rohwer Colony Were All Busy: Japanese Colonists Are Not Being Pampered"
Newspaper article discussing the living conditions at the Japanese-American relocation centers in Arkansas.
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Newspaper article, "Farmer Fires on Japanese Near Rohwer: M.C. Brown Charged with Assault to Kill"
Newspaper article about M.C. Brown firing at internees on the Rohwer Relocation Center grounds.
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Newspaper article, "Finds Japanese At Rohwer Colony Accept Situation Well"
Article discussing how the Japanese-American internees felt about their relocation in Arkansas.
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Newspaper article, "Finds Japanese at Rohwer Colony Accept Situation Well: Ministers Say Influence of Christian Leadership Felt at Relocation Center"
Newspaper article discussing how the Japanese Americans reacted to internment soon after arrival.
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Newspaper article, "Gazette Urges Fairness To The Japanese: Many Of Them Helped Defend Pearl Harbor"
Reprinted article from the Arkansas Gazette urging Arkansans to be accepting of the Japanese-American presence in Arkansas.
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Newspaper article, "Gazette Urges Fairness to the Japanese: Many of Them Helped Defend Pearl Harbor"
Newspaper article discussing the Arkansas Gazette urging fairness to the Japanese Americans.