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.
-
Letter, Mike Masaoka to Mickey Nakamura
This correspondence is investigating the qualifications needed to adopt a WRA cemetery and memorial monument at Rohwer, Arkansas under the care of the National Park Service. Mike Masaoka is informing Mickey Nakamura, secretary of Rohwer Center Cemetery Association, that a investigator may be calling on him to discuss the project.
-
Article, "Japanese-American Relocation"
This article was written by Ruth Patway Vickers in 1951 with a contemporary viewpoint. The information in this article describes the conditions under which the Japanese Americans lived during their time in the interment camps and how they were perceived by other Americans.
-
Hazel Retherford's student artwork scrapbook
Color photograph of pages from Hazel Retherford's student artwork scrapbook.
-
National Japanese American Student Relocation Council questionnaire
This questionnaire was designed to help the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council understand the different college options for different areas.
-
Pastel drawing on denim of Rohwer Japanese American Relocation Camp
This image shows a pastel drawing on denim of Rohwer Japanese American Relocation Camp, signed by Masao Okayama, who was probably a student at the camp.
-
Still life color drawing of a fruit bowl by Ikuko
Still life drawing of a bowl of fruit. Drawn by Ikuko.
-
Memorandum, Austin Smith, Jr. to Leo Davis
Memorandum from Austin Smith, Jr. to Leo Davis requesting photographs.
-
Memorandum, Ray D. Johnston to War Relocation Authority Director Dillon S. Myer
Memorandum from Ray D. Johnston to Dillon S. Myer concerning photographs and video.
-
Alma Sokomoto Collier's hair salon
Black and white photograph of Alma Sokomoto Collier's hair salon.
-
Block managers' meeting minutes
Minutes from a block managers' meeting at Rohwer Relocation Center on Feb. 6, 1945.
-
Block managers' meeting minutes
Minutes from a block managers' meeting at Rohwer Relocation Center on Feb. 20, 1945.
-
Block managers' meeting minutes
Minutes from a block managers' meeting at Rohwer Relocation Center on March 13, 1945.
-
Block managers' meeting report
Block managers' meeting minutes for the week ending November 15, 1945.
-
Block managers' meeting report
Block managers' meeting minutes for the week ending February 27, 1945.