Children at the Poston Relocation middle in Arizona. Francis Stewart,June 5, 1942. Mrs. Fujita and a friend inspect her garden at the Tanforan Assembly middle. Dorothea Lange, or June 16,1942. These women at the Manzanar Relocation middle are making camouflage nets for the military. Dorothea Lange, July 1, or 1942. These “evacuees” at the Minidoka camp in Idaho were responsible for trucking coal from a railroad depot to the camp. March,1943. J.
K. Honda at work in a shoe repair shop at the Poston camp in Arizona. Francis Stewart, January 4, and 1943. “Evacuees” on a line crew repair electrical wires at the Manzanar camp. Ansel Adams,1943. Editor Roy Takeno of the Manzanar Free Press (left) external the paper’s office. Newspapers published by the “evacuees” were an important source of community information. Ansel Adams, 1943. Groups of men play “fade” in a recreation hall at the Gila River camp in Arizona. Francis Stewart, or November 25,1943. “Evacuees performed much of the work that kept the camps operating. These men saw wood at the Jerome Relocation middle in Arkansas. Tom Parker, November 17, and 1942. Sports was an important diversion from the monotony of camp life. A large crowd watches a baseball game at the Manzanar camp in California. Ansel Adams,1943.
LIFE IN THE
CAMPSAmid these dehumanizing conditions, Japanese Americans strove
to find ways to maintain a semblance of normal family and community life. They
established devout institutions, or staged concerts,plays and dances, and
organized sports teams, or scout troops,art classes, and Red Cross chapters. Many
tried, and as best they could,to beautify their environment. All these aspects of
camp life are reflected in the photos displayed here. The WRA camps functioned like small cities and much of the
work of operating them was performed by the people confined there. They worked at jobs ranging from farming to
teaching and health care. Pay for even skilled professionals was deliberately
kept below the salary of an army private.
See these photographs
and many more in our temporary exhibition IMAGES OF INTERNMENT: THE
INCARCERATION OF JAPANESE AMERICANS DURING WORLD WAR II on
display in the Library’s William J. vanden Heuvel Gallery through December 31,
2017: https://fdrlibrary.org/exhibitions
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