Japanese American Incarceration Camp Research Guide
the Japanese-American Incarceration Camp Research Guide features collections of primary and secondary sources which elucidate on the cultural, political, and historical aspects of Japanese-American incarceration during WWII.
E-resources include databases, websites, e-journals, and e-books that are accessed through OneSearch, the A-Z Databases List, Research Guides, etc.
The Ten Incarceration Camps
The majority of Japanese Americans were placed in the ten concentration camps under the management of the War Relocation Authority during WWII. In addition to the ten camps there were 16 Civilian Assembly Centers for temporary incarceration (JANM).
The Granada site (AKA Amache), with the smallest population of the ten relocation centers, became the tenth largest concentration of people in the state of Colorado; it is one the best preserved with intact foundations and little alteration by subsequent development.
The Heart Mountain Incarceration Camp is located midway between the towns of Cody and Powell in northwest Wyoming. The Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation works to preserve what remains of the World War II Japanese American confinement site in Park County, Wyoming, and to tell the stories of the more than 14,000 people unjustly incarcerated at the site.
More than 8,000 Japanese Americans were interned at Rohwer—a 500-acre camp surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards. Although most physical remains have been wiped from the landscape, important stories remain to be shared. This is the camp that George Takei and his family was incarcerated in.
Mission Statement: "“To preserve the Topaz site and its World War II history; to interpret the impact of Topaz on the internees, their families, and the citizens of Millard County; and to educate the public in order to prevent a recurrence of a similar denial of American civil rights."
The mission of the Poston Community Alliance is to preserve Poston’s incarceration history in order to uphold social justice for all Americans, regardless of race, religion and ethnicity. Through multimedia education and the preservation of stories, artifacts and historic structures, Poston’s unique multicultural history, involving Japanese Americans and Native Americans, will be kept alive.
TheI ncarceration camp was built on the Gila River Indian Reservation despite objections by the tribe, who did not want government oppression similar to what they had experienced happening any more on their land. Today the site is owned by the tribe, and adjacent land is still farmed by local residents.
The Jerome War Relocation Camp was located in Southeast Arkansas in Chicot and Drew counties. It was one of two American concentration camps in the Arkansas Delta, the other being at Rohwer.
At its peak, Minidoka housed 9,397 Japanese Americans, predominantly from Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. The Minidoka National Historic Site commemorates the more than 9,000 Japanese Americans who were imprisoned there.
Tule Lake was the largest and most conflict-ridden of the ten War Relocation Authority WRA camps used to carry out the government’s system of exclusion and detention of persons of Japanese descent, mandated by Executive Order 9066.
