The Rohwer War Relocation Center was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Japanese American concentration camp located in rural southeastern

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

, in Desha County. It was in operation from September 18, 1942, until November 30, 1945, and held as many as 8,475 Japanese Americans forcibly evacuated from California.Niiya, Brian.
Rohwer
" ''Densho Encyclopedia''. Retrieved 2014-05-29. The Rohwer War Relocation Center Cemetery is located here, and was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1992.

History

The of land on which Rohwer was built had been purchased by the Farm Security Administration from tax-delinquent landowners in the 1930s. It remained largely abandoned until the

War Relocation Authority The War Relocation Authority (WRA) was a United States government agency established to handle the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. It also operated the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter in Oswego, New York, which was t ...

, which oversaw the World War II incarceration program, took it over in 1942. It planned to use this facility to incarcerate ethnic Japanese, including American citizens from West Coast areas considered strategic to the war effort. Governor Homer Adkins initially opposed the WRA's proposal to build Rohwer and its neighbor,

Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...

, in Arkansas, but relented after being assured that the Japanese American detainees would be controlled by armed white guards at these facilities and they would be removed from the state at the end of the war. During this era, Arkansas had Jim Crow laws and continued with its disenfranchisement of African-American citizens started at the turn of the century. The Linebarger-Senne Construction Company was contracted to build the camp at a cost of $4.8 million; it worked under the supervision of the Army Corps of Engineers. The land was heavily forested and swampy due to its proximity to the Mississippi River 5 miles to the east. Extensive clearing and draining was necessary, making construction at the site a difficult and slow-going task. The camp was still under construction when the first inmates began to arrive. Ultimately the camp held administrative offices, schools, a hospital, and 36 residential blocks, each with twelve 20' by 120' barracks divided into several "apartments", as well as communal dining and sanitary facilities, all contained within a guarded barbed-wire fence. The architect of the camp was

Edward F. Neild Edward Fairfax Neild Sr. (December 3, 1884 – July 6, 1955), was an American architect originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, Shreveport, Louisiana. He designed the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri, ...

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, who also designed the camp at Jerome. Rohwer opened on September 18, 1942, and reached a peak population of 8,475 by March 1943. Most detainees had been forced out of their homes and businesses in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

or the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven c ...

in California. A large portion of Rohwer inmates were school-age children, most born in the US. About 2,000 students attended the camp's schools, which were opened on November 9, 1942, after some delay. Adults took jobs with the administration, hospital, schools, and mess halls, in addition to agricultural work or labor details outside camp. As of the site used for residences and other buildings, officials used the remainder of Rohwer's land to grow more than 100 agricultural products. These were used to supplement the inmates' food rations (kept to a bare minimum of 37 cents a day per inmate to avoid rumors that the WRA was "coddling" Japanese Americans). In 1943, the WRA required all adults in Rohwer and the other camps to submit to a series of questions. Officially, it was presented as the registration process to obtain clearance to leave camp for work or school – and it was initially distributed only to the citizen

Nisei is a Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants (who are called ). The are considered the second generation, ...

who were eligible for leave, before being extended to the first-generation

Issei is a Japanese-language term used by ethnic Japanese in countries in North America and South America to specify the Japanese people who were the first generation to immigrate there. are born in Japan; their children born in the new country are ...

– but administrators soon began to focus instead on assessing the "loyalty" of imprisoned Japanese Americans. The " loyalty questionnaire," as it came to be known, created anger and confusion because of two questions: one asked Japanese Americans if they were willing to volunteer for military service (despite their mistreatment by the government and the army) and the other if they would "forswear their allegiance to the Emperor of Japan" (although many had never held such allegiance in the first place). The set-up of the questions was confusing and internees were suspicious of their true purpose. The loyalty questionnaire and subsequent recruitment efforts proved especially unpopular in the Jerome camp, located 27 miles south of Rohwer. Only 2 percent of eligible men in Jerome (and in Rohwer) enlisted. Some 2,147 others, a quarter of Jerome's population, were classified as "disloyal" after giving unfavorable responses to the questionnaire. They were transferred to the "segregation center" at

Tule Lake Tule Lake ( ) is an intermittent lake covering an area of , long and across, in northeastern Siskiyou County and northwestern Modoc County in California, along the border with Oregon. Geography Tule Lake is fed by the Lost River. The elevat ...

, California. The decline in population, combined with earlier unrest over poor working conditions in the camp, resulted in authorities closing the Jerome camp at the end of June 1944. A significant number of former Jerome inmates were transferred to Rohwer. Together with the Tule Lake Segregation Center, Rohwer was the last WRA camp to close, on November 30, 1945.

Rohwer today

Monument to the Men of the 100th Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Rohwer Memorial Cemetery

The largest remaining structure is the high school gymnasium/auditorium, which was added to and was in service with the local school before it closed in July 2004. The tallest structure is the smokestack from the hospital incinerator. Neither of these is marked in any way to indicate historical significance. The rail line used to bring internees and supplies to the camp remains, though it is apparently abandoned. Some of the rails date back to World War II and before. This rail line also served the

Jerome War Relocation Center The Jerome War Relocation Center was a Japanese American internment camp located in southeastern Arkansas, near the town of Jerome in the Arkansas Delta. Open from October 6, 1942, until June 30, 1944, it was the last American concentration camp ...

, which was located southwest of Rohwer. Various building foundations, walkways, culverts and other improvements are still visible and some are still in use by the local residents. Trees planted by residents have grown tall. The camp cemetery survives as the only site still identified as having been part of the internment center. It was listed as a

in 1992. It has a monument to Japanese American war dead from the camp, and also a monument to those who died at the camp. The camp site was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1974. A tank-shaped memorial, made of reinforced concrete, guards the cemetery, commemorating Japanese Americans who fought for their country during World War II. 581 men joined the U.S. Army from this camp, either volunteering or accepting their conscription into the legendary 100th Infantry Battalion, the famed 442nd RCT and MIS. Thirty-one who came from Rohwer died in action, and their names are inscribed on the memorial, as well as a later memorial raised nearby. In its National Historic Landmark summary on the Rohwer Relocation Center Cemetery, the National Park Service writes:

Rohwer Relocation Camp was constructed in the late summer and early fall of 1942 as a result of
Executive Order 9066 Executive Order 9066 was a United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. This order authorized the secretary of war to prescribe certain ...
(February 19, 1942). Under this order, over 110,000 Japanese Americans and their immigrant parents were forcibly removed from the three Pacific Coast States—California, Oregon, and Washington. In all, ten camps were established in desolate sites, all chosen for their distance from the Pacific Coast. Over 10,000 evacuees passed through Rohwer during its existence, and over two thirds of these were American citizens. The monuments found within the camp's cemetery are perhaps the most poignant record of this time."

In its summary on the Rohwer Relocation Center Cemetery, the National Park Service indicates that the cemetery's condition is threatened due to deterioration of the grave markers and monuments, but that ownership of the site is unclear. Deterioration is visible in photographs of the site. Deterioration is discussed in a report from the National Park Service to the President. The Find A Grave website lists 25 memorials for Rohwer War Relocation Center Cemetery. The cemetery is located west of State Route 1, approximately northeast of

McGehee, Arkansas McGehee is a city in Desha County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 4,219 at the 2010 census. History The history of the city of McGehee and the history of the railroad through McGehee are intricately interwoven. The history of th ...

. Signs identify the graded road which goes from the highway to the cemetery, where there is room to park automobiles.

Heritage site

The Rohwer War Relocation Center site is now an

Arkansas State University Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage la ...

Heritage Site, and features a memorial, the camp cemetery, interpretive panels and audio kiosks. The

Japanese American Internment Museum The Japanese American Internment Museum, also known as the WWII Japanese American Internment Museum and the Jerome-Rohwer Interpretive Museum & Visitor Center, is a history museum in McGehee, Arkansas. The museum features exhibits regarding the are ...

opened in nearby

in 2013 and serves as the history museum and unofficial visitor center for the Rohwer War Relocation Center. Exhibits include a film, oral histories, photographs and personal artifacts of the internees.

Shooting of residents by a civilian at Rohwer

M.C. Brown, a tenant farmer on horseback on his way home from deer hunting, came across some Japanese Americans from the Rohwer camp, on a work detail in the woods. He fired his gun, and one of the Japanese American men was struck in the hip by a pellet while another was wounded in the calf of the leg. The Japanese Americans were working in the woods under the supervision of a government engineer when the shooting occurred.

Notable internees

Ruth Asawa Ruth Aiko Asawa (January 24, 1926 – August 5, 2013) was an American modernist sculptor. Her work is featured in collections at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.< ...

(1926–2013), Japanese American sculptor *

Takayo Fischer Takayo Fischer (née Tsubouchi; born November 25, 1932) is an American stage, film and television actress, as well as voice actor, voice-over actress. Personal life Fischer was born in Hardwick, California, the youngest of four daughters of ''Iss ...

(born 1932), American stage, film and TV actress; also interned at

Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga (August 5, 1925 – July 18, 2018) was a Japanese American political activist who played a major role in the Japanese American redress movement. She was the lead researcher of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Intern ...

(1925–2018), political activist; also interned at

Manzanar Manzanar is the site of one of ten American concentration camps, where more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II from March 1942 to November 1945. Although it had over 10,000 inmates at its peak, it was one o ...

and Jerome *

Eddie Imazu Edwin "Eddie" Imazu (12 November 1897 – 29 May 1979) was a Japanese-American art director and production designer, whose 50-year career in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood included television and movie credits. A 1936 Academy Award ...

(1897–1979), an art director and production designer. Also interned at

Jim Ishida James Susumu Ishida (born July 29, 1943) is a Japanese-American character actor who has had a role in various projects over the course of his over 30 years-long career in films and television. Jim Ishida portrayed T. Fujitsu, Marty McFly's boss ...

(born 1943), actor best known for his role as T. Fujitsu, Marty McFly's future boss in ''

Back to the Future Part II ''Back to the Future Part II'' is a 1989 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay by Bob Gale and a story by both. It is the sequel to the 1985 film ''Back to the Future'' and the second installment in the ' ...

'' in 1989 *

Janice Mirikitani Janice Mirikitani (February 5, 1941 – July 29, 2021) was a Japanese–American poet and activist who resided in the San Francisco Bay Area for most of her adult life. She managed the Glide Memorial Church with her husband, Cecil Williams. Sh ...

(1941–2021), poet laureate of San Francisco; co-founded with her husband, the Rev. Cecil Williams, the Glide Foundation (Glide Memorial Church is featured in the Will Smith film ''The Pursuit of Happiness''). Glide empowers San Francisco's disadvantaged members of society through extensive outreach and advocacy efforts. *

Rose Ochi Takayo "Rose" Matsui Ochi (December 15, 1938 – December 13, 2020) was a Japanese-American attorney and civil rights activist notable for fighting for the approval of the Manzanar to become a National Historic Site (United States), National His ...

(1938–2020), Japanese American attorney and civil rights activist *

Henry Sugimoto Henry Yuzuru Sugimoto (March 12, 1900 – May 8, 1990) was a Japanese-American artist, art teacher and a survivor of Japanese American Internment during World War II. Sugimoto became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1952.Branham, Er ...

(1900–1990), Japanese-born artist; also interned at Jerome *

George Takei George Takei (; ja, ジョージ・タケイ; born Hosato Takei (武井穂郷), April 20, 1937) is an American actor, author and activist known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the fictional starship USS ''Enterprise'' in the televi ...

(born 1937), activist, author, and actor best known as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu from ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' (1966–69). Since his parents refused to take a vow and did not "pass" the loyalty questionnaire, the family was later transferred to

Tule Lake War Relocation Center The Tule Lake National Monument in Modoc and Siskiyou counties in California, consists primarily of the site of the Tule Lake War Relocation Center, one of ten concentration camps constructed in 1942 by the United States government to incarce ...

. *

Michiko Toyama Michiko Francoise Toyama Muto (February 14, 1908 – October 23, 2000) was a Japanese American composer. She was one of the first women invited to study at the Columbia–Princeton Electronic Music Center (today known as the Computer Music Center ...

(1908–2000), a composer * Taitetsu Unno (1930–2014), Buddhist scholar, lecturer, and author; also interned at the

* Grayce Uyehara (1919–2014), Japanese-American social worker and activist

References

Notes

Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture

External links

Rohwer War Relocation Center
- official site *John Howard,
John Yoshido in Arkansas, 1943
" ''Southern Spaces'', 2 October 2008. http://southernspaces.org/2008/john-yoshida-arkansas-1943 * – Rohwer Relocation Center Memorial Cemetery—Accompanying 54 photos of camp ruins, memorial, and cemetery from 1990 * *Brian Niiya.
Rohwer
" ''Densho Encyclopedia'', 2014. *Patricia Wakida.
Rohwer Outpost (newspaper)
" ''Densho Encyclopedia, 2014.
Yoshikawa Family Collection
available a

{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Desha County, Arkansas Internment camps for Japanese Americans National Historic Landmarks in Arkansas Historic American Landscapes Survey in Arkansas 1942 establishments in Arkansas Tourist attractions in Desha County, Arkansas World War II on the National Register of Historic Places Arkansas State University Protected areas of Desha County, Arkansas National Register of Historic Places in Desha County, Arkansas Temporary populated places on the National Register of Historic Places Buddhism in Arkansas