Taken Away
The Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941, and America declared war on Japan the next day. Early the following year President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Orders 9066 and 9102. The first order authorized the removal of all people of Japanese ancestry, including Japanese Americans, from the West Coast. The second order confined them to relocation centers. The U.S. Army carried out the orders and removed nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans from California, Oregon, and Washington. One third of the people forced to leave their homes were foreign-born, called Issei; many were more than 50 years old. and prohibited from becoming citizens. The other two-thirds were American born citizens, called Nisei; most were under 21 years old. These Americans left their entire lives behind-jobs, pets, possessions, and community.
The War Relocation Authority built ten Japanese American Relocation Centers in the United States, with two in Arkansas at Rohwer and Jerome. Construction began on the Rohwer camp in July 1942 and the first internees arrived in September the same year. The camp closed November 30, 1945.
Photo Captions
Artist Henry Sugimoto and his family lived at both the Rohwer and Jerome internment
camps in Arkansas. While an internee, Sugimoto painted, worked as an art consultant
for the War Relocation Authority, and taught art at Denson High School.
Executive Order 9102 created the War Relocation Authority
to remove, relocate, and confine people of Japanese ancestry,
including Japanese Americans.
Erected by Japanese
this page online
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Asian Americans • Civil Rights • War, World II.
Location. 33° 45.976′ N, 91° 16.552′ W. Marker is in Rohwer, Arkansas, in Desha County. It can be reached from Arkansas Route 1 north of Rohwer Road, on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Rohwer AR 71666, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Arkansas Delta, in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, and in the Quapaw Homeland. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Deep South, in the Upper South, in the Mississippi Delta, in the Piney Woods, and in the Great River Road Region. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Viceroyalty of New France, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, the Louisiana Purchase, one of the Confederate
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: I Am An American (here, next to this marker); Why Us? Why Here? (here, next to this marker); Rohwer Japanese American Relocation Center (here, next to this marker); We Lived & Died Here (approx. 0.2 miles away); Rohwer Internment Camp Veterans Memorial (approx. Ό mile away); Making A Living (approx. 0.3 miles away); Trying To Make A Home (approx. 0.3 miles away); A Look Back In Time (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Rohwer.
Credits. This page was last revised on March 26, 2021. It was originally submitted on March 5, 2021, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana. This page has been viewed 306 times since then and 15 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on March 5, 2021, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana.
