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.