Rohwer in Desha County, Arkansas — The American South (West South Central)
Why Us? Why Here?
Photographed by Cajun Scrambler, February 21, 2021
1. Why Us? Why Here? Marker
The relocation center sites were chosen because of their distance from the West Coast and for their suitability and isolation as secured, closed camps.
Inside The Relocation Center
The loss of their former lives was profound for the Japanese Americans who lived at Rohwer. The internees left their mark on the local community by teaching new methods of irrigation for row crops, creating distinctive arts and crafts, and impressing teachers with how hard their students worked.
Outside The Relocation Center
Local Arkansans were themselves often confined by poverty and Jim Crow segregation. Some locals who lived in poverty coveted the food,
health care, and education available to camp internees, which led to
resentment and misunderstanding.
"The Rohwer camp was sited among flat cotton fields, which were part of a parcel
previously purchased by the Farm Security Administration for future subsistence homesteads for low-income Southern families. It is just one of the ironies of the entire
relocation effort that this land instead served as an incarceration site for a group of people who were being deprived of their inherent rights."
Topics.
this page online
Location. 33° 45.977′ N, 91° 16.551′ W. Marker is in Rohwer, Arkansas, in Desha County. It can be reached from State Highway 1 half a mile 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 States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking
Photographed by Cajun Scrambler, February 21, 2021
2. Why Us? Why Here? Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on March 26, 2021. It was originally submitted on March 26, 2021, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana. This page has been viewed 307 times since then and 23 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on March 26, 2021, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana.
