Why Us? Why Here?
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 historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Asian Americans • Civil Rights • War, World II.
Location.
this page online
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Rohwer Japanese American Relocation Center (here, next to this marker); Taken Away (here, next to this marker); I Am An American (here, next to this marker); We Lived & Died Here (approx. 0.2 miles away); Rohwer Relocation Center Memorial Cemetery (approx. ¼ mile away); Rohwer Internment Camp Veterans Memorial (approx. ¼ mile away); Making A Living (approx. 0.3 miles away); Trying To Make A Home (approx. 0.3 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 26, 2021, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana. This page has been viewed 136 times since then and 20 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on March 26, 2021, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana.
