Rohwer War Relocation Center

Rohwer War Relocation Center
Name	Rohwer War Relocation Center
Caption	Rohwer Relocation Center Cemetery and Memorial
Location	Desha County, Arkansas
Coordinates	33.6283°N 91.3668°W
Established	1942
Closed	1945
Population	~8,475 at peak

Rohwer War Relocation Center was one of ten inland internment camps in the continental United States where people of Japanese descent were incarcerated during World War II following Executive Order 9066. Located in Desha County, Arkansas near McGehee, Arkansas, the center operated from 1942 to 1945 and housed thousands of internees removed primarily from the West Coast of the United States and Hawaii. The site is associated with broader wartime policies including the War Relocation Authority, debates around civil liberties and postwar redress movements.

History and construction

Construction of the camp began after the United States War Department and the War Relocation Authority selected a rural site in Southeast Arkansas in 1942, following consultations with the Office of War Information and local county government officials. The project was influenced by precedents such as Manzanar War Relocation Center and Gila River War Relocation Center, and reflected federal priorities during World War II that also shaped facilities like Camp Amache and Poston War Relocation Center. Builders included contractors working under wartime procurement rules similar to those used for Bonneville Project and other New Deal-era projects administered by agencies like the Civilian Conservation Corps. The camp was completed rapidly using standardized plans that echoed Defense Housing patterns and was formally opened as an agricultural labor and detention site in late 1942.

Camp layout and facilities

The site consisted of barrack blocks arranged along a grid, with communal mess halls, latrines, and a hospital modeled on other internment installations. Facilities included a central administrative compound, school buildings patterned after Public Works Administration designs, a recreation hall, a post office connected to the United States Postal Service, and agricultural fields where residents grew crops for the camp and the War Food Administration. Utilities were basic: water systems similar to rural Works Progress Administration projects, a rail spur connecting to the Missouri Pacific Railroad, and limited electrical service influenced by regional Rural Electrification Administration networks. The cemetery and a section of housing survived into the 21st century and are now marked by a memorial.

Population and daily life

At its peak Rohwer sheltered around 8,475 detainees drawn largely from cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Portland, as well as from Honolulu. The population included Issei elders born in Japan and Nisei youth born in the United States, producing cultural institutions like bilingual schools, Buddhist temples, Christian churches, and community newspapers akin to those at Tule Lake or Heart Mountain. Daily life involved regimented meal schedules in mess halls, classroom instruction patterned after state curricula from California and Washington (state), agricultural labor under overseers, and recreation through baseball teams, Boy Scouts affiliated with Boy Scouts of America, and cultural programs that echoed performances at Camp Harmony and Pinedale Assembly Center. Health services referenced practices from the Public Health Service, while social services reflected standards set by the Red Cross for wartime relief.

Administration and security

The camp was run by the War Relocation Authority with assistance from local law enforcement and military advisors from the United States Army. Administrative staff implemented policies developed in Washington, D.C., involving screening processes similar to the loyalty questionnaire and coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Immigration and Naturalization Service on cases involving Issei residents. Security measures included guarded perimeters, watchtowers influenced by designs used at Jerome War Relocation Center and Topaz War Relocation Center, and internal disciplinary procedures paralleling those at Minidoka. Legal matters sometimes involved attorneys from organizations like the Japanese American Citizens League and civil rights advocates who later cited cases before the United States Supreme Court regarding wartime detention.

Notable incidents and resistance

Rohwer saw acts of protest and legal challenges comparable to resistance at Manzanar and Tule Lake, including demonstrations over the loyalty questionnaire and petitions to relocate families. There were hunger strikes, campus-style debates, and organized civic actions by groups influenced by leaders and activists who communicated with figures from the Japanese American Citizens League and other civil rights groups. Tensions occasionally escalated into clashes requiring intervention by camp administrators or military police similar to incidents that occurred at Gila River and Poston. Individual legal challenges by internees contributed to broader jurisprudence involving wartime detention and civil liberties reviewed during postwar cases like Korematsu v. United States and Hirabayashi v. United States.

Closure and aftermath

Following the end of World War II in 1945 and evolving federal policy, detainees were released and the camp was officially closed. Many former residents returned to the West Coast despite housing shortages, discrimination, and state laws reminiscent of earlier exclusionary measures such as those that had shaped migration patterns from California. Former internees joined resettlement programs administered by agencies related to the Federal Housing Administration and collaborated with advocacy groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Japanese American Committee for Democracy in seeking restitution. The site briefly hosted prisoner of war labor and later reverted to agricultural use; the social history informed postwar narratives including memoirs, oral histories, and exhibitions at institutions like the Smithsonian Institution and regional historical societies.

Preservation and legacy

Remnants of the site, notably the Rohwer War Relocation Center Cemetery and a stone marker, were preserved through efforts by former residents, families, and descendants who worked with the National Park Service, the National Register of Historic Places, and state preservation offices in Arkansas. Scholarly inquiry by historians associated with universities such as University of Arkansas, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, and museums including the Japanese American National Museum has contextualized Rohwer within the larger story of Japanese American incarceration in works that reference legal decisions, cultural continuity, and redress movements culminating in the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. Annual reunions, oral-history projects, and educational programs continue to engage institutions such as Little Rock Central High School and regional archives to confront wartime policies and honor the memories of those incarcerated at the site.

Category:Internment camps in the United States Category:World War II civilian internment