FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY OAT E (Type all entries.. complete appliceble sections).*-:-" "' r~ > I,, <,; _I 1 : '' ',' , '(,I. ' 't','. < < \ <, L I?

Transcription

1 A - V go V, '-.-\J, L Fo~m UNTED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE 1NTERlOR (9tv. 6-72) NATONAL PARK SERVCE.rlrkansas NATONAL REGSTER OF HlSTORC PLACES NVENTORY - NOMNATON FORM.. FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY OAT E (Type all entries.. complete appliceble sections).*-:-" "' r~ >,, <,; _ 1 : 4.'NAHF ,. <...* ) CO.UMCN- Rohwer Relocation Center Site ANDOR HSTORC: COUNTY. Desha Arkansas Hid-iwav 1 ClTY OR TOWN: 1 CONGRESSONAL 3lSTRCT: Mr. Joe Gould, Mr. STREET AND NUMBER: Robert Adcock 4 b d r COJRTHOUSE FiECZTRY OF DEEDS. CTC: Desha County Courthouse STREET AND NUMBER: n 0 c z 4 4 CTY OR TOVN: STATE CODE p. ' R +E~R.~X~T~!QM :ii. $xis~jui;' su~,v~rs TTLE OF SURVEY. '' ',' "' L''', '(,. ' _ArkansasLstoric Preservation Program 't','. < < \ <, L? dl, DATE OF SURVEY: ~uly Fedmrol Stmte & County 0 L OC~ DEPOSTORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS: Arkansas' Historic Preservation Program STREET AND NUM&ER: Suite , Plaza West, McKinl.CTY OR TOWN: T,ittEe Rock - 0

2 Some physical evidence remains to show that a temporary city of ten thousand (10,0003 pegple once occupied the open fields near Rohwer, Arkansas. The Rohwer Relocation Center, setuated along a two (2) mile stretch just west of Arkansas Highway 1 and the railroad tracks at Rohwer, housed relocated Japanese-Americans during World War 11. The sentry towers and most of the tar paper barracks have been tom down. Several buildings which were in the hospital area of the Relocation Center are now used by the Desha Special School District, Other buildings have been moved from the site. At the northern extremity of the area are seven buildings now used by the Desha Special School District. n the east central portion of the site are two large concrete foundations, now overrun by weeds and rubbi sh. west of the concrete foundation stands a twenty 120') foot tall water storage reservoir. Adjacent to this tank are the remains of the Center's fire station. At the south end of the original site lies the cemetery, with twenty-five (251 concrete gravestones clustered behind two (2 ) tall monuments. Each of these concrete monuments is approximately fifteen (15" feet tall. The base of the soldiersp memorial gives the appearance of a tank, with the turret: being replaced by a double pyramid of cast stone topped by a star. nscribed on this monument to soldiers from the camp who were killed in action during World War 11 are the wards, "Dedicated to the men from Rohwer Center who gave their lives to America on foreign soil. l1 The other monument is a concrete obelisk rising from a square base and supporting an eagle atop a globe. Commemorating the lives of the twenty-five ( 25 1 Japanese- Americans w3e died while being forced to live in the camp, this obelisk is inscribed as follows : Way the people of Arkansas keep in beauty and reverence forever this ground where our bodies sleep. " w

3 PEKOD (check One or M as as Approprlrfs) Pro-tellmbian 0 16th ctnkv 18th Ccntvrg 20th Century Q 15th Century 17th C-ntuv 19th Cmt? Abar lginol 0 Prehistoric - Mistoric 0 Ag+ituliurc Arehl teeur* Art Comrnsteb 13 Cmmunicotiom [3 Conssrvetien 0 Education r] Enginasring 0 industry 0 nvenfion a Londsempe Archihcrurs fj Litsrahrr. [Xj Military n Music p3 Politico1 Urbon Plonning. Roligion/Phi. Other (SP~C!&) losophr Sciencr Q Seulphne SociolMumonitmian Theater Tronrportation STATEMENT OF SGHF~CAHCE Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on D-=ember 7, 1941, manyamericans feared a Japanese invasion of Hawaii, and ultimately, the Yest Coast. The Loyalty of all persons of Japanese ancestry was fmu'nediately questioned. The Japanese-Rvericaul population was concentrated in the three (31 westernmost states, especially California. This concentration was viewed as a serious threat to American security. To check the Japanese the United States Government established ten (10) isolated camps in the interior of the country for the relocation of Japanese-Americans. Executive Order No issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 18, 1942, created the War Relocation Authority. This board established assembly centers on the west coast to which those of Japanese ancestry were to report. Within seven (7) months most of the West coast Japanese-Americans had been loaded onto trains and moved inland to these relocation centers. Two Arkansas camps, one at Jerome in Chicot County and the other at Rohwer in Desha County, housed almost 20,000 Japanese- Americans from Construction of Rohwer Relocation Csmp, the nation ' s easternmost relocation center, was initiated on July 31, 1942, under D-rector Ray D, Johnston. This 10,161 acre site included 500 acres of tar paper buildings efficiently divided into blocks. Each block contained twelve barracks which housed approximately two hundred and fifty (250) people. The twenty 1213') foot x one hundred twenty (120') foot barrack buildings were each divided into six 16) apartments of different sizes. A cot, mattress and three (31 blankets were provided for each evacuee. Each block in the camp also contained a mess hall, laundry and bath-toilet building. Two blocks were set aside

4 Form Ouly UNTED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE lnterlor NATONAL PARK SERVCE NVENTORY NOMNATON FORM 8, Significance {Continued - Page 2) - for schools, two blocks for a hospital and three blocks for office buildings, The entire camp w,as surrounded by barbed wire fences and sentry towers. Almost two-thirds of the evacuee population at Rohwer were United States citizens. On March 11, 1943, the camp reached its peak population with 8,475 evacuee residents. During its three (3) years of operation two hundred seventy-four 1274) men volunteered from the Rahwer Center for service in the United States Army. The high morale of the Rohwer camp wzs further marked by their publication of the Rohwer Transmitter, a weekly news bulletin edited by Kinuko Oga. One of the evacuees maintained a personal diary during her stay at the Rohwer Relocation Center. Arriving on Octo- ber 31, 1942, this woman recorded in her diary: we llcould see the points of the barbed wire fences with droplets of rain stuck on them. Camp looked like some regimented metropolis - orderly rows of lights, quite a sprawling village,.. we were herded off the cars - MPrs grabbed our arms as we slipped into the soft mud." Though the American relocation centers bore little resemblance to concentration camps, they were areas of enforced inhabitance. n spite of the living conditions, both the evacuees and the administrators endeavored to make camp life resemble normal life as much as possible. Bizddhlst and Christian religious groups were organized, parties and shows were held by the evacuees for their own entertainment and schools with evacuee teachers and Caucasion supervisors were opened. Federal policy in all relocation camps was that of segregation to separate the ltloyaltt from the 7tdisloya11t evacuees. Such factors as study or travel in Japan, abiliky to speak Japanese, or the purchase of United States Savings Bonds were determinants in ascertaining the TrLoyaltyu of Japanese- Americans. f an evacuee was considered "loyalt+ he could be issued a work perrnjt which allowed him to leave the camp for a specific destination in order to take a pre-arranged job. However, no Japanese-Americans were allowed to return to Califomla until World War 1 was ended, w GPO ,

5 Form UNTED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE NTERlOR NATONAL PARK SERVCE NAf lonal REGSTER OF HSTORC PLACES NVENTORY - NOMNATON FORM 8. Significance (Continued - Page 3) According to camp director Ray ~ohns&n, rtthe evacuees were never accepted at their true worth by the people of the State and the surrounding community. tr His overall reaction to the evacuees was that they were "just folks. '? Another administration official, Austin Smith, thought that the greatest difficulty at the center was a lack of qualified personnel to operate the facility. During its 1,170 days of operation, the Rohwer camp housed over 10,000 persons. Despite the fact that sixty-five (65%) percent of the evacuees were Amer5can citizens, the government felt that their ancestry was sufficient reason during this time of stress to cause their confinement. Near the end of the war, even before the Japanese surrender, the evacuees were graduallyallowedto leave the camp. The last group left on November 30, 1945, and the Rohwer Relocation Camp was officially closed, The Rohwer Relocation Center represents a unique experience in American history. Though nine other such facilities existed in the central United States, the Rohwer Center site is especially significant because of the many physical remains. The cemetery and monuments, water tank, concrete foundations and several original buildings remain as tangible evidence of the city that once stood in these southeast Arkansas fields. r' GPO

6 Arkansas Democrat, December a, 1955; and April 15, October 21, Arkansas Gazette, August 2, September 20, 1942; March 7, 1943; October 15, 1961; November 36, 1969; February 1, 1970: and December 22, Arkansas History Commission. Archives, Austin Smith Collection, Vickers, Ruth Petway. lfjapanese-american Relocation. Historical Quarterly, X (Autumn, 19513, LATTUDE AND LONGTUDE COORDlNATE5 -. < 74;,. p.<,lfz* e (?<* LRTTUPF *wc LF*lGl' JOE COORDN&_T_55 OEFNLNG TMc LEnTZR POlM OF 4 PdCPERTY Degrcss Minutas Seconds Dsgrtcs hlinvtes Seconds 33-46'47.3' 91 17'13*3 33 a 46 ' " 16 '33.6 LhTTYO'E LON G1 TUDL Dogt**s Minutas Sacds btgreer Minutss Ssmnds ~APPAOXMATE ACREAGE OF MQMlNATED PUWDERfY: q& ]LST ALL STATES A N 0 COUMTES FOR PROPERTES OYERLAPP~NG STATE OR COUHTY BOUNDARES SThTE: CODE COUNTY CODE STATE: CODE COUHTY: H STATE1 CODE COUNTY: CODE t-l [NAME AND T1TLE: 1 1 Little Rock 1 AR 05 [ ~ ~. S T * T E $ ~ T " ' 1 - t As the des ignsted State Liaison Offices for the Ne- [ tionat ~ i ~ preservation t ~ ~ ~~k i of ~ 1966 (public bw i 89465). X hereby nornlnate this property Tor inclusion in the Nations1 Register snd certify that it has ken ~raluated accordinq to the riteria and procechms set forth by the National Park Servrce. The recrrrnme~ded level of signiliconce of this nomirution is: National State 13 Local ' William E, Henderson f ',i * Title State Hi ~tori c Preservati nn office? Date Karch 8, 1974 ' FlATlOYAt REG~ST&XY$~Z~F~~AT%ON :,,..- kmby certify that NPtim8' Register' property is included in the 1 - Director, Olies 01 Arehscrlogy snd Himlotic Prasemath Crte _ -* ATTEST: iate Keepr of The National Register., GPO Bff-894 * -- -., : -... i r _.. - -*...-LU-f --." -..--_, * jl '! :J b.' >-.,, 1.-?a r- 1 -? '. /--

7 UNTED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE NTEROR focfi.re:sat A NATONAL PARK SERVCE n s ~ : ~ *.,..*. --. ' "'*'. ' - NATOHAt REGSTER OF HSTORC PLACES +-. PROPERTY PHOTOGRAPH FORM (Type slf entries - attach to or enclose with phofographl 1. NAME \ 'QMUON ANWOR HSTORC H'UMERC CODE AaslmM by NPS).ohwer Relocation center1 Nisei Cmp STATE Arkansas. STREET AHD HUMBER COUNTY Desha TOWN Rohwer West of Arkansas -Highway #1 3. PHOTO REFERENCE - - PHOTO EREOlT DATE Robert Dunn February, DENTFCATON DESCRBE VEW. DRECTON. ETC. NEGATlWE FLED AT Arkansas Historic 1 Preservation Program Southern-most section of the site viewed from the east. u-4 Z V 3 E + m Z Form No RUW UNTED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE NTEROR NATONAL PARK SERVCE NATONAL REGSTER OF HlSTORlC PLACES PROPERTY MA? FORM a entries - oftach t T W w *n 1.-,2. ;tknh orrow ~ ~ ~ i t and ; d a longitude mfer*nee..... * "-5. GOVERHHEHT PRl HtlHG OFFCE : d8/

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