During World War II, the United States government placed over 120,000 Japanese Americans from the west coast and Hawaii in ten war relocation camps. Two of those camps were located in southeastern Arkansas. One in Rohwer, the other in Jerome. Life Interrupted will offer a unique opportunity to educate Arkansans and Americans on the unique struggle fo the Japanese American people during this trying time in our nation's past.
Roll over the dates below for timeline highlights, or click here for a complete timeline.
04/42: Many of the California residents who eventually end up in Arkansas are assigned to the Stockton, CA assembly center which operated from May 10 through October 17.
07/42: Construction begins on Rohwer Relocation Center by the Linebarger-Senne Construction Company of Little Rock, Arkansas. Construction begins on Jerome Relocation Center by A.J. Rife Construction Company of Dallas, Texas.
09/18/42: The first inmates arrive at Rohwer, Arkansas. Evacuees came from California and had to endure a three-day train ride from the assembly centers to reach Arkansas.
10/06/42: Camp at Jerome, Arkansas opens. Evacuees were from California and Hawaii.
11/42: Jerome reaches its maximum population at 8,497 and Rohwer does too, at 8,475.
06/03/44: Jerome becomes the first camp to close when the last inmates are transferred to Rohwer.
07-11/44: Jerome produced over 250,000 board feet of lumber and over 6,000 cords of firewood (from inmates clearing trees.) In 1943, 630 acres were put under cultivation at Jerome. In 1944, 718 acres were under cultivation, 200 additional acres were cleared but not farmed, and several hundred more acres were partially cleared.
10/44: Residents of Rohwer erect two monuments in the camp cemetery. One monument, in the shape of a military talk, is to the Japanese Americans in the 100th Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The second monument is dedicated to those who died in the relocation center.
11/30/45: Rohwer, Arkansas, camp closes. After the relocation center was closed. 120 acres were deeded to the local school district and the remaining land was sold back to the original farmers or to veterans. Equipment and buildings were sold to bidders from across the country.
