Japanese American Internment Camps in 1942

On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Within months, that single event upended the lives of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans living on the West Coast. Fear and suspicion spread fast across the country, and Japanese Americans bore the full weight of it. They lost jobs, faced physical attacks, and watched their achievements be dismissed overnight.

A large sign reading "I am an American" placed in the window of a store, Oakland, California, 1942. — A large sign reading “I am an American” placed in the window of a store, Oakland, California, 1942.

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. It authorized the removal of any person from designated military zones. California, along with large parts of Washington and Oregon, was immediately declared a military area. General John L. DeWitt, head of the Western Defense Command, enforced the order by issuing a curfew on all Japanese Americans along the West Coast. No evidence of disloyalty was required — suspicion alone was enough.

Japanese-Americans being evacuated from West Coast areas under U.S. Army war emergency order, 1942.

Japanese Americans were ordered to register with the government. They received identification numbers and disease inoculations. Within days, families had to sell their homes, farms, businesses, and belongings at a fraction of their value. Many lost everything they had spent years building.

Shizuko Ina standing behind unidentified Japanese Americans, San Francisco, 1942.

Evacuees first gathered at temporary holding sites like racetracks and fairgrounds, including the Santa Anita reception center in Los Angeles County. Families lived in tents and converted horse stables while they waited for assignments to permanent war relocation camps.

Santa Anita reception center, Los Angeles County, California, 1942.

Santa Anita reception center, Los Angeles, California. The evacuation of Japanese and Japanese-Americans from West Coast areas under U.S. Army war emergency order, 1942.

The relocation camps were built in remote, harsh locations. Barbed wire fenced the perimeters, and armed guards watched from towers. Entire families shared single rooms with little privacy. Despite these conditions, people organized schools, community centers, and newspapers to hold life together.

San Benito County, California. Japanese-American working in a field while awaiting final evacuation orders, 1942.

Families could take supervised trips to nearby towns like Nyssa, Oregon, to purchase supplies. Many ordered clothing and household goods through the Sears Roebuck mail-order catalog. Letters and communal pay phones were their main links to the outside world.

Hayward, California. Two children of the Mochida family awaiting evacuation, 1942.

Los Angeles, California. Japanese-American child being evacuated with his parents to Owens Valley, 1942.

Japanese-American child who will go with his parents to Owens Valley, 1942.

Japanese-American child being evacuated with his parents to Owens Valley, 1942.

Many of those sent to Owens Valley and other camps were escorted to trains by U.S. Army personnel. Crowds gathered to watch friends and relatives depart, knowing the separation could last years.