Living conditions

All of the camps were constructed according to the War Department's specifications, which included barbed-wire fences, guard towers, and armed guards around the perimeter. The camps were organized in "blocks" consisting of twelve to fourteen barracks, a mess hall, communal showers and toilets, laundry facilities, and a recreation hall. Each barracks was divided into four or six rooms with each room housing one family, no matter how large, and there was no running water. The furnishings that Japanese Americans found on their arrival were canvas cots, a potbellied stove, and a single bare light bulb. The thin walls offered little protection from the harsh weather, which ranged from 110 degrees in the summer to 25 degrees below zero on winter nights. The flimsy construction allowed no privacy and made normal family life difficult. Camp inmates improved their own living conditions by creating interior walls and partitions, constructing furniture from scrap lumber, and planting gardens.

World War II (231)
Concentration camps (1434)
Living conditions (1751)

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1751 items

img Johnny Hiranuma (ddr-csujad-37-11)

Photograph of Johnny Hiranuma holding a cigarette at the Heart Mountain incarceration camp. Handwritten note on back of photograph states, "Johnny Hiranuma, [heart symbol] [Int.] Wyoming." See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: mhf_011_01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-37-11/

img Camp barracks at Heart Mountain (ddr-csujad-37-14)

Landscape photograph of camp barracks at the Heart Mountain incarceration camp in Wyoming. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: mhf_014

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-37-14/

img Man in military uniform (ddr-csujad-37-10)

Photograph of a man in a military uniform standing at snow covered Heart Mountain camp, Wyoming. Handwritten note on front of photograph states, "To [Elda] Johnny, and [Nike] Sincerely Shigeto." See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: mhf_010

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-37-10/

img Camp barracks at Heart Mountain (ddr-csujad-37-13)

Photograph of snow covered camp barracks at the Heart Mountain incarceration camp in Wyoming. Handwritten note on the back of the photograph states, "Heart Mt. [Mountain] Wyoming." See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: mhf_013_01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-37-13/

img Women standing on stairs of camp barrack (ddr-csujad-37-2)

Photograph of two women standing on the stairs of camp barrack F-E at the Heart Mountain incarceration camp. Handwritten note on back of photograph states,"Heart Mt, Reloc [Relocation] Cl [Camp] Wyomming 21-13-F." See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: mhf_002_02

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-37-2/

img Woman standing in front of camp barracks (ddr-csujad-37-5)

Photograph of a woman wearing a winter coat in snow at the Heart Mountain incarceration camp. Barracks pictured behind her. Handwritten note on back of photograph states "Heart Mt. (Mountain) Reloc (Relocation) Cl [Camp] Wyoming." See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: mhf_005_01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-37-5/

img Women in apron (ddr-csujad-37-6)

Photograph of two women in apron standing in front of a barrack at the Heart Mountain incarceration camp. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: mhf_006

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-37-6/

img Man in front of camp barracks (ddr-csujad-37-9)

Photograph of a man wearing an overcoat and hat standing in front of camp barracks and a utility pole at the Heart Mountain incarceration camp. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: mhf_009

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-37-9/

img Men posing out window (ddr-csujad-37-4)

Photograph of two men posing out the window of a camp barrack at the Heart Mountain incarceration camp. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: mhf_004_01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-37-4/

img Young child in front of Christmas tree (ddr-csujad-37-15)

Photograph of a young child in front of a Christmas tree inside of the barracks building at the Heart Mountain camp, Wyoming. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: mhf_015_01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-37-15/

img Camp barracks at Heart Mountain (ddr-csujad-37-12)

Landscape photograph of camp barracks at the Heart Mountain incarceration camp in Wyoming. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: mhf_012

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-37-12/

img Woman standing in front of camp barrack (ddr-csujad-37-3)

Photograph of a women standing in front camp barracks at the Heart Mountain incarceration camp. A barracks building with a clothes line is seen in the behind. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: mhf_003

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-37-3/

img Tule Lake scrapbook (ddr-csujad-26-53)

Scrapbook created in Tule Lake camp by Japanese American students. Contents include drawings, art, holiday greeting cards prints, poetry and signatures of student groups. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: mei_03_20_001

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-26-53/

img Camp buildings with dust cloud (ddr-csujad-26-69)

Camp barracks buildings line a road with dust cloud. People can be seen in front of the buildings in distance. From photo album of Robert Billigmeier. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: mei_05_006

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-26-69/

doc Personality cards (ddr-csujad-26-44)

Journal entries written by high school students discussing their observations and perspectives on a variety of topics including social and cultural differences, personality conflicts, friendships, social interactions, school, dogs, memories, reflections on camp life, weather, a friend in the military visiting his parents in camp, hobbies, and opinions about other people and daily life. Each entry …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-26-44/

doc Fire department of Tule Lake (ddr-csujad-26-14)

Description of the establishment, structure and operations of the fire department at Tule Lake. The report includes accounts of fires, what firemen do while waiting for fires, schedules, issues with wardens and administration, and ethnographic observations of "social status" in the camps. Report compiled as a portion of the Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Study (JERS). …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-26-14/

img Group photo by car (ddr-csujad-26-111)

A group of five women and one man poses in front of a car with barracks in the background. Additional photos in sequence include: ucsb_mei_0109, ucsb_mei_0113, ucsb_mei_0114, ucsb_mei_0115. From photo album of Robert Billigmeier. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: mei_05_075

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-26-111/

img Young women (ddr-csujad-26-123)

A group of young Japanese American women poses with a Caucasian woman in front of a barracks building. From photo album of Robert Billigmeier. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: mei_05_092

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-26-123/

doc Chapter 8, 9, 10 personality cards (ddr-csujad-26-35)

Journal entries written by high school students discussing their observations and perspectives on a variety of topics including movies, dances, dissatisfaction with recreation, family dynamics, desire to leave camp, cultural and generational differences, and weather. Each entry includes the full date and student name. The entries were part of a class assignment and collected for the …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-26-35/

img Four women and two men (ddr-csujad-26-117)

Four women and two men pose together in front of barracks buildings. All but one person is Japanese American. From photo album of Robert Billigmeier. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: mei_05_086

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-26-117/

doc Outline of University of California study of evacuation and resettlement (ddr-csujad-26-2)

Outline for an academic social science study, the Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Study (JERS), led by the University of California of the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Outline highlights area of administrative, social, political and personal areas to be studied by a team of researchers encamped with incarcerees. See this object in …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-26-2/

doc Personality cards (ddr-csujad-26-43)

Journal entries written by high school students discussing their observations and perspectives on a variety of topics including family interactions, memories, homesickness, friendships, social interactions, school, self-reflection, juvenile delinquency, peer behaviors, death, religion, opinions, and worldviews. Each entry includes the full date and student name. The entries were part of a class assignment and collected for …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-26-43/

img Group photo in front of barracks (ddr-csujad-26-136)

Three Japanese American women and one man pose together in front of a barracks building. An automobile and additional barracks can be seen in the background. From photo album of Robert Billigmeier. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: mei_05_106

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-26-136/

img Barracks row (ddr-csujad-26-86)

A man walks toward a row of barracks lining a dusty road. From photo album of Robert Billigmeier. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: mei_05_023

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-26-86/

img Group photo in front of barracks building (ddr-csujad-26-81)

Posed group photo in front of a barracks building of eighteen Japanese Americans and Caucasian adults, one baby, and one dog. From photo album of Robert Billigmeier. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: mei_05_018

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-26-81/