Education

Schools were quickly organized in the concentration camps, but they suffered from crude facilities and lack of teaching materials. Instruction was given for nursery through high school, and adult education was offered. Trained teachers were in short supply, however, and uncertified Japanese Americans with college degrees often filled in. The War Relocation Authority (WRA) deliberately emphasized Americanization in the education program. Some found it painfully ironic to watch incarcerated youth recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

World War II (231)
Concentration camps (1434)
Education (1448)

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1448 items
Letter from a camp teacher to her family (ddr-densho-171-2)
doc Letter from a camp teacher to her family (ddr-densho-171-2)
Excerpt: "I'm not sure when I wrote last, was it on the train? As you probably noticed I took the Pacific limited to be sure of connections at Wells." Sent from Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho.
Student essay:
doc Student essay: "Mission accomplished" (ddr-densho-171-146)
Excerpt: "'Well boys we're allmost home,' say the pilot to his crew."
Letter from a camp teacher to her family (ddr-densho-171-29)
doc Letter from a camp teacher to her family (ddr-densho-171-29)
Excerpt: "I guess the vacation atmosphere of school has permeated my whole routine." Sent from Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho.
Student essay (ddr-densho-171-139)
doc Student essay (ddr-densho-171-139)
Excerpt: "If you have had a person dear to you pass away, you have felt the lonely, lost, and chilling feeling when you are all left along."
Student essay:
doc Student essay: "War" (ddr-densho-171-115)
Excerpt: "To my opinion, if the argument between two countries gets beyond the point of just debating, war is the only way out."
Letter from a camp teacher to her family (ddr-densho-171-17)
doc Letter from a camp teacher to her family (ddr-densho-171-17)
Excerpt: "Monday night we learned at choir that instead of a rehearsal Thursday we were getting a farewell concert for the project." Sent from Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho.
Student essay (ddr-densho-171-173)
doc Student essay (ddr-densho-171-173)
Excerpt: "Mother nature has taken her own course again and we are having rain for too many days."
Letter from a camp teacher to her family (ddr-densho-171-38)
doc Letter from a camp teacher to her family (ddr-densho-171-38)
Excerpt: "Our enrollment is sky rocketing beyond our wildest estimate and yet we must be prepared to have many relocate or graduate in February." Sent from Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho.
Letter from a camp teacher to her family (ddr-densho-171-36)
doc Letter from a camp teacher to her family (ddr-densho-171-36)
Excerpt: "Winter has replaced autumn, and fact has replaced rumor." Sent from Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho.
Letter from a camp teacher to her family (ddr-densho-171-25)
doc Letter from a camp teacher to her family (ddr-densho-171-25)
Excerpt: "I know Tues. was a Relocation Guidance Comm. Meeting that lasted all the afternoon Tues. and Wed. mornings." Sent from Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho.
Student essay:
doc Student essay: "War" (ddr-densho-171-124)
Excerpt: "War! It is just a 3-letter word, but what a lot of sorrow and bloodshed a little word like that can hold."
Letter from a camp teacher to her family (ddr-densho-171-11)
doc Letter from a camp teacher to her family (ddr-densho-171-11)
Excerpt: "The next day we had school with classes meeting for 15 minute periods. John got back from Seattle that morning too. He has hopes of a commission in the procurement division." Sent from Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho.
Letter from a camp teacher to her family (ddr-densho-171-62)
doc Letter from a camp teacher to her family (ddr-densho-171-62)
Excerpt: "My all-too-brief vacation is over but I've stretched it it a bit with a convenient cold." Sent from Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho.
Student essay (ddr-densho-171-178)
doc Student essay (ddr-densho-171-178)
Excerpt: "He sits there on the gayly colored cusion, as I try vigorously to concentrate on my homework."
Adult education certificate of completion (ddr-densho-164-135)
doc Adult education certificate of completion (ddr-densho-164-135)
This certificate was given to a Nisei woman upon completion of a beginning class in clothing design, pattern drafting, and sewing.
High school woodworking class (ddr-densho-159-184)
img High school woodworking class (ddr-densho-159-184)
The Amache High School woodworking instructor was Leo W. Krause.
Students (ddr-densho-161-39)
img Students (ddr-densho-161-39)
L to R: Toshiko Sakamoto, Rumi Tonai, Fudge Amemiya, Reiko Rikimaru, Julia Yoshioka, Fumi Sotomura, Justine Sekiyama, Yoneko Ibusuke.
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