Temporary Assembly Centers

In spring 1942, the Wartime Civil Control Administration (WCCA) hastily prepared temporary "assembly centers" to house the individuals of Japanese ancestry who were removed from their homes after the signing of Executive Order 9066. The centers were surrounded by barbed-wire fences and patrolled by armed military police. People were housed in animal stalls and barracks with communal bathrooms and mess halls. After spending up to six months in the "assembly centers," Japanese Americans were moved inland to permanent concentration camps.

World War II (231)
Temporary Assembly Centers (231)

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231 items

doc Historical photographs and documents, from internment camps to Military Intelligence Service Language School [order form] (ddr-csujad-1-190)

A book order form. Books published by TecCom Productions include: Manzanar, Tule Lake, Rohwer, Heart Mountain, Assembly Center I (Santa Anita, Pomona, Fresno, Tulare, Pinedale, Salinas), Assembly Center II (Turlock, Tanforan, Stockton, Sacramento, Marysville, Portland, Puyallup). See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ike_03_01_004

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-1-190/

doc Letter to Molly Wilson from Sandie Saito (May 12, 1942) (ddr-janm-1-9)

Handwritten letter to Molly Wilson from Sandie Saito (May 12, 1942) from the Santa Anita Assembly Center in Arcadia, California. Letter has return address in the upper left hand corner but not stamped nor postmarked.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-janm-1-9/

doc Letter to Molly Wilson from Chiyeko Akahoshi (April 28, 1942) (ddr-janm-1-100)

Handwritten letter to Molly Wilson from Chiyeko Akahoshi (April 28, 1942) from the Owens Valley Assembly Center in Manzanar, California.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-janm-1-100/

doc Letter to Molly Wilson from Sandie Saito (May 2, 1942) (ddr-janm-1-8)

Handwritten letter to Molly Wilson from Sandie Saito (May 2, 1942) from the Santa Anita Assembly Center in Arcadia, California. Letter has return address in the upper left hand corner but not stamped nor postmarked.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-janm-1-8/

doc Letter (with envelope) to Molly Wilson from June Yoshigai (August 31, 1942) (ddr-janm-1-86)

Handwritten letter to Molly Wilson from June Yoshigai (August 31, 1942). Envelope is postmarked September 1, 1942 from the Santa Anita Assembly Center in Arcadia, California.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-janm-1-86/

doc Postcard to Molly Wilson from June Yoshigai (October 1, 1942) (ddr-janm-1-87)

Postcard to Mollie Wilson from June Yoshigai (October 1, 1942). It is postmarked October 2, 1942 from the Santa Anita Assembly Center in Arcadia, California.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-janm-1-87/

doc Letter (with envelope) to Molly Wilson from June Yoshigai (June 26, 1942) (ddr-janm-1-85)

Handwritten letter to Molly Wilson from June Yoshigai (June 26, 1942). Envelope is postmarked June 29, 1942 from the Santa Anita Assembly Center in Arcadia, California.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-janm-1-85/

doc Letter (with envelope) to Molly Wilson from Sandie Saito (July 8, 1942) (ddr-janm-1-10)

Handwritten letter to Molly Wilson from Sandie Saito (July 8, 1942). Envelope is postmarked July 8, 1942 from the Santa Anita Assembly Center in Arcadia, California.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-janm-1-10/

doc Letter to Kinuta Uno at Pinedale Assembly Center (ddr-densho-324-54)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-324-54/

doc Letter to Kinuta Uno at Pinedale Assembly Center (ddr-densho-324-53)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-324-53/

doc Page of Hisa Nimura Horiuchi Scrapbook (ddr-densho-325-7)

Poems from Hisa's friends. Ms. Whilhite writes that the Nimura family and their neighbors were sent to Arboga, California, most likely they were sent to the Marysville Temporary Assembly Center which was located near Arboga. After spending just over a month in the assembly center Hisa and her family were sent to Tule Lake Concentration Camp.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-325-7/

img Scrapbook (ddr-densho-361-1)

Written on tape on cover: "This scrapbook is original--1942 Nobuko Omoto (Sakai) Bainbridge Island, WA. Please handle with care."

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-361-1/

img Group photograph at Merced Assembly Center (ddr-densho-390-20)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-390-20/

doc Sketch of Tanforan Assembly Center (ddr-densho-392-58)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-392-58/

doc American Concentration Camps VOLUME 6 June, 1942- December, 1942 (ddr-densho-372-6)

Volume 6 divides into six sections. Description about this volume reads directly from the book as follows: Section 1 presents archival documents from June 1942 that show the first major modifications of relocation policies and depict the resistance by Western Defense Command to any amelioration of the condition of the Japanese Americans. Section 2 contains selected …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-372-6/

doc American Concentration Camps VOLUME 5 May, 1942 (ddr-densho-372-5)

Volume 5 divides into two sections. Description about this volume reads directly from the book as follows: The first half of volume 5 includes archival documents from May 1942 which show the Army making California and the other West Coast areas "free" of Japanese, as first the Assembly Centers and then the Relocation Centers began to …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-372-5/

doc Takami Hibiya's individual record (ddr-densho-381-133)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-381-133/

doc Yoshi Hibiya's individual record (ddr-densho-381-170)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-381-170/

doc Journal (ddr-densho-383-626)

Journal in English and Japanese from 1942.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-383-626/

doc Tamako Inouye's 1942 Diary (ddr-densho-383-627)

Tamako (Inouye) Tokuda's daily diary from 1942. She discusses forced removal from Seattle, time at Puyallup Assembly Center and time at Minidoka.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-383-627/

img Women and girls behind barbed wire at Camp Harmony (ddr-densho-383-464)

Tamako Inouye on far right. Written on back of photograph: "Camp Harmony, Puyallup, Washington, 1942".

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-383-464/

doc Letter to Yuri Domoto from Yoshito Shibata (ddr-densho-356-220)

Envelope and letter to Yuriko Domoto Tsukada from Yoshito Shibata in which he tells Yuriko about his transfer to Camp Savage to study Japanese and the general schedule of the language school. He inquires about her family's adjustment to life in the Assembly center and provides her with his new address.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-356-220/

doc Postcard to Yuri Domoto from Rosie Suyeyama (ddr-densho-356-294)

Postcard to Yuriko Domoto Tsukada from Rose Suyeyama in which she talks about the preparations for the move from Tanforan to Topaz. Item tied together with all objects between ddr-densho-356-277 and ddr-densho-356-320.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-356-294/

doc Keynote address by Bob H. Suzuki for Nisei Honorary Degree Ceremony (ddr-densho-446-363)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-446-363/

doc Letter from Joseph Conard to Joseph Ishikawa (ddr-densho-468-103)

Letter from Joseph Conard, Executive Secretary, National Japanese American Student Relocation Council West Coast Committee with instructions on how to proceed with student leave process.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-468-103/