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 (277)
Concentration camps (1771)
Living conditions (1870)

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1870 items

av An oral history with Margaret Yamamoto (ddr-csujad-29-32)

An oral interview with Margaret Yamamoto, an incarceree at the Santa Anita Assembly Center and the Rohwer incarceration camp. The interview was conducted for the Japanese American Oral History Project by California State University, Fullerton. Transcription is found in the item: csufccop_jaoh_0116. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: 2237_T01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-29-32/

img Sketch of a dust storm at Manzanar (ddr-manz-2-42)

Caption: "First impression of Manzanar."

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-manz-2-42/

img Painting of Japanese Americans making improvements to barracks (ddr-manz-2-62)

Caption: "Residents installed plaster boards inside barracks. This was the room of Mr. and Mrs. Kurahashi."

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-manz-2-62/

img Painting of the clothing allowance distribution (ddr-manz-2-60)

Caption: "Clothing allowance."

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-manz-2-60/

img Painting of the mess hall line (ddr-manz-2-9)

Caption: "Progress after one year. The mess hall line" and "Wall painting by Takamura."

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-manz-2-9/

img Painting of barracks (ddr-manz-2-12)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-manz-2-12/

img Camp street with Mt. Williamson in the background (ddr-manz-8-2)

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-manz-8-2/

doc Letter to Molly Wilson from Mary Murakami (October 6, 1942) (ddr-janm-1-29)

Handwritten letter to Molly Wilson from Mary Murakami (October 6, 1942).

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-janm-1-29/

doc Letter (with envelope) to Mollie Wilson from Lillian (Nobie) Igasaki (March 31, 1944) (ddr-janm-1-51)

Handwritten letter to Molly Wilson from Lillian (Nobie) Igasaki (March 31, 1944). Envelope is postmarked April 1, 1944 from the Manzanar Incarceration Camp in Manzanar, California.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-janm-1-51/

doc Letter (with envelope) to Molly Wilson from Mary Murakami (July 27, 1942) (ddr-janm-1-31)

Handwritten letter to Molly Wilson from Mary Murakami (July 27, 1942). Envelope is postmarked July 27, 1942 from the Poston (Colorado River) Incarceration Camp in Parker, Arizona.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-janm-1-31/

doc Letter (with envelope) to Molly Wilson from Sandie Saito (November 15, 1942) (ddr-janm-1-13)

Handwritten letter to Molly Wilson from Sandie Saito (November 15, 1942). Envelope is postmarked November 18, 1942 from the Granada (Amache) Incarceration Camp in Amache, Colorado.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-janm-1-13/

doc Letter (with envelope) to Molly Wilson from Chiyeko Akahoshi (June 8, 1942) (ddr-janm-1-102)

Handwritten letter to Molly Wilson from Chiyeko Akahoshi (June 8, 1942). Envelope is postmarked June 15, 1942 from the Manzanar Incarceration Camp in Manzanar, California.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-janm-1-102/

doc Letter (with envelope) to Mollie Wilson from Violet Saito (August 25, 1943) (ddr-janm-1-76)

Handwritten letter to Mollie Wilson from Violet Saito (August 25, 1943). Envelope is postmarked August 26, 1943 from the Granada (Amache) Incarceration Camp in Amache, Colorado.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-janm-1-76/

doc Postcard to Molly Wilson from Mary Murakami (August 1, 1943) (ddr-janm-1-27)

Postcard to Molly Wilson from Mary Murakami (August 1, 1943). It is postmarked August 2, 1943 from the Poston (Colorado River) Incarceration Camp in Parker, Arizona.

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-janm-1-27/

img Hiroko Nishi and her daughter Eime sitting in their barracks bedroom (ddr-fom-1-879)

WRA caption on reverse: "All the furniture in this evacuee apartment was constructed from scrap material. The wall paper, drapes and other furnishings were purchased from a mail order house."

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-fom-1-879/

img Hiroko Nishi reading at her desk (ddr-fom-1-880)

WRA caption on reverse: "All the furniture in this evacuee apartment was constructed from scrap material. The wall paper, drapes and other furnishings were purchased from a mail order house."

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-fom-1-880/