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 (283)
Concentration camps (2384)
Living conditions (1897)

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1897 items

doc Manzanar diary (ddr-csujad-34-1)

One diary written by Hiroshi Fukuwa, a Kibei Nisei of Los Angeles, California. His diary starts from his departing day from Los Angeles to move into the Manzanar incarceration camp as one of the first group of volunteer incacerees. He was transferred to the Gila River camp, Arizona, to join his brother's family, and segregated into …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-34-1/

doc Manzanar diary (ddr-csujad-34-2)

English translation of a diary written by Hiroshi Fukuwa, a Kibei Nisei of Los Angeles, California. His diary starts from his departing day from Los Angeles to move into the Manzanar incarceration camp as one of the first group of volunteer incacerees. He was transferred to the Gila River camp in Arizona, to join his brother's …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-34-2/

img Grove of the Poston desert (ddr-csujad-35-13)

A photograph of a grove of the Poston desert. Dried sage plants are captured. The handwritten note on the back side reads: A grove of the Poston desert, Colo. River Relocation Center, Poston, Arizona, 1942-1945. Aug. 18th. Title from note. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: kuw_01_13_001

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-35-13/

img Poston mountains with dried sage plants (ddr-csujad-35-32)

A photograph of Poston mountains with dried sage plants in Arizona. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: kuw_01_24_005

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-35-32/

img Mesquite trees (ddr-csujad-35-31)

A photograph of mesquite trees in the Poston camp in Arizona. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: kuw_01_24_004

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-35-31/

img Dried trees in the Poston camp (ddr-csujad-35-30)

A photograph of dried trees in the Poston camp in Arizona. Signed by: June Kuwahara. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: kuw_01_24_003_01

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-35-30/

img View of Colo. River (ddr-csujad-35-14)

A photograph of the Colorado River. The handwritten note on the back side reads: View of Colo. River, May 27th 1942-1945. Colorado River Relocation Center, Poston, Arizona. Title from note. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: kuw_01_13_002

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-35-14/

img Poston I barracks (ddr-csujad-35-28)

A photograph of barracks in the Poston camp in Arizona. The handwritten note on the back side reads: Poston I, June Kuwahara, original. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: kuw_01_24_001

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-35-28/

img Photograph of Manzanar with mountains in the background (ddr-csujad-47-339)

Photograph of Manzanar incarceration camp taken from a guard tower looking toward the Sierra Nevada mountains. The staff housing and administrative buildings visible along with several cars. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_merritt_0498

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-339/

img Photograph of a side road facing the Sierra Nevada with barracks on the side (ddr-csujad-47-343)

Photograph of a dirt road facing the snow-covered Sierra Nevada at Manzanar incarceration camp. Several buildings are visible on the right side. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_merritt_0502

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-343/

doc Manzanar session of the Inyo and Mono counties (ddr-csujad-48-49)

Public outreach brochure for Manzanar Session of the Inyo and Mono Counties; the front page contains a stylized print of the barracks with a tree in front (possibly a wood-cut or etching). Contains a program for a visit to Manzanar and anecdotal information and facts regarding the incarceration camp and the people within. Transcription is found …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-48-49/

doc Manzanar from the inside (ddr-csujad-48-62)

Text of address by Roy Nash, Director of the Manzanar War Relocation Project, given to the Commonwealth Club of California, San Francisco, on July 31, 1942 for the purpose of "interpret[ing] the actuality of a War Relocation Center housing 10,000 evacuees" in view of perceptions of mistreatment of incarcerees in California. Sections of the speech include …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-48-62/

img Barracks at Tule Lake (ddr-csujad-44-59)

A photograph of barracks at Tule Lake. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: csumb_ms15_0059

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-44-59/

img Nisei women standing outside a barrack (ddr-csujad-44-44)

A photograph of five young Nisei women incarcerated at Tule Lake, California. They are standing outside posing together for the camera. Barracks are visible behind them. Photo inscription on back: "Can you recognize me? -Mary." See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: csumb_ms15_0044

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

img Young Nisei women standing outside barrack (ddr-csujad-44-42)

A photograph of five young Nisei women incarcerated at Tule Lake, California. They are standing outside posing together for the camera. Barracks are visible behind them. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: csumb_ms15_0042

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-44-42/

img Photograph of a young boy, the last resident to leave Manzanar (ddr-csujad-47-17)

Photograph of a young boy, the last resident to leave Manzanar, standing in front of a barracks at Manzanar. Next to him are stacks of abandoned furniture including chairs, benches, side tables and a baby stroller. The boy is looking down at his feet. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-17/

img Cost per barracks--$2,848.55! (ddr-csujad-47-24)

Photograph of carpenters working to construct the barracks at Manzanar. A utility poles is connected to a primary connection point. Several stacks of cut and un-cut lumber are visible as is a ladder next to one of the utility poles. The Inyo Mountains are in the background. Caption reads: Cost per barracks -- $2848.55! Title from …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-24/

img Photograph of Melva Nielsen with gardening equipment (ddr-csujad-47-165)

Photograph of Melva Nielsen holding a rake and broom while standing on the stoop of a lattice-covered patio at Manzanar incarceration camp. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_merritt_0291

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-165/

img Photograph of Echo Goto leaning on a car at Manzanar (ddr-csujad-47-263)

Photograph of Echo Goto leaning on car at Manzanar incarceration camp. The woman is wearing a skirt suit and white gloves. Behind the car a utility pole is visible. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_merritt_0411

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-263/

img Photograph of a group of people holding snow balls on the side of a mountain with a snowman (ddr-csujad-47-296)

Photograph of a group of people holding snow balls on the side of a mountain with a snowman near the Manzanar incarceration camp. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_merritt_0445

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-296/

img Photograph of the rock pond at block 24 between barracks 5 and 6 (ddr-csujad-47-2)

Photograph of rock pond, block 24, between barracks 5 and 6, circa 1940s, "a view of the garden strip arranged by William Katsuki, former landscape gardener from Southern California, alongside his home in the barracks at this War Relocation Authority center for evacuees of Japanese ancestry." See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-2/

img Photograph of Lucy Adams and Dagmar Quarnstrom sitting on the grass in front of staff housing at Manzanar (ddr-csujad-47-171)

Photograph of Lucy Adams and Dagmar Quarnstrom sitting on the grass in front of staff housing at Manzanar incarceration camp. Lucy is out of focus. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_merritt_0297

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-171/

img Photograph of Anita Nicolaus at Manzanar (ddr-csujad-47-179)

Photograph of Anita Nicolaus standing in snow in front of two administrative buildings at Manzanar incarceration camp. She is wearing a heavy coat and holding a purse. Two cars can be seen in the background, behind are the snow-covered Sierra Nevada. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_merritt_0305

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-179/

img Photograph of barracks at Manzanar (ddr-csujad-47-338)

Photograph of several barracks and the cleared ground in front of them at Manzanar incarceration camp. Snow covered mountains can be seen in the background. A bare tree is visible in the foreground. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_merritt_0497

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-338/

img Photograph of mobile structures and trailers (ddr-csujad-47-331)

Photograph of a temporary structure and a large trailer in front of barracks at Manzanar incarceration camp. Two men are walking between the structures. In the foreground there is a clothes pole. The photograph is slightly out of focus. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_merritt_0490

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-331/