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 Photograph of Manzanar staff housing with dog in front (ddr-csujad-47-350)

Photograph of staff housing at Manzanar incarceration camp. A dog is visible resting in the shade of the house. In the background a car and mountains are partially visible. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_merritt_1500

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-350/

img Photograph of Manzanar staff housing (ddr-csujad-47-342)

Photograph of staff housing at Manzanar incarceration camp. Several buildings surround the central lawn and park which has saplings planted. Several cars are parked along the road. A mountain range is visible in the background. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_merritt_0501

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-342/

img Photograph of a group of people, including Bernice Sibner, sitting on rocks in the Sierra Nevada (ddr-csujad-47-298)

Photograph of a group of people, including Bernice Sibner, sitting on rocks in the Sierra Nevada near the Manzanar incarceration camp. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_merritt_0447

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-298/

img Photograph of Mitzie standing in the snow at Manzanar (ddr-csujad-47-267)

Photograph of Mitzie standing in snow in front of building at Manzanar incarceration camp. She is wearing a dress and cardigan with boots and a necklace. The photograph is signed, "Miss Jo Hawes, Sincerely Mitzie." See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_merritt_0415

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-267/

img Photograph of Arthur M. Sandridge and his son in front of staff housing (ddr-csujad-47-167)

Photograph of Arthur M. Sandridge and his son in front of staff housing at Manzanar incarceration camp. They are standing in front of the fenced-in patio area. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_merritt_0293

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-167/

img Photograph of Martha Shoaf in front of staff housing at Manzanar (ddr-csujad-47-173)

Photograph of Martha Shoaf in front of staff housing at Manzanar incarceration camp. She is standing on the lawn next to a sapling. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_merritt_0299

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-173/

img Photograph of the Manzanar orchards (ddr-csujad-47-344)

Photograph of the fruit orchards at Manzanar incarceration camp with Mount Williamson in the background. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_merritt_0503

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-344/

img Photograph of Lucy Adams sitting on the grass in front of staff housing at Manzanar (ddr-csujad-47-170)

Photograph of Lucy Adams sitting on the grass in front of staff housing at Manzanar incarceration camp. She is wearing a paisley dress and is out of focus. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_merritt_0296

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-170/

img First building (ddr-csujad-47-21)

Photograph of the first buidling being constructed at Manzanar Incarceration camp. The outside framework and walls are up, roof is missing. Two men are working on the roofline, and four men are observing from the outside. Sign in front of barrack reads: Blk 1, Bldg 1. Caption reads: The First Building. Title from caption, which was …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-21/

img Photograph of a group of women in front of staff housing (ddr-csujad-47-172)

Photograph of the residents of the newly-constructed bachelorette dorms standing in the snow in front of staff housing at Manzanar incarceration camp. From left to right: Nona Winchester (secretary), Edith Cox (teacher), ____, Lena Harrison (teacher), Susan Shoaf (secretary), Martha Shoaf (teacher), Ione Bermaye (teacher), and Gretchen Ingalls (teacher). The snow-covered Inyo Mountains can be seen …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-172/

img Photograph of a woman and child at Manzanar (ddr-csujad-47-180)

Photograph of an elderly woman and child standing in front of the Joshua tree at Manzanar incarceration camp. Two cars and several barracks can be seen in the background on the left side. An administration building is visible on the right. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_merritt_0306

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-180/

img Photograph of three small boys standing in front of a bararcks with abandoned furniture (ddr-csujad-47-16)

Photograph of three young boys standing in front of a barracks at Manzanar with a stack of abandoned furniture next to them. The photograph is very grainy. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_merritt_0043

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-16/

img Photograph of an administrative building at Manzanar (ddr-csujad-47-158)

Photograph of a grassy field in front of staff housing at Manzanar incarceration camp. The snow-covered Sierra Nevada can be seen in the background. Two cars are visible in the middle right of the photograph. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_merritt_0274

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-158/

img Photograph of Manzanar with mountains in the background (ddr-csujad-47-337)

Photograph of Manzanar incarceration camp taken from a guard tower looking toward the snow-covered Inyo mountains. Several blocks of the camp are visible with a utility pole in the lower right corner. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: ecm_merritt_0496

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-337/

img Photograph of snow covered Manzanar with a line of buildings and a car in the foreground (ddr-csujad-47-52)

Photograph of snow-covered Manzanar with a line of administrative buildings, starting with the police department. Two snow-covered cars, one in the foreground and the other halfway down the street. A lone person can be seen walking in the distance in the middle of the street. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-47-52/

img Barracks with birds at Tule Lake (ddr-csujad-44-58)

A photograph of barracks at Tule Lake with birds, possibly cranes, on the ground and in the air. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: csumb_ms15_0058

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-44-58/

doc Manzanar From Inside Out (ddr-csujad-19-2)

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-19-2/

doc 'Jap Crow' Experiment (ddr-csujad-19-43)

This is an article from the magazine "The Nation" by John Larison which discusses in detail about the living conditions of the "evacuees" in the war relocation centers. It talks about how the war relocation centers had only a few facilities for recreation, the low quality of education and the economic conditions of the people in …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-19-43/

doc Memo from [Willard E.] Schmidt, Chief of Administrative Police, to [Raymond R.] Best, [1944] (ddr-csujad-2-78)

Regards arming the Administrative Police Section, including reasons for using the sawed-off shotgun vs. the 45 automatic pistol for security purposes, and the potential for escalation of tensions in a "divided camp (anti and pro, status quo)." See also the related typewritten memo, Memorandum from Willard [E.] Schmidt, Chief, Administrative Police, to R. R. [Raymond R.] …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-2-78/

doc Memo from Co-ordinating Committee to Chief of Police Schmidt [Willard E. Schmidt], February 3, 1944 (ddr-csujad-2-72)

Calls for special meeting of the Project Director, Advisory Council, and Co-ordinating Committee to discuss Committee recommendations, and refers to four attached memoranda, each from Co-ordinating Committee 1608-A to R. [Raymond] R. Best, Project Director, dated February 2, 1944 and written by Byron Akitsuki, Executive Secretary. Subjects of the memoranda are: Receipt of Red Cross Gift …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-2-72/

doc Memo from Harry L. Black, Advisory Committee, to Mr. [Raymond R.] Best, February 8, 1944 (ddr-csujad-2-91)

Memorandum regarding meeting with Co-ordinating Committee. Concerns meeting to discuss Committee's recommendation to release "18 additional detainees from the stockade." The memo on "Executive Office of the President, Office for Emergency Management" letterhead, also discusses employment of incarcerees from Manzanar and Tule Lake and moving incarcerees out of and into various housing blocks. See this object …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-2-91/

doc Letter from children of Kihichi Sakamoto to Project Director [Raymond R. Best], February 14, 1944 (ddr-csujad-2-94)

Letter from three of his children, Tatsuo, Manabu, and Osamu Sakamoto, requests the release of their father, Kihichi Sakamoto, from the Army Stockade, for the sake of their mother's "health and mind" stating that she has been ill since their stay in Heart Mountain the previous year and has suffered a relapse upon her husband's imprisonment …

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-2-94/

doc Memo from Co-ordinating Committee to R. [Raymond] R. Best, Project Director, Kiyotake, February 5, 1944 (ddr-csujad-2-71)

Memo requesting for release of Abe. Describes the situation of Abe (Joe Kiyotake Abe), who had been in Army custody since the end of December, 1943, and whose wife was hospitalized, leaving their three children without parental care. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: sjs_sch_0071

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-2-71/

img Nisei machinist preparing a truck axle in machine shop at Heart Mountain incarceration camp (ddr-csujad-14-11)

Nisei machinist preparing a truck axle in machine shop at Heart Mountain incarceration camp. January 9, 1943. Photo by Tom Parker. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: HMLSC_TOMO_011

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-14-11/

img Six-year-old Reiko Mastuda, convalescing from serious illness at Jerome incarceration camp (ddr-csujad-14-16)

Six-year-old Reiko Matsuda, convalescing from serious illness at Jerome incarceration camp, is looked after by nurse's aid Chiyo Okata. March 11, 1943. Photo by Tom Parker. See this object in the California State Universities Japanese American Digitization project site: HMLSC_TOMO_016

https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-csujad-14-16/