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The WRA Program

In joining the WRA, you have enlisted your services in an organization of men and women working toward the solution of a war problem unique in the history of America. There will be much in your work to broaden your experience and to challenge your thought and ability. You'll find much to learn about the people in the relocation centers, and the background of events that have guided the policies of the WRA in dealing with them.

You are joining a Government agency that has been almost constantly on the battle front of public opinion since it was organized in the spring of 1942. The bitter hatred of the American people for the Japanese militarists has influenced many of them to confuse all persons of Japanese ancestry with the actual enemy overseas. Misunderstanding has had much to do with the attacks that have been made on the people in relocation centers and on the WRA program, but the circumstances have also been made to order for professional race mongers and demagogues.

The War Relocation Authority was established primarily to relocate the people of Japanese descent -- both citizen and alien -- who were compelled by the exigencies of war to move from their homes in the Pacific Coast region during the spring of 1942.

The program which WRA has developed has implications both at home and abroad; implications which place a heavy responsibility on the agency as a whole and on every one of its employees. All of us working for WRA must constantly bear in mind that there are thousands of American soldiers and civilians in the hands of the Japanese enemy and that their future welfare may be influenced by the way we do our everyday jobs. We must also remember that other nations of the Orient are deeply concerned about the way we treat one of our own Oriental minorities and that they, and other peoples of the world, are judging our good faith as a democratic nation by our actions rather than by our words.

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Finally, we must never lose sight of the fact that the rights of all minority groups, in our population, regardless of race or ancestry, are part and parcel of the democratic cause which the United States is fighting to defend.

Life in a Relocation Center

Your induction into the life of a relocation center will probably introduce you to surroundings unlike any you have experienced before. All the centers are constructed very much alike. They are large wartime communities of barrack-type buildings, usually situated in sparsely populated areas remote from larger towns and cities. With the exception of the centers in Colorado and Arkansas, they are in new country where farms are scattered and much of the soil has never been tilled. Trees and shrubbery are generally lacking inside the centers, and paved streets are an unknown luxury.

On the other hand, all centers lie within reasonably easy access to scenic spots. Lakes, streams, and forest lands are found in the vicinity of the Arkansas centers. Famous national parks and monuments may easily be visited from the centers in California, Arizona, Utah and Wyoming. If you own a car, you can make good use of it, when gasoline is available, though no garage facilities are provided at the centers for private vehicles. Government vehicles, of course, may not be used for private transportation.

Most employees at relocation centers live in quarters built by the government especially for the appointed personnel. (Note: This term is used to distinguish Civil Service employees of WRA from the evacuee employees.) Single persons usually live in private rooms in barrack-type dormitories. The typical dormitory has a small reception room at one end, with a hallway running through to the other end where the toilets and showers are located. The private rooms, usually small, open on the hallway from both sides. Each one is furnished with at least the minimum requirements for occupancy: a chair, a bureau, and a bed including a mattress, pillows, blankets and linen. Quilts and comforters, however, must be supplied by the occupant, and additional linen is often desirable. Clothes closets are

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usually improvised with curtains. In winter, heat is provided either by a centralized hot-air heating system or by stoves in the individual rooms.

These single rooms range in price from $5 to $7.50 per month, and the rental is withheld from the semi-monthly pay checks of the occupants. Maid service is included in the rental. Meals are served in mess halls, at a cost varying from about 35 cents to 50 cents per meal, and deductions for meals actually consumed are also made from the semi-monthly check.

If you have a family, you may want to engage an apartment. These apartments have one, two, and three bedrooms to accommodate families of different sizes. Like the private rooms, each apartment has at least minimum furnishings -- a living room set, a dinette set, a set for each bedroom, end tables, floor lamps, and table lamps. An electric refrigerator and an electric stove are provided for the kitchen -- a

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table and chair for the room used for dining. Each apartment has a private toilet and shower, and an individual heating unit for which fuel is supplied. Dishes, cooking utensils, and window drapes, however, must be provided by the employee renter.

The rentals for apartments range approximately as follows: for one bedroom, $15 to $20 per month; for two bedrooms, $20 to $22.50; for three bedrooms, $22.50 to $25. These charges do not include maid service. If you desire a maid, you can probably arrange to employ her through the community cooperative, which also makes arrangements for the employment of laundresses. Some employees, however, deal with outside laundries.

It is hardly advisable to bring to the center household goods, furniture, or other belongings that are not actually needed. But you may enjoy having your radio, or perhaps a phonograph, for use in your living quarters.

Dress at the centers is highly informal. Good durable clothing, not too easily soiled, is especially desirable. If you go to a northern center, you'll need warm clothing for winter wear. Farther south, at the Arizona and Arkansas centers, the summers definitely call for light-weight apparel. "Dress up" clothes occasionally can be used.

Every center has its stores with stocks of merchandise which should be sufficient to meet all your ordinary needs. You can buy candy, ice cream and pop, cigarettes and tobacco, fruits, magazines, and toilet articles as easily as in any small town. Dry goods and some groceries are also available, though most employees prefer to shop for them in nearby towns where better assortment are available.

Barber and beauty shop services, and also medical care with the exception of emergency treatments, must be obtained outside the centers. Hospitalization at the centers is available to members of the appointed personnel only in emergency cases.

Families with school-age children may send them either to the schools at the center, or to the schools in some nearby community. In nearly all instances, school buses to

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collect rural children are routed past the centers. The center schools meet all educational requirements in the states where they are located.

The principal recreation of the appointed personnel revolves around pleasant associations with friends and neighbors at the center. Informal social get-togethers are frequent occurrences. Often members of the staff attend programs and entertainments organized by the evacuees. They may attend motion picture shows in the center, or in the theaters of nearby towns. Summer picnics are popular.

The two chief rewards of employment at any center, however, are in experience and in the knowledge that it is a necessary and important contribution to the war against Axis domination. Time spent at any center can be very valuable in broadening the outlook of any intelligent person on problems of vital importance to the future of our Nation.