by Japanese American, WWII
[WWII] [Japanese American] Archive of 6 original silver gelatin photographs of Japanese-Americans and American soldiers at internment centers Camp Amache, Colorado, Heart Mountain, Wyoming, and Pomona Assembly Center, California. Measurements range from 2.5" x 2.75" to 3.5" x 5.75". Photos show Japanese-American families, men, women, and children in the camp and a few photos show American soldiers, internee housing facilities are shown in the background of most photos. An interesting photo from Heart Mountain shows a white military medic posed in front of an ambulance truck smiling and pointing at the bunkers in the background. Out of the 10 centers constructed in the United States during the second world war, Pomona Assembly Center was built as a temporary housing facility before transferring internees to Heart Mountain which was the 4th largest relocation center, and Camp Amache in Granada, Colorado, the smallest. Heart Mountain housed almost 14,000 Japanese American internees at it's peak, while Amache housed approximately 7,300 internees in which over 2/3 were U.S. born citizens. At Camp Amache, a Japanese American family consisting of seven or fewer members was assigned to one cramped room measuring 20 by 24 feet. In this archive we see an Amache photograph of a family of six Japanese Americans on the doorsteps, with three fully grown men, a young boy, an older man, and a woman who likely all had their privacy stripped in the small house behind them. Another photo from Pomona shows two G.I.s, likely used as camp patrol, seated on a wooden storage trunk on the outside of one of the structures. The clarity of the photograph shows the poor material of the barracks made up of thin lumber, particle board, and nails. The only furnishing provided in the barracks themselves were a bare bulb for lighting, a small coal stove for heat, and a canvas cot for each inhabitant. Despite the crowded and inhumane living conditions, many of the women and children in these photos hold large smiles on their faces. Three photos from Heart Mountain show a large group photo of college aged Japanese American men in front of a brick building, possibly a school, the smiling suited man in the center is also shown in a single photo with a lake in the background which was possibly taken outside of camp following the war. One fascinating photo shows an elementary school aged Japanese American girl playing on a see-saw with families in the backgound watching a sports game, and the camp building in the distance. It's approximated that almost 6,000 children were born in these War Relocation Authority centers which makes it likely for some of the children in these photos only having known the camps as home. Photographs overall very good condition. An interesting archive showing both the Japanese-American and American perspective of the War Relocation experience.
(Inventory #: 21152)
(818) 224-4555
