Rohwer War Relocation Center

The of land on which Rohwer was built had been purchased by the Farm Security Administration from tax-delinquent landowners in the 1930s. It remained largely abandoned until the War Relocation Authority, which oversaw the World War II incarceration program, took it over in 1942. It planned to use this facility to incarcerate ethnic Japanese, including American citizens from West Coast areas considered strategic to the war effort. Governor Homer Adkins initially opposed the WRA's proposal to build Rohwer and its neighbor, Jerome, in Arkansas, but relented after being assured that the Japanese American detainees would be controlled by armed white guards at these facilities and they would be removed from the state at the end of the war. The Linebarger-Senne Construction Company was contracted to build the camp at a cost of $4.8 million; it worked under the supervision of the Army Corps of Engineers. The land was heavily forested and swampy due to its proximity to the Mississippi River to the east. Extensive clearing and draining was necessary, making construction at the site a difficult and slow-going task. The camp was still under construction when the first inmates began to arrive. Ultimately the camp held administrative offices, schools, a hospital, and 36 residential blocks, each with twelve barracks divided into several "apartments", as well as communal dining and sanitary facilities, all contained within a guarded barbed-wire fence. Rohwer opened on September 18, 1942, and reached a peak population of 8,475 by March 1943. Most detainees had been forced out of their homes and businesses in Los Angeles or the San Joaquin Valley in California. A large portion of Rohwer inmates were school-age children, most born in the US. About 2,000 students attended the camp's schools, which were opened on November 9, 1942, after some delay. Adults took jobs with the administration, hospital, schools, and mess halls, in addition to agricultural work or labor details outside camp. As of the site used for residences and other buildings, officials used the remainder of Rohwer's land to grow more than 100 agricultural products. These were used to supplement the inmates' food rations (kept to a bare minimum of 37 cents a day per inmate to avoid rumors that the WRA was "coddling" Japanese Americans). The decline in population, combined with earlier unrest over poor working conditions in the camp, resulted in authorities closing the Jerome camp at the end of June 1944. A significant number of former Jerome inmates were transferred to Rohwer. Together with the Tule Lake Segregation Center, Rohwer was the last WRA camp to close, on November 30, 1945. ==Rohwer today==

The largest remaining structure is the high school gymnasium/auditorium, which was added to and was in service with the local school before it closed in July 2004. The tallest structure is the smokestack from the hospital incinerator. Neither of these is marked in any way to indicate historical significance. The rail line used to bring internees and supplies to the camp remains, though it is apparently abandoned. Some of the rails date back to World War II and before. This rail line also served the Jerome War Relocation Center, which was located southwest of Rohwer. Various building foundations, walkways, culverts and other improvements are still visible and some are still in use by the local residents. Trees planted by residents have grown tall. The camp cemetery survives as the only site still identified as having been part of the internment center. It was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1992. It has a monument to Japanese American war dead from the camp, and also a monument to those who died at the camp. The camp site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. joined the U.S. Army from this camp, either volunteering or accepting their conscription into the legendary 100th Infantry Battalion, the famed 442nd RCT and MIS. Thirty-one who came from Rohwer died in action, and their names are inscribed on the memorial, as well as a later memorial raised nearby. The cemetery is located west of State Route 1, approximately northeast of McGehee, Arkansas. Signs identify the graded road which goes from the highway to the cemetery, where there is room to park automobiles. ==Heritage site==

The Rohwer War Relocation Center site is now an Arkansas State University Heritage Site, and features a memorial, the camp cemetery, interpretive panels and audio kiosks. The Japanese American Internment Museum opened in nearby McGehee, Arkansas in 2013 and serves as the history museum and unofficial visitor center for the Rohwer War Relocation Center. Exhibits include a film, oral histories, photographs and personal artifacts of the internees. ==Shooting of residents by a civilian==

In 1942, M.C. Brown, a tenant farmer on horseback on his way home from deer hunting, came across some Japanese Americans from the Rohwer camp, on a work detail in the woods. He fired his gun, and one of the Japanese American men was struck in the hip by a pellet while another was wounded in the calf of the leg. The Japanese Americans were working in the woods under the supervision of a government engineer when the shooting occurred. ==Notable internees==

• Ruth Asawa (1926–2013), Japanese American sculptor • Takayo Fischer (born 1932), American stage, film and TV actress; also interned at Jerome • Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga (1924–2018), political activist; also interned at Manzanar and Jerome • Eddie Imazu (1897–1979), an art director and production designer. Also interned at Jerome • Sumako Hamaguchi (1918–2023), a kabuki dancer • Jim Ishida (born 1943), actor best known for his role as T. Fujitsu, Marty McFly's future boss in Back to the Future Part II in 1989 • Janice Mirikitani (1941–2021), poet laureate of San Francisco; co-founded with her husband, the Rev. Cecil Williams, the Glide Foundation (Glide Memorial Church is featured in the Will Smith film The Pursuit of Happiness). Glide empowers San Francisco's disadvantaged members of society through extensive outreach and advocacy efforts. • Wataru Nakamura (1921–1951), Korean War Medal of Honor recipient • Rose Ochi (1938–2020), Japanese American attorney and civil rights activist • Haruko Sugi (1915–2012), a language translator • Henry Sugimoto (1900–1990), Japanese-born artist; also interned at Jerome • George Takei (born 1937), activist, author, and actor best known as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu from Star Trek (1966–69). Since his parents refused to take a vow and did not "pass" the loyalty questionnaire, the family was later transferred to Tule Lake War Relocation Center. • Henry H. Takei (b. 1939), Prof. of Periodontics, UCLA School of Dentistry; brother of above. • Michiko Toyama (1908–2000), a composer • Taitetsu Unno (1929–2014), Buddhist scholar, lecturer, and author; also interned at the Tule Lake War Relocation Center • Grayce Uyehara (1919–2014), Japanese-American social worker and activist ==See also==