Minidoka

https://www.nps.gov/miin/index.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minidoka_National_Historic_Site Minidoka National Historic Site is in the western United States. It commemorates the more than 9,000 Japanese Americans who were imprisoned at the Minidoka War Relocation Center during the Second World War. Located in the Magic Valley of south central Idaho in Jerome County, the site is in the Snake River Plain, a remote high desert area north of the Snake River. It is 17 miles (27 km) northeast of Twin Falls and just north of Eden, in an area known as Hunt. During World War II, over 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated without due process of law. Although little remains of the barbed-wire fences and tar-papered barracks, the Minidoka concentration camp once held over 13,000 Japanese Americans in the Idaho desert. Minidoka preserves their legacy and teaches the importance of civil liberties. Minidoka National Historic Site is located between the towns of Twin Falls and Jerome, Idaho in south central Idaho. Minidoka Visitor Center Located at 1428 Hunt Road. Start here for visitor information, the passport stamp, the park film, museum exhibits, and the park bookstore. The visitor center is open Fridays through Sundays, from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. If the visitor center is not open during your visit, please check the After Hours box for brochures and the passport stamp. The historic site grounds are open year-round for self-guided walking tours. Origami Go Around Origami cranes twirl on carousel Origami cranes twirl on a colorful carousel. The Replicated Minidoka Honor Roll The replicated Minidoka Honor Roll is part of the history at Minidoka NHS. The replicated Minidoka Honor Roll is part of the history at Minidoka NHS. View Across the Barbed Wire A view from Minidoka through the barbed wire fence. A view from Minidoka through the barbed wire fence. Looking at the northside Canal A view of the Northside Canal and reconstructed barbed wire fence. Looking northeast from the entrance area to the Northside Canal and reconstructed barbed wire fence. An Original Barrack Returns to the Site An original barrack was retuned to Minidoka and placed on site. An original barrack was retuned to Minidoka and placed on site. Japanese American Life During Incarceration Overseen and operated by the National Park Service, the sites at Manzanar, Tule Lake, and Minidoka were examined by NPS archeologist Jeff Burton and his team between 1993 and 1999, along with the seven other camps and isolation and assembly centers associated with Japanese American incarceration and relocation. Archeologists excavate at Manzanar Explore Your Southern Idaho National Parks Discover southern Idaho's hidden treasures, including Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, City of Rocks National Reserve, Minidoka National Historic Site, and Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument. A group of people joyfully cut the ceremonial ribbon outside the new Minidoka visitor center. Visiting Minidoka National Historic Site Minidoka National Historic Site preserves the story of over 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry (Nikkei) in the United States who were forced from their homes and relocated to one of ten prison camps during the second World War. Today, visitors to Minidoka can view historic structures and new exhibits sharing this important piece of history. A visitor reads two large panels covered in lists of names. National Park Getaway: Minidoka National Historic Site Minidoka National Historic Site preserves the former Minidoka War Relocation Center where 13,000 Japanese Americans were held from 1942 to 1945. Despite the harsh conditions of these camps, people salvaged their lives as best they could by forming schools, community organizations, and small businesses. Man standing between two walls with a long list of names on each one 2020 WORLDFEST FILM FESTIVAL WINNERS In 2020 Harpers Ferry Center (HFC) won eight awards at WorldFest Houston. Many of these can be viewed over the summer through our upcoming film festival in celebration of HFC’s 50th Anniversary. (Note: The Special Jury REMI Award is given for a ranking of A+ and recognizes the top films in each category.) Green trees grow in red dirt canyons unde a cloudy sky. Timeline: Japanese Americans during World War II Timeline: Japanese Americans during World War II three black and white photos Executive Order 9066 This is the exact wording of EO 9066. black and white image of Franklin D Roosevelt signing document Glossary of terms related to Japanese American Confinement Glossary of terms related to Japanese American Confinement poster with black writing War Relocation Centers War Relocation Centers map of western two thirds of US with confinement sites noted Newenee: The Shoshonean Peoples of Southern Idaho Explore the connections between the Shoshonean peoples and the public lands of southern Idaho. Photo of a spatter cone under a starry night sky Terminology and the Mass Incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II Terminology and the Mass Incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II Japanese American man reads newspaper Kimiko Kaye Tambara Journalist and activist Kimiko “Kimi” Tambara was born in 1919, in Washington state to Seichiro and Kino Tambara, both of whom were first-generation Japanese immigrants. 11 Japanese women and 3 men pose for on the front steps of wooden building, sign reads Minidoka National Historic Site Cultural Landscape The Minidoka Relocation Center, constructed in 1942 and closed in 1945, was one of the sites where West Coast persons of Japanese ancestry, including U.S. citizens, were forced into large-scale incarceration camps during World War II. During its operation, the Minidoka Relocation Center encompassed 34,063 acres divided into functional areas for living, working, and recreation. While many features were removed, remaining landscape characteristics are a reminder of its history. Two long, single-story structures stand perpendicular to each other in a grassy field under clouds. Mariagnes Aya Uenishi Medrud Mariagnes Aya Uenishi Medrud was incarcerated at Minidoka. Staff Spotlight: Hanako Wakatsuki-Chong Meet Hanako Wakatsuki-Chong, the Superintendent of Hono'uli'uli National Historic Site! Hanako standing in front of the Guard Tower at Minidoka National Historic Site Staff Spotlight: Alexander Kim Meet Alexander Kim, the museum curator for all of the South Idaho parks, which includes Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, and Minidoka National Historic Site! Alexander Kim smiling in front of a dinosaur exhibit Series: Women's History in the Pacific West - Columbia-Pacific Northwest Collection Biographies of women from parks in Washington, Oregon Idaho and far western Montana Map of Washington, Oregon and Idaho Staff Spotlight: Kurt Ikeda Meet Kurt Ikeda, the Director of Interpretation and Education at Minidoka National Historic Site! Operational Buildings at Three Idaho Parks to be Rehabilitated through GAOA Funding to Improve Employee Safety and Operations Three Idaho National Parks, with funding through the Great American Outdoors Act, will rehabilitate park operational buildings. This project will correct serious facility deficiencies to improve park operations at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, and Minidoka National Historic Site. a one story stone garage bay in black and white. 10 Camps, 10 Stories: "Beyond the Barbed Wire" This series will look beyond the historical facts relating to E.O. 9066 and explore the human side of the story. One incarcerate from each of the 10 camps with be highlighted in this year long series. Series: Questions of Land, Labor, and Loyalty: Japanese Incarceration and the Munemitsu Family The Munemitsu family’s story intertwines Japanese incarceration, questions of labor and loyalty, and a Mexican American family's fight for equal rights. During World War II, the Munemitsu family was forcibly removed and sent to an incarceration camp. Because the family leased their farm to Gonzalo Mendez, the lead plaintiff of Mendez et al. v. Westminster, et al. (1947), the Munemitsus retained ownership of the farm. To learn more, check out the rest of the Entangled Inequalities project. Black and white photo of Japanese American family gathering to pound rice to make mochi cakes Memo to the Incarcerated Women of Minidoka During WWII, a group of Japanese American women incarcerated at Minidoka swayed a labor dispute in favor of striking workers. They were among 112,000 Japanese Americans who were removed from their homes and unconstitutionally confined by the government. They fought to make living conditions more bearable for their families. Their efforts to make a temporary “home” reveal the depths of Japanese American women’s courage in the face of injustice. Type-written memo to people incarcerated at Minidoka, dated January 6, 1944. Series: Home and Homelands Exhibition: Politics Who has the right to call a place home? Who gets to decide? Building a home is personal, but it also political. This thread contains stories of belonging and exclusion. At the heart of each story is a woman or group working, organizing, or fighting for their homes and homelands. Most of them fought for full inclusion in American society despite systemic challenges and racial injustices. Some fought for an autonomous homeland. The written word dominates – all pleas for justice. Thick white paper peeled back to reveal collage of women.

Ha g e r ma nF os s i l Be dsVi s i t orCe nt e r E x i t155 

Minidoka National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior National Historic Site Jerome, Idaho Residents of block 23 (Minidoka Interlude 1943) Minidoka National Historic Site As the 385th unit of the National Park System, Minidoka was established in 2001 to commemorate the hardships and sacrifices of Japanese Americans interned there during World War II. Also known as ‘Hunt Camp’, Minidoka Relocation Center was a 33,000-acre site with over 600 buildings and a total population of about 13,000 internees from Alaska, Washington, and Oregon. The Center was in operation from August 1942 until October 1945. Executive Order 9066 In the 1800s, many emigrants from Japan crossed the Pacific Ocean to seek economic opportunity in America. While some originally intended to return to their birthplace, many eventually established families, farms, businesses, and communities in the United States. Although America became their new home, the pioneers (Issei) and their American-born children (Nisei) encountered various forms of racial prejudice in the United States. Congress passed laws prohibiting resident aliens from owning land or obtaining citizenship. Quotas were set restriction the flow of new arrivals. With the rise of militarism in Japan in the early 1900s, newspapers often fanned the flames of prejudice. Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 intensified hostility towards Japanese Americans. Some newspaper columnists, politicians and military personnel treated all people of Japanese ancestry as potential spies and saboteurs. As wartime hysteria mounted, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. Executive Order 9066 gave the Secretary of War and the military commanders the power to exclude any persons from designated areas in order to secure nation defense objectives against sabotage and espionage. Although the order could be applied to all people, the focus was on the persons of Japanese, German, and Italian decent. Due to public pressure the order was mainly used to exclude persons of Japanese ancestry, both American citizens and legal resident aliens, from coastal areas including portions of Alaska, Washington State, Oregon, southern Arizona, and all of California. Japanese American Internment Following the signing of Executive Order 9066, over 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry (Nikkei) living on the West Coast were forced to leave their homes, jobs, and businesses behind and report to designated military holding areas. This constituted the single largest forced relocation in U.S. history. Temporary assembly centers were located at fairgrounds, racetracks, and other make-shift facilities. Some 7,100 future Minidoka residents were first incarcerated at the Puyallup, Washington assembly center known as ‘Camp Harmony’. Despite its innocuous name, it was no summer camp. Barbed wire fences surrounded the camp, armed guards patrolled the grounds, and movement between different areas of the camp was strictly controlled. It would be five months before the ten relocation centers established by the Wartime Relocation Authority were ready for occupation. Living Conditions at Minidoka Minidokas’s first internees arrived to find a camp still under construction. There was no hot running water and the sewage system had not been constructed. The initial reaction to the stark landscape by many was one of discouragement. Upon arriving, one internee wrote: Scraps of lumber and sage brush were utilized to make furniture. Coal from the stoves and water had to be hand carried. When coal supplies ran low, sagebrush was gathered and burned. The hastily built barracks buildings were little more than wooden frames covered with tarpaper. They had no insulation. Temperatures during the winter of 1942 plunged to -21 degrees Fahrenheit. Over 100 tons of coal a day was needed for heating the buildings in the camp. Spring, with its ankle deep mud, was followed by scorching heat with temperatures soaring to 104 degrees Fahrenheit and blinding dust storms. Two accidental drowning in the nearby North Side canal prompted internees to build a swimming hole to cope with the oppressive heat. “When we first arrived here we almost cried, and thought that this is the land God had forgotten. The vast expanse of nothing but sagebrush and dust, a landscape so alien to our eyes, and a desolate, woebegone feeling of being so far removed from home and fireside bogged us down mentally, as well as physically.” -Emory Andrews Collection The camp consisted of administration and warehouse buildings, 36 residential blocks, schools, fire stations, an assortment of shops and stores, a hospital, and a cemetery. Each residential block included twelve barracks-style buildings (each divided into six small one-room apartments), a communal dining hall, a laundry facility with communal showers and toilets, and a recreation hall. Provisions within the barracks consisted of Army issue cots and a pot-bellied s

Minidoka Internment National Monument National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior War Relocation Centers Manzanar Tule Lake Location: Inyo County, California Environmental Conditions: Located at 3,900 feet at the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada in the Owens Valley. Temperatures reach well over 100 degrees in summer and below freezing in winter. Strong winds and dust storms are frequent. Acreage: 6,000 Opened: March 21, 1942 (Owens Valley Reception Center); June 1, 1942 (Manzanar War Relocation Center). Closed: November 21, 1945 Max. Population: 10,046 (September 22, 1942) Demographics: Most internees were from the Los Angeles area, Terminal Island, and the San Fernando Valley. Others came from the San Joaquin Valley and Bainbridge Island, Washington; the latter transferred to Minidoka in 1943. Location: Modoc County, California Environmental Conditions: Tule Lake War Relocation Center was located at an elevation of 4,000 feet on a flat and treeless terrain with sandy soil. Winters are long and cold and summers hot and dry. Vegetation is sparse. Acreage: 7,400 Opened: May 25, 1942 Closed: March 20,1946 Max. Population: 18,789 (December 25, 1944) Demographics: Originally, more than 3,000 people were sent directly to Tule Lake from the Sacramento, Pinedale, Pomona, Salinas, and Marysville assembly centers. Once Tule Lake became a segregation center, the population came from all five western states and Hawaii. Topaz (Central Utah) Location: Millard County, 16 miles NW of Delta, UT. Environmental Conditions: elevation 4,600 ft, within the Sevier Desert – high desert brush with high winds and temperatures ranging from 106 degrees in summer to –30 degrees in winter. Acreage: 19,800 Opened: September 11, 1942 Closed: October 31, 1945 Max. Population: 8,130 (March 17, 1943) Demographics: Internees were primarily from the San Francisco Bay Area, predominantly from Tanforan Assembly Center. Heart Mountain Location: Park County, Wyoming Environmental Conditions: Located on the terrace of the Shoshone River at an elevation of 4,700 feet. The terrain was open sagebrush desert. Acreage: 20,000 Opened: August 11, 1942 Closed: November 10, 1945 Max. Population: 10,767 (January 1, 1943) Demographics: Most people came from Los Angeles, Santa Clara, and San Francisco counties in California and Yakima and Washington counties in Washington. Many came through the Santa Anita and Pomona assembly centers in California. Minidoka (Hunt) Granada (Amache) Location: Jerome County, Idaho Environmental Conditions: elevation 4,000 ft – high desert. Temperatures ranged from the low 100s in summer to –30 in the winter. When the rains came in autumn the entire camp turned to mud, often knee deep. Acreage: External boundaries included 33,000 acres. Administration and residential areas included 950 acres in the west-central portion. Opened: August 10, 1942 Closed: October 28, 1945 Max. Population: 9,397 (March 1, 1943) Demographics: Internees primarily came from Seattle, WA, Portland, OR, and surrounding areas. In 1943, 1,900 internees from Tule Lake and 227 internees from Manzanar (originally from Bainbridge Island, WA) were transferred to Minidoka at their request. Additionally, approximately 200 Japanese Alaskans were interned at Minidoka. Location: Prowers County, Colorado Environmental Conditions: Located on a hilltop at 3,500 ft., Granada was arid and dusty. Acreage: 10,500 Opened: August, 27, 1942 Closed: January 27, 1946 Max Population: 7,597 (October 1942) Demographics: Most internees came from Los Angeles, Sonoma, Yolo, Stanislaus, Sacramento and Merced counties via the Merced and Santa Anita assembly centers. The population was equally split between urban and rural backgrounds. Gila River Location: Southern Arizona Environmental Conditions: Located in the desert, temperatures reached 125 degrees, with summer temperatures consistently over 100 degrees. Dust storms were also a frequent problem. Opened: July 10, 1942 Closed: Canal Camp: September 28, 1945 Butte Camp: November 10, 1945 Max. Population: 13,348 (November 1942) Demographics: Internees primarily came from Fresno, Santa Barbara, San Joaquin, Solano, Contra Costa, Ventura and Los Angeles Counties via the Turlock, Tulare, and Santa Anita assembly centers. Three thousand people came directly to Gila River from their West Coast homes. Rohwer Location: Desha County, Arkansas Environmental Conditions: Rohwer War Relocation Center was located five miles west of the Mississippi River in a swampy area intertwined with canals, creeks, and bayous. Forests had once covered the area, but by 1940 had been replaced by agricultural fields. Rohwer was at an elevation of 140 feet. Acreage: 10,161 Opened: September 18, 1942 Closed: November 30, 1944 Max. Population: 8,475 (March 11, 1943) Demographics: Most people interned at Rohwer War Relocation Center came from Los Angeles and San Joaquin counties in California via the Santa Anita and Stockton assembly centers. Po

Minidoka Internment National Monument National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Glossary 442nd Regimental Combat Team – a segregated U.S. Army regiment of primarily Japanese American soldiers. The 442nd fought in Italy, France, and Germany. Assembly Centers – temporary detention camps maintained by the Army that held Japanese Americans who were removed from their West Coast homes. Most assembly centers were located at fairgrounds, racetracks, or former Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps. By mid-1942, Japanese Americans were transferred to more permanent war relocation centers. Assembly centers are also known as “temporary incarceration camps” and “temporary prison camps.” Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) – a Congressional commission established in 1980 to “review the facts and circumstances surrounding Executive Order 9066” and to “recommend appropriate remedies.” Evacuation – the term used by the Army during World War II to describe the process of removing Japanese Americans from their West Coast homes located within exclusion zones. The terms “exclusion” and “removal” are more commonly used today. Exclusion Zones – areas described in each Civilian Exclusion Order from which all Japanese Americans were removed. Civilian Exclusion Orders were issued by the Western Defense Command and Fourth Army to implement the provisions of Executive Order 9066. Executive Order 9066 – authorized the War Department to establish military areas from which “any or all persons may be excluded...” This order was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942 and was the basis for the removal from the West Coast of anyone with 1/16 Japanese ancestry. Family Number – a WCCA number assigned to each family unit or individual living alone during registration for “evacuation.” The numbers were used for administrative and property identification purposes. Hoshi Dan – short for Sokuji Kikoku Hoshi Dan, a pro-Japanese group formed in Tule Lake Segregation Center. Sokuji Kikoku Hoshi Dan translates as “Organization to Return Immediately to the Homeland to Serve.” Immigration Act of 1924 – banned further immigration from Japan to the U.S. and restricted overall immigration. Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 – also known as the McCarran-Walter Act: the statute gave immigrants from Japan and other countries the right to apply to become naturalized U.S. citizens. Internment Camps – administered by the Department of Justice for the detention of enemy aliens (non-citizens from countries with which the U.S. was at war) considered dangerous and a threat to national security during World War II. Also referred to as “concentration camps.” Issei – the first generation of immigrants from Japan, most of whom came to the U.S. between 1885 and 1924. Issei were not allowed to become U.S. citizens until 1952. Japanese American Citizen League (JACL) – the largest Japanese American political organization in the U.S. The JACL was formed in 1928 and emphasized assimilation and Americanization during World War II. Kibei – a Japanese American (born in the U.S.) who received some or all of their formal education in Japan, then returned to the U.S. Loyalty Questionnaire – administered in February 1943 to all Japanese Americans, aged seventeen years and older, in war relocation centers. Despite serious problems with the wording of questions 27 and 28, those who refused to answer or who answered “no” to one or both of the controversial questions were considered “disloyal” to the U.S. and were sent to Tule Lake Segregation Center in northern California. Those who answered “yes” became eligible for service in the U.S. Army and for release and resettlement to the Midwest and eastern U.S. Military Intelligence Service (MIS) – a branch of the United States Army in which many Japanese Americans served during World War II, using their language skills in the Pacific to translate enemy documents, interrogate Japanese prisoners of war, and persuade enemy units to surrender. Nisei – second generation Japanese Americans, U.S. citizens by birth, born to Japanese immigrants (Issei). Non-alien – a term used by the Army during World War II to describe a U.S. citizen of Japanese ancestry. The U.S. government often referred to U.S. residents of Japanese ancestry as “aliens” and “non-aliens” rather than as “citizens” and “non-citizens.” No-no boys – a term used for Japanese Americans who refused to answer the loyalty questionnaire or who answered “no” to questions 27 and 28. Reception Centers – temporary areas established and maintained by the WCCA, intended to house Japanese Americans after “evacuation.” While the WCCA planned many reception centers, only one was established, Owens Valley, and it ultimately became Manzanar War Relocation Center. Redress and reparations – terms used to refer to compensation made by the U.S. government to Japanese Americans for their wartime detention in war relocation cen

Minidoka Internment National Monument National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Executive Order 9066 EXECUTIVE ORDER ------AUTHORIZING THE SECRETARY OF WAR TO PRESCRIBE MILITARY AREAS WHEREAS the successful prosecution of the war requires every possible protection against espionage and against sabotage to national-defense material, national-defense premises, and national-defense utilities as defined in Section 4, Act of April 20, 1918, 40 Stat. 533, as amended by the Act of November 30, 1940, 54 Stat. 1220, and the Act of August 21, 1941, 55 Stat. 655 (U.S.C., Title 50, Sec. 104); NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of War, and the Military Commanders whom he may from time to time designate, whenever he or any designated Commander deems such action necessary or desirable, to prescribe military areas in such places and of such extent as he or the appropriate Military Commander may determine, from which any or all persons may be excluded, and with respect to which, the right of any person to enter, remain in, or leave shall be subject to whatever restrictions the Secretary of War or the appropriate Military Commander may impose in his discretion. The Secretary of War is hereby authorized to provide for residents of any such area who are excluded therefrom, such transportation, food, shelter, and other accommodations as may be necessary, in the judgment of the Secretary of War or the said Military Commander, and until other arrangements are made, to accomplish the purpose of this order. The designation of military areas in any region or locality shall supersede designations of prohibited and restricted areas by the Attorney General under the Proclamations of December 7 and 8, 1941, and shall supersede the responsibility and authority of the Attorney General under the said Proclamations in respect of such prohibited and restricted areas. I hereby further authorize and direct the Secretary of War and the said Military Commanders to take such other steps as he or the appropriate Military Commander may deem advisable to enforce compliance with the restrictions applicable to each Military area hereinabove authorized to be designated, including the use of Federal troops and other Federal Agencies, with authority to accept assistance of state and local agencies. I hereby further authorize and direct all Executive Departments, independent establishments and other Federal Agencies, to assist the Secretary of War or the said Military Commanders in carrying out this Executive Order, including the furnishing of medical aid, hospitalization, food, clothing, transportation, use of land, shelter, and other supplies, equipment, utilities, facilities, and services. This order shall not be construed as modifying or limiting in any way the authority heretofore granted under Executive Order No. 8972, dated December 12, 1941, nor shall it be construed as limiting or modifying the duty and responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with respect to the investigation of alleged acts of sabotage or the duty and responsibility of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice under the Proclamations of December 7 and 8, 1941, prescribing regulations for the conduct and control of alien enemies, except as such duty and responsibility is superseded by the designation of military areas here under. Franklin D. Roosevelt The White House, February 19, 1942 10 Camps, 120,000 Lives FROM 90,491 WCCA ASSEMBLY CENTERS 17,915 DIRECT EVACUATION 5,981 BIRTHS THE EVACUATED PEOPLE 120,313 WRA CUSTODY (Includes 757 institutionalized cases and 753 seasonal workers released by the WCCA who were never assigned to nor inducted into a WRA Center.) TO 54,127 RELOCATED TO WEST COAST EVACUATED AREA 52,798 RELOCATED TO OTHER SECTIONS OF U.S. AND HAWAII 4,724 TO JAPAN 1,735 3,121 DEPT. OF JUSTICE INTERNMENT AND DETENTION CAMPS DEPT. OF JUSTICE INTERNMENT INCL. FAMILY MEMBERS 1,579 SEASONAL WORKERS 2,355 U.S. ARMED FORCES (Released by WCCA) 1,275 1,862 INSTITUTIONS DECEASED 1,118 1,322 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS INSTITUTIONS 219 VOLUNTARY RESIDENTS Historic War Relocation Authority (WRA) Figures from The Evacuated People: A Quantitative Description. U.S. Department of the Interior, War Relocation Authority, 1946. 

Minidoka Internment National Monument National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Timeline: Japanese Americans during World War II October 14, 1940: The U.S. Nationality Act of 1940 requires that resident aliens register annually at post offices and keep the government apprised of any address changes. 91,858 Japanese aliens registered. December 7, 1941: Japan attacks the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Presidential Proclamation No. 2525, declaring “all natives, citizens or subjects of the Empire of Japan” living in the U.S. and not naturalized to be “liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as alien enemies.” December 8, 1941: The United States declares war on Japan. December 11, 1941: The Western Defense Command is established and Lt. General John L. DeWitt is named commander. The West Coast of the U.S. is declared a “theater of war.” December 29, 1941: All enemy aliens in California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, Utah, and Nevada are ordered to surrender all contraband, including short-wave radios, cameras, binoculars, and weapons. Pfc. Sadao Munemori was the only Japanese American to win the Medal of Honor during WWII. His family was interned at Manzanar. January 5, 1942: All Japanese American selective service registrants are reclassified as IV-C, “enemy aliens.” January 29, 1942: Attorney General Francis Biddle issues orders to establish “prohibited zones” from which “enemy aliens” are excluded. German, Italian, and Japanese aliens are removed from these areas. February 4, 1942: The U.S. Army designates “restricted areas” in which enemy aliens must observe curfew and are limited in their travel. German, Italian, and Japanese aliens may not travel more than five miles from their homes in these areas. February 19, 1942: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066 empowering the U.S. Army to designate areas from which “...any or all persons may be excluded...” February 21, 1942: House Select Committee Investigating National Defense Migration (Tolan Committee) begins hearings to investigate problems related to enemy aliens on the West Coast. February 26, 1942: A naval order requires all people of Japanese ancestry on Terminal Island, California to evacuate their homes and businesses in forty-eight hours. March 2, 1942: General DeWitt issues Public Proclamation No. 1 designating military areas in Washington, Oregon, California, and Arizona. The proclamation also states that certain persons or classes of persons might be excluded from these areas. March 11, 1942: The Wartime Civil Control Administration (WCCA) is established for “the execution of duties and responsibilities imposed upon the Commanding General, Western Defense Command,” including the exclusion of civilians from the West Coast. March 18, 1942: Executive Order 9102 establishes the War Relocation Authority (WRA). March 21, 1942: Public Law 503 is signed into law, providing penalties for persons who violate exclusion orders. March 23, 1942: The first Civilian Exclusion Order is issued by General DeWitt. It requires that all persons of Japanese ancestry “evacuate” Bainbridge Island, Washington before March 30, 1942. March 24, 1942: Public Proclamation No. 3 extends travel restrictions, curfew, and contraband regulations to Japanese Americans. March 28, 1942: Minoru Yasui presents himself for arrest at a Portland, Oregon police station to test the curfew laws. May 13, 1942: The WRA and WCCA agree to permit recruitment of seasonal farm workers at assembly and war relocation centers. By May 20, the first internees leave for sugar beet fields in Oregon. June 10, 1942: The 100th Battalion, an all-Nisei infantry battalion, is activated in Hawaii. June 12, 1942: Action is filed against Fred Korematsu in the U.S. District Court for northern California. Korematsu is charged with violating Exclusion Order No. 34. July 13, 1942: A Writ of Habeas Corpus is filed in the name of Mitsuye Endo. July 20, 1942: The WRA adopts the first policy permitting indefinite leave from war relocation centers. July 27, 1942: Toshiro Kobata and Hirota Isomura are killed by guards at Lordsburg Internment Camp in New Mexico. It is initially alleged that the men were trying to escape, but later reports suggest that the men had been too ill to walk from the train station to the camp gate. August 4, 1942: A routine search for contraband at Santa Anita Assembly Center turns into a riot. Military police quickly end the conflict. August 7, 1942: General DeWitt announces that the “evacuation” of all persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast is complete. October 20, 1942: The Trial of Gordon Hirabayashi begins in Seattle. Hirabayashi is charged with violating exclusion orders and curfew. November 14, 1942: An attack on a man, Kay Nishimura, considered an informer at Poston War Relocation Center, results in the arrest of two internees. The incident soon escalates into a general str