This collection was made as part of a 2022 Landmarks of American History and Culture workshop "Little Tokyo: How History Shapes a Community Across Generations," which has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this collection do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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This topical collection includes photographs and inmate-created artwork of life in Japanese American Incarceration camps.  It is one in a series of collections, each containing different types of resources, about the Japanese American Incarceration; see also Japanese Incarceration: Publications, Letters, and Other Documents, Japanese American Incarceration: Camp Objects, and Japanese American Incarceration: Articles and Videos about Inmate Experiences.

In February 1942, following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 and authorized the imprisonment of approximately 75,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry and 45,000 Japanese nationals in incarceration camps.  This order was not rescinded until 1945.

Teachers and students may use this collection as a springboard for classroom discussion; for example, how these images may reveal experiences of children and teenagers growing up in the camps. This collection is not comprehensive but rather provides a launching point for research and study.

This Smithsonian Learning Lab collection received Federal support from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.

Keywords: internment camp, Akio Ujihara, Yosh Kuromiya, world war ii, ww2, wwii, Jerome, Arkansas, Heart Mountain, Wyoming, Rohwer, Manzanar, California, Gila River, Arizona, Amache, Colorado, Tule Lake, Topaz, Utah, Minidoka, Idaho

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