World War II Japanese American Internment Photographs of Families and Children in War Relocation Authority Camps, 1940s

War Relocation Authority

Photograph

[WWII][Japanese American] Photo archive of Japanese American families and children confined in United States War Relocation Authority camps during the Second World War. These images, taken during the 1940s incarceration of approximately 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry following the issuance of Executive Order 9066, capture informal scenes of family life in the camp system that held both immigrants and American-born citizens. More than two-thirds of those imprisoned were United States citizens, including thousands of children whose early years were spent inside the camp environment. The photographs show the everyday domestic and social life in incarceration centers, recording children, parents, and small family groups living within the controlled environment established by the War Relocation Authority.

Archive of seven original photographs including five silver gelatin prints and two photographic negatives dating to the World War II incarceration period. The images depict small groups and individual portraits of Japanese Americans in relocation centers. One group photograph shows six children seated on a wooden fence with rows of barracks-style housing structures visible behind them. Another image depicts two mothers seated on a wooden bench with their toddler-aged sons in front of a wooded camp building; the verso is inscribed identifying the women as “Mrs. Chyoko Okita” and “Mrs. Hayashima.” A school-style portrait of a young girl includes her name written on the recto. Two negatives show adult figures outside built environments, including one man standing in a suit before a brick building and another image showing a man posed with three women beside an automobile with leafless trees in the background. The photographs range in size from approximately 1.5 × 2.25 inches to 2.5 × 3.5 inches.

Japanese American incarceration camps held entire family units between 1942 and 1945, producing a social landscape in which children attended school and families attempted to maintain ordinary routines. Approximately 6,000 children were born in War Relocation Authority centers during the war years, and many young children spent their earliest developmental years entirely within the camp system. Vernacular photographs such as these offer rare glimpses of daily life beyond official government photography, preserving personal moments of families and children navigating incarceration under wartime policy. Minor edge wear to several photographs with otherwise clear images and strong tonal contrast; negatives well preserved. Overall very good condition. An evocative record of Japanese American family life during U.S. internment.

Item #20653

Price: $2,200.00