Japanese American Incarcerated Families at Poston Arizona and Heart Mountain WY Centers During World War II, 1940s

Heart Mountain

Photograph

[WWII] [Japanese American] Japanese American incarceration archive, circa 1940s, documenting the personal lives of Japanese American detainees at Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona and Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming during World War II. Executive Order 9066 authorized the forced removal and incarceration of more than 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry, two thirds of them United States citizens. This archive provides direct material evidence of communication and daily life in the War Relocation Authority camp system. An addressed envelope, postmarked February 20, 1943, connects two of the ten major incarceration sites, indicating a maintained interpersonal network across camps. Photographs in this archive depict a young Japanese American woman in Western dress posed outdoors, with barracks visible in several backgrounds, and include an image of a young girl on a see-saw before rows of camp housing, illustrating the family and youth experience in the camps.

Archive of 8 pieces, including 7 photographs, mostly black and white with one color, and 1 post stamped envelope addressed to “Mrs. Asako Kudari” [sic] at Block 15 21 F, Heart Mountain Center, Wyoming. Circa 1940s. The envelope bears a purple United States stamp depicting an eagle above the slogan “Win the War” and is postmarked February 20, 1943, from Block 44 3A, Poston Relocation Center, Arizona. Photographs measure approximately 6.5 x 3.5 inches to 2.25 x 3.25 inches. Several images show detainees with camp barracks in the background; others portray a young woman with a Japanese American man wearing glasses, suggesting prewar memories, though no inscription confirms dating.

Poston, located in Yuma County, Arizona, was the largest of the War Relocation Authority camps, while Heart Mountain in Park County, Wyoming, confined nearly 14,000 people at its peak. Heart Mountain became a focal point of organized resistance to the military draft of Nisei men in 1944, when 85 young men and seven leaders of the Fair Play Committee were prosecuted under the Selective Service Act after challenging the legality of conscripting citizens while their civil rights were suspended. The present archive predates that confrontation but documents the correspondence networks and ordinary domestic life of the immigrants and citizens detained. Minor edge wear and light surface handling to photographs; envelope with expected postal folds and moderate age toning; overall very good condition. An archive linking two major incarceration sites.

Item #21190

Price: $2,250.00