Jerome was the last internment camp on October 6, 1942, to open and the first to close on June 30, 1944. It covered approximately 500 acres in Drew and Chicot counties in southeastern Arkansas. At its peak, there were 8,497 internees. It was located about 27 miles from another internment camp, Rohwer Relocation Center.
When it closed, remaining inmates were transferred to Rohwer. Jerome then became a prisoner-of-war camp for Germans called Camp Dermott.
The Life Interrupted project gathered numerous resources about Jerome during its time as an internment camp, including:
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- Orginal photographs from former internees and teachers, as well as reproductions from the National Archives and Records Administration and the Library of Congress
- Community Analysis Reports about Jermone Relocation Center from the War Relocation Authority of National Archives and Records Administration
- Communique, newsletters authored by internees
- Publications about Jerome, including Jerome Relocation Center, Denson, Arkansas, January 1943 - June 1944 and Teaching at Jerome Relocation Center by Betty Bressi
Interviews with local Arkansans and former Jerome internees are also available. You can listen firsthand to their stories in our Media Gallery. Full length versions are available in our Time of Fear series.
*The banner shows a group of Japanese Americans stand inside the camp market, Jerome Cooperative Enterprise, at Jerome Relocation Center.
Our entire finding aid listing the contents of everything in the Life Interrupted Collection can be found here: http://arstudies.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/findingaids/id/5137