Rohwer Relocation Center opened on September 18, 1942. It covered approximately 10,161 acres in Desha County in southeastern Arkansas; of which, 500 acres served as the residential core and was home to most of the structures. Its highest population was 8,475. Rohwer was located 27 miles north of the other internment camp, Jerome Relocation Center. It closed on November 30, 1945. Only one family, incarcerated at Rohwer, ultimately remained in Arkansas.
The Life Interrupted project gathered numerous resources about Rohwer during its time as an internment camp, including:
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- Orginal photographs from former internees, teacher Mattie Lou Jameson, and the assistant director of Rohwer Relocation Center, Joseph B. Hunter, as well as reproductions from the National Archives and the Library of Congress.
- Publlications, including Stuart, "Inside View: Japenese American Evacuee Center at Rohwer, Arkansas, 1941-1945," by Colburn Coxand "An Educational History of the War Relocation Centers at Rohwer and Jerome, Arkansas, 1942-1945," by Carole Katsuko Yumiba.
- Cumminty Analysis Reports about Rohwer Relocation Center from the War Relocation Authority of National Archives and Records Administration.
- Newsletters Rohwer Outpost, Rohwer Relocator, and Hi-Lights.
Interviews with local Arkansans and former Rohwer internees are also available. You can listen firsthand to their stories in our Media Gallery. Full length versions of these interviews are available in our Time of Fear series.
*The banner shows women in a home economics class sit at their desks with their teacher looking on.
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