The Center for Arkansas History and Culture
Located in downtown Little Rock, the UA Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture is housed in the Bobby L. Roberts Library, the state’s largest facility dedicated to the study of Arkansas history and culture. Through its connection to the university, the archives benefit from the rigorous scholarship of our faculty, creating a valuable resource for students, researchers, stakeholders, and the general public.
The Bobby L. Roberts Library represents a partnership between the Central Arkansas Library System and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, through which the two institutions have made more than 10 million documents and photographs on Arkansas history available for public use.
Mission
The UA Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture collects, keeps safe, and makes available Arkansas history that connects people to each other and their shared experiences.
Project Contributors
National Park Service
This material is based upon work assisted by a grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
This material received Federal financial assistance for the preservation and interpretation of U.S. confinement sites where Japanese Americans were detained during World War II. Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended, the U.S. Department of the Interior prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability or age in its federally funded assisted projects. If you believe you have been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility as described above, or if you desire further information, please write to:
Office of Equal Opportunity
National Park Service
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20240
About This Project
May the people of Arkansas keep in beauty and reverence forever this ground where our bodies sleep.
--Inscription on the Monument to the Rohwer Dead
The Rohwer Relocation Center Cemetery Conservation Project aims to stabilize and restore the Rohwer Japanese American Relocation Camp Cemetery, and this virtual exhibit, Rohwer Restored, documents the stabilization and restoration.
Opened in September 1942, Rohwer Relocation Center spanned 400 acres and housed 8,475 individuals at its peak. Today, the cemetery is the last physical remnant of not one but two World War II camps located in Arkansas. The area contains historic and modern monuments, as well as 24 concrete headstones marking the final resting place of Japanese Americans unconstitutionally incarcerated as threats to national security during World War II.
Prior to the beginning of this project, the cemetery was in dangerously poor condition due to deterioration caused by weathering, neglect, and vandalism. The National Park Service had identified the Rohwer cemetery as an endangered resource. The cemetery had several preservation needs: Historic monument, markers, and headstones were structurally unstable and covered in biological growths that significantly altered their appearance; engravings were unreadable; and vandalism had taken its toll on the site.
The conservation project had developed in phases. Phase I included the restoration of two of the most iconic monuments at the cemetery, the Monument to the Rohwer Dead and the Monument to the 100th Battalion. Phase II continues the stabilization and restoration of the World War II-era section of the Rohwer cemetery with a focus on cleaning, repairing, and resetting the concrete headstones and flower holders; restoring drainage patterns and channels; and replacing missing concrete pathways. All work at the cemetery is in compliance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.
Once all phases are complete, the original appearance of the cemetery will be recreated. The cemetery is a rare resource associated with the history of Japanese American confinement in the United States during World War II. The goal of this project is to ensure that this important piece of the nation’s historic fabric is preserved for future generations of Americans.
The project team includes the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, WER Architects/Planners, and Kinco Constructors.
Rohwer Restored was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, for the preservation and interpretation of U.S. confinement sites where Japanese Americans were detained during World War II.
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the Central Arkansas Library System have created the state's largest facility dedicated to the study of Arkansas history and culture in the Bobby L. Roberts Library of Arkansas History and Art building.
To help make the researcher's expirence efficient and fulfilling, the two institutions have created a single research portal that provides all of the information you need to plan your visit to the archive, including the ability to submit questions and requests to staff.
Visit the portal at arstudies.com.