The Enforcement of Order 9066. Western Defense Command and Fourth Army Wartime Civil Control Administration. May 23, 1942. Courtesy of the Hoover Institution Library & Archives Poster Collection.
In February of 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Order 9066, legalizing the removal of individuals of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast of the United States to ten “relocation centers” run by the War Relocation Authority (WRA). This document is a set of instructions for those living in Orange County and San Diego County.
Newcomers at Santa Anita Park Assembly Center in Arcadia, California Receive Vaccination. July 1942. Official OWI Photo. International Mission Photography Archive, Circa 1860-1960. Courtesy of the University of Southern California Digital Library.
Before being relocated, Japanese Americans were vaccinated against smallpox and typhoid fever at temporary assembly centers like this one in Arcadia, California. Under the direction of Dr. Norman Kobayashi, Japanese American nurses vaccinated approximately 400 people an hour in Santa Anita Park. Evacuees were later transferred to War Relocation Authority Centers, or internment camps, for the duration of the war.
Basketball Court at the Japanese Relocation Camp in Manzanar, California. 2021. Photograph on medium format film courtesy of Allan Helmick Photography.
Women Playing Baseball at the Japanese Relocation Camp in Manzanar, California. July 1942. Official OWI Photo. International Mission Photography Archive, Circa 1860-1960. Courtesy of the University of Southern California Digital Library.
Shortly after being imprisoned in 1942, this image shows a baseball game on the grounds of Manzanar Internment Camp, located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains in California.
Click here to continue to the next section Growth of the Mexican Community in Orange County
Introduction - The Ku Klux Klan and Racial Tensions Before WWII - OC History: Did You Know?
Lighter Than Air - Tustin Hangars: Did You Know? - Orange County Air Corps Training Center
Santa Ana Army Air Base: Did You Know? - Jewish Community Blossoms in Orange County
Jewish Pioneers in OC: Did You Know? - Japanese Internment Camps
Growth of the Mexican Community in Orange County - Barrio Life