JEROME
| Official name: | Jerome Relocation Center | Location: | Drew & Chicot Counties, Arkansas |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coordinates: | 33.41° N, 91.46° W | Size of camp: | 10,000 acres |
| Opening date: | October 6, 1942 | Peak population: | 8,497 |
| Date of peak: | February 11, 1943 | Closing date: | June 30, 1944 |
One of the smaller camps, Jerome Relocation Center in southeastern Arkansas was located in the swampy marshland of the Mississippi River flood plain. Both Jerome and Rohwer were the War Relocation Authority (WRA) camps furthest east. Due to the unusual topography, the internees provided the bulk of labor in clearing the land and building an eight-mile canal for farmland. The camp was divided into fifty blocks of barracks enclosed by barbed wire and armed watch towers. While many locals living near Jerome were sympathetic to those incarcerated, Jerome was the only camp that reported shootings of internees such as one instance where a local farmer claimed to have mistakenly shot three Japanese working in the woods under the impression that they were “trying to escape.”Jerome was the last of the ten WRA camps to open and the first to close. Nearby Rohwer camp was roughly 30 miles away and when Jerome closed on June 30, 1944, those remaining in Jerome were transferred to Rohwer.
