Tag Archives: community

Our World Yearbook, Manzanar War Relocation Center High School, 1943–1944 Glanced through quickly, the yearbook of Manzanar High School looks like that of any American high school from the 1940s. And yet, its editors chose to frame their title page much as Ansel Adams did in his iconic photos of the camp, juxtaposing the snow-capped Sierra Nevadas against serial rows of barracks. The following page describes the journey “from a dusty wasteland to a lively community,” the text set against a photo of a white obelisk with the black calligraphy “I Rei To”: a tower to console the departed, the focal point of the camp cemetery. The various yearbooks made in the internment camps are a study of contrasts, a marker of normalcy amidst the most abnormal of living conditions. Zc72.+944ou. WA, BRBL.

Manzanar War Relocation Center High School, 1943-1944

Today We Follow, Tomorrow We Lead, Senior Edition yearbook, Tri-State High School, Tule Lake Relocation Center, 1943. Tule Lake was designated for “dissidents,” 5,000 of whom renounced their U.S. citizenship. Living conditions were poor and following protests, the center was placed under martial law. This yearbook chronicles the difficulties of life at Tule Lake where on “critical, discouraging days…our thoughts were filled with pessimistic ideas and doubts as to our future position in this world.” Zc73.943to. WA, BRBL.

1943 Senior edition yearbook, Tri-State High School, Tule Lake

Charter of the Community of Poston, [c. May 1943] This 1943 charter represents the mixed Issei/Nisei Community Council’s initial draft for Poston camp governance. Records Related to the Community Government at the Poston Relocation Center, Arizona (WA MSS S-2650), Box 1, Folder 25. WA, BRBL.

1943 Charter for community government at Poston