On this Date-Manzanar Internment Camp Opens

On March  23, 1942, the first Japanese-Americans evacuated by the U.S. Army during World War II arrived at the internment camp in Manzanar, Calif.

“We had about one week to dispose of what we owned, except what we could pack and carry for our departure by bus…for Manzanar.” William Hohri

Buses line up on a Los Angeles street to take Japanese American evacuees to camp.
NPS Photo

Source: “Japanese Americans at Manzanar,” (National Park Service)

On February, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 authorizing the Secretary)of War to establish Military Areas and to remove from those areas anyone who might threaten the war effort. Without due process, the government gave everyone of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast only days to decide what to do with their houses, farms, businesses, and other possessions.

National Park Service

Orphanage at Manzanar (Photo by Ansel Adams Courtesy of National Park Service

I have written several posts on this subject including these;

Executive Order 9066

Internment