Tule Lake Relocation Center

World War II and its subsequent effects on the American nation permeated every aspect of the lives of the country's people. Although virtually everyone was touched in some respect by the war, perhaps no people, as a group, were affected more than the Japanese-Americans living in the far western states. Both aliens and American citizens of Japanese ancestry became the victims of the distrust and fear generated by both civilians and military personnel along the Pacific Coast. Viewed as a threat to the security of the United States, all Japanese and Japanese-Americans were evacuated from the Western states. Forced to leave their homes and jobs, many losing all their possessions, the Japanese-Americans were established in what were to be known as relocation centers. Administered by an agency of the federal government, these centers became Japanese communities with the formation of local governments, school, jobs, and community activities.

The establishment of these centers was accomplished in a relatively short period of time. On March 18, just three months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9103 which established the War Relocation Authority (WRA), a civilian agency which was to administer the relocation centers. By the end of March, evacuation procedures had begun, at first voluntary, with the Japanese-Americans being sent originally to assembly centers, and later to the relocation camps. The two relocation centers, with which this collection is primarily concerned, Tule Lake and Topaz, were established May 27, 1942 and September 11, 1942, respectively.

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