Location: Desha County, southeastern Arkansas
Land: Farm Security Administration land Size: 10,161 acres
Climate: Wooded swamp land; high heat and humidity, with sudden rains
Origin of camp population: Mostly from Los Angeles(4,324)and San Joaquin (3,516) Counties
Via "assembly centers": Most came from Santa Anita (4,415) or Stockton (3,802) "ASSEMBLY CENTERS": Rohwer also received the highest number of transfers from Jerome (2,734) upon that camp's closing Rural/Urban: Mostly urban Peak population: 8,475
Date of peak: March 11, 1943
Opening date: September 18, 1942 Closing date: November 30, 1945 Project director(s)- Raymond Johnson
Community Analysts: Margaret Lantis, Katherine Luomala and Charles Wisdom
JERS fieldworkers: None
Newspaper: Rohwer Outpost (October 24, 1942-July 21, 1945); Rohwer Relocator (August 1-November 9, 1945)
Percent who answered question 28 of the loyalty questionnaire positively: 94.9
Number and percentage of eligible male citizens inducted directly into armed forces: 274 (4.7 percent)
Miscellaneous characteristics: In an early episode, inmate volunteers clearing brush were marched off to jail at gunpoint by locals who thought they were Japanese paratroopers. Because of the irregular weather, farming was difficult here despite relatively fertile soil. The climate also led to problems with mosquitoes and chiggers.
Image credit: Gift of Walter Muramoto Family, Japanese American National Museum (97.293.29)
Camp Related Materials from the Japanese American National Museum
America's Concentration Concentration Camps sites on the Internet
Bibliography of Japanese Americans and America's Concentration Camps