Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Communication Theses Department of Communication 11-27-2007 Strangers in their Own Land: A Cultural History of Japanese American Internment Camps in Arkansas 1942-1945 Dori Felice Moss Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/communication_theses Part of the Communication Commons Recommended Citation Moss, Dori Felice, "Strangers in their Own Land: A Cultural History of Japanese American Internment Camps in Arkansas 1942-1945." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2007. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/communication_theses/32 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Communication at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Communication Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. STRANGERS IN THEIR OWN LAND: A CULTURAL HISTORY OF JAPANESE AMERICAN INTERNMENT CAMPS IN ARKANSAS 1942-1945 by Dori Moss Under the Direction of Mary Stuckey ABSTRACT While considerable literature on wartime Japanese American internment exists, the vast majority of studies focus on the West Coast experience. With a high volume of literature devoted to this region, lesser known camps in Arkansas, like Rohwer (Desha County) and Jerome (Chicot and Drew County) have been largely overlooked. This study uses a cultural history approach to elucidate the Arkansas internment experience by way of local and camp press coverage. As one of the most segregated and impoverished states during the 1940s, Arkansas‟ two camps were distinctly different from the nine other internment camps used for relocation. Through analysis of local newspapers, Japanese American authored camp newspapers, documentaries, personal accounts and books, this study seeks to expose the seemingly forgotten story of internment in the South.