LEAVING HOME 0. LEAVING HOME - Story Preface 1. EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066 2. THE EVACUEES 3. LEAVING HOME 4. CLOSING BUSINESSES 5. INTERNMENT CAMPS 6. CAMP MANZANAR 7. CAMP POSTON 8. MINIDOKA 9. TULE LAKE 10. FRED KOREMATSU 11. CONVICTIONS OVERTURNED 12. LESSONS and LEGACY After President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, newspapers across the country blared headlines about what would happen to Japanese-Americans living in places like California. This image displays "the news" as published by the San Francisco Examiner. Photo online via the U.S. National Archives (ARC identifier number 195535). Public Domain. Families gave away their pets and left comfortable homes (like the Sumi family’s residence in Los Angeles). Their first stop on this journey was to one of several assembly centers (this one was in Salinas, California). After registering there, families would be assigned to one of about ten internment camps. Their new homes would be barrack-apartments at one of the camps. Along the way, evacuee baggage was inspected by government officials. One look at the watchtower, where guards stood with fixed bayonets (like these at the Santa Anita Park assembly center in Arcadia , California where Seabiscuit had raced just a few years before) would explain what was at stake should anyone try to leave. Before the war, many Nisei (people of Japanese ancestry born in the United States) had attended leading agricultural colleges in America. After graduation, some became horticultural experts. They, too, were ordered to leave their homes and jobs. The same was true for Japanese Americans who ran (or worked) in San Joaquin County’s vineyards. Families, who owned or operated both small and industrialized farms, were ordered to abandon their responsibilities and leave their homes. According to the government: Farmers...will be given opportunities to follow their callings in War Relocation Authority Centers. Of course, when they followed “their callings”in War Relocation Centers, they worked for others, not for themselves. At Manzanar, for example, experienced nurserymen worked with guayule seedlings in the guayule rubber experiment project. No one asked the evacuees whether any of this was acceptable to them. Most, after all, were loyal Americans, too. Despite the government’s interception of MAGIC cables (before the war), which clearly signaled potential problems, and knowledge gleaned from people like Minoru Genda (after the war) confirming that government concerns about future attacks on America’s mainland were legitimate, one still must question whether wholesale, indiscriminate evacuation orders were reasonable. It apparently mattered little to government decision-makers that greenhouse or nursery owners were forced to go out of business. At least some owners could lease their land, equipment, and facilities. The owners of a loganberry farm in Centerville, California, according to the National Archives, found a “Caucasian tenant” to live in their home and work their land while they were away. No one knew, of course, how long that would be. See Alignments to State and Common Core standards for this story online at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/AcademicAlignment/LEAVING-HOME-Japanese-American-Internment See Learning Tasks for this story online at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/AcademicActivities/LEAVING-HOME-Japanese-American-Internment Media Stream Japanese-Americans Must Relocate Per Executive Order 9066 U.S. National Archives, San Francisco Examiner View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Japanese-Americans-Must-Relocate-Per-Executive-Order-9066 Families Gave Away Their Pets Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Families-Gave-Away-Their-Pets Japanese-Americans Leave Comfortable Homes Online courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Japanese-Americans-Leave-Comfortable-Homes Family Residence in Los Angeles Online courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Family-Residence-in-Los-Angeles Map of the Assembly Centers Work, described above, published by the Western Archeological and Conservation Center, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Publications in Anthropology 74. 1999 (rev. July 2000). Online, courtesy U.S. National Park Service. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Map-of-the-Assembly-Centers The Assembly Centers Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/The-Assembly-Centers Baggage Inspection Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Baggage-Inspection All Personal Effects Were Inspected Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/All-Personal-Effects-Were-Inspected Many Interned Nisei were Horticultural Experts Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Many-Interned-Nisei-were-Horticultural-Experts Watchtower Guards Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Watchtower-Guards Aerial View of the Arcadia Center Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Aerial-View-of-the-Arcadia-Center The Arcadia, California Center Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/The-Arcadia-California-Center Santa Anita Park Used as a Center Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Santa-Anita-Park-Used-as-a-Center Evacuees Insisted They Were Also Loyal Americans Image online, courtesy the U.S. Library of Congress. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Evacuees-Insisted-They-Were-Also-Loyal-Americans Farming at the Manzanar Camp Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Farming-at-the-Manzanar-Camp Farming at the Relocation Center Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Farming-at-the-Relocation-Center Forced to Close Their Businesses Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Forced-to-Close-Their-Businesses Guayule Experiment Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Guayule-Experiment Guayule Seedlings Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Guayule-Seedlings Internment Camp Evacuees Image online, courtesy the U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Internment-Camp-Evacuees Internment Camp Gardens Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Internment-Camp-Gardens Japanese-American Families Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Japanese-American-Families Japanese-American Farm Family Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Japanese-American-Farm-Family Japanese-American Farm House Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Japanese-American-Farm-House Japanese-American Farming Family Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Japanese-American-Farming-Family Layout of Internment Camp Living Areas Work, described above, published by the Western Archeological and Conservation Center, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Publications in Anthropology 74. 1999 (rev. July 2000). Online, courtesy U.S. National Park Service. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Layout-of-Internment-Camp-Living-Areas Leasing Their Land Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Leasing-Their-Land Loganberry Farm in Centerville, California Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Loganberry-Farm-in-Centerville-California MAGIC Cables Image of book cover online, courtesy Amazon. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/MAGIC-Cables Nurserymen at Manzanar Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Nurserymen-at-Manzanar Salinas, California Assembly Center Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Salinas-California-Assembly-Center San Joaquin County Vineyard Image online, courtesy the U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/San-Joaquin-County-Vineyard View of the Guayule Project Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/View-of-the-Guayule-Project Vineyards Employed Many Japanese-Americans Online, courtesy U.S. National Archives. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Vineyards-Employed-Many-Japanese-Americans.