History of Women in Utah

The Japanese Army bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941.  This led to two major actions by the United States government: first, the country broke its previous position of neutrality to become involved in WWII; and second,  on February 19th, 1942 President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which forced over 120,000 people of Japanese descent to be incarcerated in hastily built camps. ^[1]

Those incarcerated include Niesi (second generation) and Sansei (third generation) Japanese Americans, most of whom had never lived in Japan. The US also incarcerated German-Americans and Italian-Americans but at a much lower rate (approximately 1/10 the rate of Japanese Americans). ^[2]

Those incarcerated were under direction of the newly established War Relocation Authority (WRA), which was established purely for the purpose of overseeing the American concentration camps* and each camp's incarcercees*. President Roosevelt gave the army the power to forcefully remove any person of Japanese descent from their homes, as he considered it a “military necessity”.  This effort was focused on the Western states such as California, Oregon,  and Washington. ^[3]

There were 10 American concentration camps (as they were referred to by President Roosevelt),^{[4] [5]} but Topaz War Relocation Center (also known as Central Utah Relocation Center) was the only one in Utah.  It held a maximum of 8,130 people, most of whom were from San Francisco Bay Area. The site where WRA built Topaz had dust storms often and was nortorious for poor farming capabilities.  When incarcercees arrived at Topaz on September 30th, 1942, it was still under construction, so many people had to sleep in buildings without walls or roofs for several days until the incarcerees themselves could finish building the camp. ^[6]

The camp contained schools, an administrative building, a hospital, cafeterias for each block of houses, and guard towers.  Topaz had an art and a music school which became fairly well-known due to the schools' teaching producing well-known artists.  Each week the incarcerees had to conduct a head count and were allowed $2.00 per month for clothes.  Each family was allocated a barrack which included two rooms each approximately 20 x 20 ft , a stove, and nothing else; all bedding had to be purchased from the camp store or brought with incarcerees when they first entered the prison.  While block contained 250-300 people, it contained only a single combination washroom and laundry facility with 4 total showers for men, 4 showers for women, and no doors on the latrines. ^[6]

Topaz had the largest library of any WRA camp, serving the general camp population, both elementary schools and the high school.  The Topaz Public Library started with 7,000 books in 1942 before increasing capacity to 8,500 in March 1943 due to donations from incarcerees.  At its peak the library had nearly 500 patrons per day! ^[7]

Even though many of the incarcerees brought to Topaz were shop-keepers, doctors, and other professional workers they were forced into farm labor to grow enough food.  During the war the American public criticized WRA for pampering Japanese American incarcerees, whom they considered “the enemy”, but the incarcerees also faced rations and supply restrictions.  WRA became dedicated to ensuring the camps were self-sufficient, which resulted in many incarcerees participating in farming in exchange for extra funds.  In some camps the WRA would sell excess produce to outside markets for funds, butTopaz had such a harsh climate incarcerees struggled to grow enough for the camp. ^[8]

In 1942 there was a great need for agricultural workers due to so many young men leaving to fight in WWII.  The WRA agreed to allow some incarcerees out of Topaz during the farming season on contract to local farmers for $16 per month, sometimes being contracted out to Idaho and Colorado for months at a time. ^[7]

Many in Topaz worked for the camp in a professional capacity, from nursing to working in the dining hall.  Wages were allocated due to each individual’s job ranging from $16 - $19 per month, the higher end reserved for doctors, engineers, etc. They worked alongside white colleagues, who earned $150-250 per month, in nearby towns. ^[6]

Despite all of this, the people incarcerated in Topaz lived for 3 years as a community, going to school, getting married, having children, winning baseball games, etc.  Records of incarcerees lives during this period are difficult to find because cameras and diaries were forbidden in Topaz.  For this reason there are very few pictures from within the camp itself during war time with the exception of when outside visitors were allowed in.  

*The Marriott Library chooses to use terms such as "concentration camps" and "incarcerees" in accordance with the guidelines of Japanese American Community groups such as Densho and Japanese American Citizen's League.

^[1] National Archives, (2021, September 22). Executive Order 9066: Resulting in Japanese-American Internment (1942). National Archives; The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/executive-order-9066

^[2] World War II Enemy Alien Control Program Overview. (2016, August 15). National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/enemy-aliens/ww2

‌^[3]  Looking Like the Enemy. (n.d.). Densho: Japanese American Incarceration and Japanese Internment. https://densho.org/learn/introduction/looking-like-the-enemy/

^[4] Weglyn, M. (2019). Children of the Camps | INTERNMENT HISTORY. Pbs.org. https://www.pbs.org/childofcamp/history/

‌^[5]  Hayashi, K. (2021, March 26). The Return of Japanese Americans to the West Coast in 1945. The National WWII Museum | New Orleans. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/return-japanese-americans-west-coast-1945

‌^[6]  Arrington, L. J. (1962). The price of prejudice; : the Japanese-American Relocation Center in Utah during World War II.

^[7]  Topaz | Densho Encyclopedia. (2012). Densho.org. https://encyclopedia.densho.org/Topaz/

‌^[8] National Park Service. (2012). Japanese Americans in World War II: A National Landmark Theme Study [Review of Japanese Americans in World War II: A National Landmark Theme Study]. National Park Service. https://npshistory.com/publications/nhl/theme-studies/japanese-americans-ww2.pdf

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