This page connects to DocsTeach, providing primary resources on Japanese internment during World War II. It includes documents that explore the impact of the order and its historical context, such as President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066–the order that led to the internment of Japanese Americans in relocation centers, postings of Exclusion Orders, and pictures of Japanese American families.
Time of Fear is a documentary published in 2004 by PBS that tells the story of Japanese Americans incarcerated at the Rohwer and Jerome camps in southeast Arkansas during World War II. Featuring rare home movie footage and interviews with former incarcerees and local residents, the film explores themes of racism, fear, and resilience. It offers a powerful lens into the intersections of race, place, and memory in one of the most segregated regions of the rural South.
Published in 2017 by filmmaker Vivienne Schiffer—daughter of former McGehee mayor Rosalie Gould—Relocation, Arkansas explores the long-term effects of Japanese American incarceration in Arkansas. The documentary follows the generation born after the camps closed, the stories of those who chose to remain in Arkansas, and the surprising relationship between the Japanese American community and Mayor Gould (who served from 1983 to 1995). Through themes of race, healing, and cross-cultural understanding, the film offers a deeply human perspective on a legacy of exclusion and resilience.
Densho is a leading digital archive and educational platform dedicated to preserving the histories of Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II. The site features over 900 oral histories, along with tens of thousands of photos, documents, letters, and newspapers. It also offers age-appropriate lesson plans and classroom resources, making it one of the most comprehensive tools for teaching about Japanese American incarceration.
Hosted by the Bobby L. Roberts Library of Arkansas History & Art (part of the Central Arkansas Library System), this resource offers a concise overview of Japanese American incarceration during World War II. Its centerpiece is the Rosalie Santine Gould – Mabel Jamison Vogel Collection, featuring hundreds of artworks created by Japanese Americans imprisoned at the Rohwer and Jerome camps in Arkansas. These paintings and drawings offer powerful visual testimony to life behind barbed wire and are ideal for interdisciplinary lessons combining history, art, and civil rights.
This digital project explores the history and legacy of Japanese American incarceration at Rohwer and Jerome during World War II. Using maps, archival materials, photographs, and spatial storytelling, the site helps students visualize how thousands of Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated and confined from 1942–1946.
These lesson plans from the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies provide an insight into the experiences of youth within World War II Japanese American internment camps through primary and secondary sources. Lessons are available for students in grades K-12.
