Skip to main content

Topaz Internment Camp documents

 Collection
Identifier: UUS_COLL MSS 170

Scope and Contents

Collection primarily includes publications produced by residents; also material concerning activities at the camp, memos from the War Relocation Authority to the staff of the Central Utah Relocation Camp concerning Japanese culture (including "Dealing with Japanese-Americans" by John F. Embree) and two articles about the Topaz internment camp (Arrington, "Price of Predjudice" and Toelkin, "Cultural maintenance and ethnic intensification in two Japanese-American World War II internment camps"). Includes issues of the Topaz Times, the Trek, the 1943 Topaz High School yearbook.

Dates

  • 1942-1943

Language of Materials

Material in English

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on use, except: not available through interlibrary loan.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.

Permission to publish material from the Topaz Internment Camp Documents must be obtained from the Special Collections Manuscript Curator and/or the Special Collections Department Head.

Biographical Note

In response to Executive Order 9066 issued on February 19, 1942, relocation centers for Japanese-Americans residing in coastal areas were established. The Central Utah Relocation Center in Topaz, Utah was opened on September 11, 1942. Residents produced a daily newspaper called the Topaz Times and a quarterly literary magazine, the Trek. The number of Japanese held at Topaz grew smaller until the camp closed on October 31, 1945.>

Extent

1 box (0.5 linear feet)

Abstract

Publications and documents produced by Topaz Internment Camp residents, and memos from the War Relocation Authority to the staff of the Central Utah Relocation Camp concerning Japanese culture. The collections also includes issues of the Topaz Times, the Trek, the 1943 Topaz High School yearbook.

Arrangement

Newspapers are arranged chronologically, while other materials are arranged topically.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Unknown.

Monographs

  • The Price Of Prejudice Arrington, Leonard. The Price Of Prejudice . Logan, UT: Faculty Association, Utah State University, 1962.
  • Citizen 13660 Okubo, Miné. Citizen 13660 . New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1946.
  • Topaz, the City of Dust By Yoshiko Uchida Layton, Stanford J (Ed.). The skeleton in Grandpa's barn and other stories of growing up in Utah . Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 2008.

Historical Note

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, a fear of a Japanese insurrection along the Western coastal areas of the United States grew rapidly among Americans. Coupled with a long history of prejudices against the Japanese, these suspicions resulted in Franklin D. Roosevelt issuing the Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. As a result 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry, two-thirds of which were American citizens, were forcibly removed by the Federal Government from their homes in militarily strategic coastal areas. At first these evacuees were placed in assembly centers, which were often abandoned racetracks and stadiums. Later, they were removed to one of ten permanent relocation centers.

One of those relocation centers was established at Topaz, UT, just outside the town of Delta. Opening on September 11, 1942, the Topaz camp was located on 17,500 acres of alkali land in the middle of the Sevier Desert. A layer of dust seemed to coat the camp and extreme temperatures plagued the evacuees. Often in the mornings temperatures would plummet to around freezing, while the afternoons saw summer-like heat.

After enduring a two and a half day train and bus ride from the Tanforan assembly center in California, the new residents of Topaz found that the construction of the camp had not been completed. Residents, at first, had to deal with cramped living spaces and cots without mattresses. Barracks often lacked stoves and proper insulation, and some of these utilities were not installed until months after the evacuees had arrived.

In response to the chaos camp residents experienced because of relocation, government officials tried to give residents a semblance of normal life. A wide range of educational endeavors for both children and adults were available to the camp residents. Different athletic and entertainment activities also went on in the camp. A daily newspaper called the Topaz Times was started and maintained by camp residents. In addition a quarterly literary magazine, the Trek, was published. A variety of religions, such as Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, and Seventh Day Adventists, were active in the camp and formed an Interfaith Church Council.

Soon after the evacuees were placed in camps, efforts to relocate them began. College students, after rigorous screening, eventually were allowed to attend universities, usually on the East Coast. Other evacuees were allowed to obtain permits that enabled them to hold jobs outside of the camp. Over time, the number of Japanese held at Topaz grew smaller until the camp closed on October 31, 1945, two months after the Second World War ended. Many of these evacuees went back to their original homes in the San Francisco Bay Area. Other evacuees at Topaz chose to remain in Utah and settled along the Wasatch front.

Processing Information

Processed in February of 2000

Title
Guide to the Topaz Internment Camp documents 1942-1943
Author
Finding aid/Register created by Claire Malmstrom
Date
©2009
Description rules
Finding Aid Based On Dacs (Describing Archives: A Content Standard)
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid encoded in English.
Sponsor
Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant, 2007-2008

Revision Statements

  • 2009: Template information was updated to reflect Archives West best practice guidelines.

Repository Details

Part of the Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections & Archives Repository

Contact:
Merrill-Cazier Library
Utah State University
3000 Old Main Hill
Logan Utah 84322-3000 United States
435 797-8248
435 797-2880 (Fax)