Second quarterly report, July 1 to September 30 1942

QUARTERLY REPOR?

July 1 to September 30

1942

WAR RELOCATION AUTHORITY

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SECOND QUARTERLY REPORT OF THE WAR RELOCATION AUTHORITY

July 1 to September 30

1942

PROGRESS OF RELOCATION

When the War Relocation Authority began its second quarter-

year of operations on July 1, 1942, only three of the ten reloca-

tion centers planned for West Coast evacuees of Japanese ancestry

had actually been openede One of these--at Manzanar, Californiaww

had nearly reached its population capacity. The other two,

however, were still receiving contingents of evacuees by train

almost every other day, and the great bulk of the evacuated people

were still in assembly centers umder jurisdiction of the Army

awaiting transfer to WRA's relocation commmities. Opportunities

for private employment of evacuees outside the evacuated area were

just beginning to open up in the sugarebeet fields of the intere

mountain States and a few other localities. Policies governing

the relocation program had been laid down in broad outline only

and many major questions of procedure still remained to be

answered "

At the close of the quarter, three months later, all the

relocation centers but one-=Jerome in southeast Arkansase@had

been openede Five of them were close to their population capacities

While the other four were still receiving contingentse Over 90,000

evacuees, or roughly 80 per cent of the evacuated population, had

been transferred to the nine operating centerse Nearly 34,000

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of these had already been assigned to jobs at the centers and

another 5,000 had left the relocation areas temporarily for

harvest work in the sugar=beet fields and other agricultural areas

of the West.

Meanwhile, policies covering virtually all the major phases

of relocation life--policies on evacuees employment and compensation,

on self-government and internal security at the centers, on

education, agricultural production, consumer enterprises, and a

number of other subjects--had been hammered out and were swiftly

going into effecte Regulations wmder which evacuees might leave

the relocation centers indefinitely to resettle away from the

evacuated area had been developed and were announced in the Federal

Register on September 29. As the quarter ended, with most relocation

centers either at or near their population capacities, the War

Relocation Authority was already taking definite steps to promote

their eventual depopulation and to encourage the gradual reabsorption

of the evacuated people into the normal fabric of American lifes

The Movement to Relocation Centers

By June 5, when the movement of evacuees from their homes

in Military Area Noe 1 into assembly centers " completed, the

second stage of the evacuation process-=-transfer to relocation

centers--was already under waye Throughout the summer and into

the early fall, contingent after contingent of evacuees boarded

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trains at the assembly centers and travelled hundreds of miles

farther inland to the partially completed relocation centers. Meane

while, on July 9 the Arny started moving another 8,000 or 9,000

people of Japanese ancestry from their homes in the eastern half

of California (the Military Area Noe 2 portion of the State)

directly into relocation commmitiese

In planning the movement to relocation centers, every effort

was made to hold families intact and to bring together people who

came originally from a common localitye Evacuses from the San

Francisco Bay Area, for example, were first moved to the Tanforan

and Santa Anita Assembly Centers and later reunited at the Central

Utah Relocation Center. Colorado River Relocation Center drew its

population largely from the Imperial Valley, from the Salinas and

Pinedale Assembly Centers, and from Military Area Noe 2. The two

northernemst relocation centers--Minidoka in Idaho and Heart

Mountain in Wyoming-=-received their contingents mainly from the

assembly centers at Puyallup, Washington and at North Portland,

Oregone Gila River absorbed the whole population of the assembly

centers at Tulare and Turlock, plus several contingents from Santa

Anita and others from Military Area Noe 26

Despite this general pattern, however, some mingling of

heterogeneous populations was inevitable. Evacuees at the big

Santa Anita Assembly Center, for example, were widely dispersed in

the movenent to relocation centers, These people, most of whom were

originally from Los Angeles, were scattered among the Gila River,

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Granada, Central Utah, and Rohwer Relocation Centers. Another

group was scheduled for movement into the Jerome Relocation Center

during the month of Octobere At Granada, where the highly urban

Santa Anita people were combined with predominantly rural contingents

from the Merced Assembly Center, some minor tensions had already

developed between the two groups before the close of the quarterly

period. Sincere efforts were being made on both sides, however,

to create a better mutual understanding and to develop greater

community solidarity.

Community Construction

Seriously hampered by wartime shortages of materials and war~

time transportation problems, construction of the relocation

commmities went busily forward under supervision of the Army Corps

of Engineers throughout the summer months. At most centers, the

building of evacuee barracks was finished on or very close re

schedulee Installation of utilities, however, involved more

critical materials and consequently moved forward at a considerably

slower rate. At some of the centers, evacuees were forced tempora-

rily to live in barracks without lights, laundry facilities, or

adequate toiletse Mess halls planned to accommodate about 300

people had to handle twice and three times that number for short

periods as evacuees poured in from assembly centers on schedule

and shipment of stoves and other kitchen facilities lagged behinds

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In a few cases, where cots were not delivered on time, some newly

arriving evacuees spent their first night in relocation centers

sleeping on barracks floors. At nearly all centers, evacuees living

standards temporarily were forced, largely by inevitable wartime

conditions, far below the level originally contemplated by the

War Relocation Authoritye

By the close of the period, most of these difficulties

were either straightened out or well on the way to solution, At

all the older centers, basic construction had been finished; and

even in the newer commmities, it was rapidly nearing completione

Still ahead for the War Relocation Authority and the evacuees, howe

ever, was the sizable job of constructing buildings which were not

included in the agreement with the War Department--buildings such

as school houses and living quarters on the relocation areas for

the WRA administrative staff. On September 30, with the fall term

already started at most public schools in the United States, evacuee

children were getting ready to resume their education in barracks

and other buildings which were never intended for classroom uses

As the quarter closed, the Authority was still seeking priorities

on building materials for schools and for staff living quarters at

all the centers.

Evacuee Induction

As each group of evacuees arrived at a relocation center,

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its members were first registered (by family groups) and then

assigned to living quarterse The procedure at the Granada Center,

which was fairly typical, consisted of five principal steps: (1)

a medical check, (2) issuance of registration and address forms to

each family group, (3) assignment to quarters, (4) emergency

recruitment of evacuees needed in the mess halls and other essential

comunity services, and (5) delivery of hand baggage to individual

families.

The induction process, with the exception of delivering the

heavy baggage, consumed about two hours on the average, for each

contingent. Particular care to house friends and relatives near

each other required about thirty minutes more than would have been

otherwise necessarye

Employment at the Centers

Once the members of an evacuee contingent were assigned to

living quarters and reasonably well settled at a relocation center,

the next step was to register them for employment. At the place-

ment office, all evacuces over 15 years of age who wanted work were

registered and given an occupational classification. At the sane

time, the placement office was constantly receiving requisitions

for workers from the chief steward, the chief engineer, the internal

security head, and other WRA staff members in charge of the many

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branches of commmity operationse Every effort was made to assign

each evacuee to a job for which he was fitted by previous experience,

training, and special aptitudese

The job of compiling a comprehensive personal and occupational

record on every evacuees resident was completed during the quarter

only at the three oldest centers- Manzanar, Colorado River, and Tule

lakee At all other operating centers, this record taking was still

in progress on September 30.

At all centers, the biggest and most immediate need for

workers was in the field of commmity operation--in food preparation,

winterizing of living quarters, health and sanitation, internal

security, fire protection, and similar activities. Only at the

older centers were any substantial number of evacuees employed

during the quarter on agricultural production, manufacturing

projects, or consumer enterprises. The first job was to get people

adequately fed and housed and to safeguard community health.

Toward the close of the quarter, the tentative policies which

had governed - employment and compensation at relocation

centers since the beginning of the program were modified somewhat,

spelled out in further detail, and more sharply defined. The

longer-range policy adopted on September 1 carried the following

main provisions:

le All evacuees residing at relocation centers are

to receive food, shelter, medical care, and educa"

tion for their children without chargee

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Those who work at the centers will be paid at

the rate of $12, $16, and $19 a month. Most

working evacuees will receive $16. The $12

category will include only apprentice workers

and those needing close and constant supervisione

The $19 group will consist of only professional

or highly skilled workers and those carrying

supervisory responsibilities or engaged in

musually difficult and essential jobse

In addition, each working evacuee will receive

nominal clothing allowances for himself and all

his dependents. These allowances will vary

somewhat for people of different ages and for

centers with varying climates. At the four

southerly centers (the two in Arizona and the

two in Arkansas), the allowances will be $3.50

per month for evacuees over 16 years, $3 for

those between 8 and 16 years, and $2 for children

under 8. At the six northerly centers, the

monthly rate will be 25 cents higher in all three

categories, Thus, a semi-skilled evacuee at the

Minidoka iter in Idaho with a dependent wife, a

dependent son aged 15, and a dependent daughter

aged 5 would receive for his work each month a

cash advance of $16 plus a clothing allowance