Three Redmond Families and One Executive Order:

The Impact of Japanese American Incarceration on Redmond

Click here to learn more about the terminology used in this exhibit.

In 1941, decades-old anti-Japanese sentiments erupted after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which authorized the Secretary of War to designate military areas. Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt used this order to declare areas in the United States "zones of exclusion."

This would enable the US government to forcibly remove over 120,000 Japanese Americans from California, as well as parts of Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and Arizona.

To hold these individuals, the US government created ten different camps, euphemistically called “War Relocation Centers.” Most were in Western states, but some were as far east as Arkansas.

"Instructions to all persons of Japanese ancestry living in the following areas...Counties of Pierce and King, State of Washington"

Poster, 1942, Washington State Historical Society

"President Roosevelt signing the Declaration of war against Japan."

Photograph, 1941, Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/item/96522303/)

"Santa Anita reception center, Los Angeles, California. The evacuation of Japanese and Japanese-Americans from West Coast areas under U.S. Army war emergency order. Waiting for registration."

Photograph, 1942, Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/item/2017744921/)
Photographer: Lee, Russell

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