American Concentration Camps

Manzanar This is a picture of the barracks at Manzanar. Manzanar was located in California. There were up to 18,719 people there at one time. 100,000 people total were held in these camps.

Living Conditions Small paper/board houses. Heat from oil burning furnaces. Freezing in the winter. 115 Degrees in the summer.

Manzanar Map

Everyday Life Jobs were available. Doctors and farmers and other positions could be filled. Schools and a hospital were open there. Surrounded by barbed wire most were confined to the camp.

The camp was located in Powell, Wyoming. There were 10,767 internees at its peak. Harsh winters compared to southern California, where most of the internees came from.

The first winter in Wyoming was difficult. No insulation, heat source was a wood/coal burning furnace. Most were not used to the cold being from Southern CA. Rooms were 20x24 feet with no partitions for privacy. There were central bathrooms outside as well as a central location to eat.

Everyday Life School-aged kids went to school and played. Adults worked in various jobs around the camp. Farmers worked camp truck farms. Some worked on dams and cannals for irrigation. There were no refrigeration buildings, so a huge cellar was built for the vegetables. The camp sold trucks on the outside and to other camps. Many farms today owe their success to Mr. Ito and his fellow farmers. His son was a judge that presided over O.J. Simpsons murder trial.

Bibliography Mr. Hodi Ikeda, Castle Rock Middle School America’s Concenration Camps, Allan R. Bosworth, Norton & Company, Copyright 1967, New York Manzanar, John and Peter Wright Armor, Vintage Books, copyright 1988, New York

Captain Gingersnap, Murdle, Abu, Oscar