Manzanar and Minidoka

Bainbridge Islanders arrived at Manzanar as it was still being constructed, the living quarters long barracks designed to house four families in 20'x20' rooms. Eventually 10,000 people would reside within the square mile of camp. At the edge of the Sierra Nevadas, Manzanar was a dusty expanse of barracks surrounded

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Evacuation

On the morning of March 30, 1942, army trucks appeared at Island Nikkei homes to transport families to the Eagledale ferry dock where the Kehloken waited to take them to Seattle. Bainbridge High School allowed students to miss school to say "good–bye" to their friends; many younger students played "hooky"

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Exclusion Order No. 1 and Preparing to Leave

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, allowing for the creation of areas from which "any and all persons may be excluded." His action was unanimously authorized by Congress. FDR designated Lieutenant General J.L. DeWitt as the commander of such areas, thus transferring civilian control from

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FBI Inspections and Roundups

In the week following Pearl Harbor, many West Coast Issei previously identified as "suspect" by the FBI were arrested, questioned, and confined. On February 4, 1942, the FBI, along with Washington State troopers and Kitsap County sheriff deputies, entered and searched every Island Issei home. Contraband such as dynamite and

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