[Japanese Internment]

Communique [with:] Denson Tribune

Denson, Ar. 1942-1943. Seventy issues. Mimeographed. Folio, stapled in upper corner. Dampstaining to upper left corner of first few issues, some with slight loss. Toning and light wear and soiling. About very good. Item #6401

A significant run of the newspaper published by the internees at the Jerome Relocation Center in Denson, Arkansas. The Communiqué ran from October 23, 1942 through February 26, 1943, at which point it was replaced by the Denson Tribune which ran until June 6, 1944. Present here are issues dating from November 13, 1942 (Communiqué No. 7) through July 9, 1943 (Tribune V.1:No.38) -- lacking just three issues in that span. Camp newspapers were a key piece of daily life, providing both official and social news. Issue No. 7 opens with an announcement of the third baby born in the camp (Dennis Yamamoto), and also discusses the enlistment of many local Nisei, a local camp election, and a list of electricians in case of emergencies. By the time issue No. 15 was published, each newspaper was also including a supplemental page in Japanese.

Jerome Relocation Center opened in October 1942, and incarcerated about 16,000 Japanese Americans from the West Coast during its short tenure. In fact, Jerome was the shortest-lived Japanese-American internment camp operated by the U.S. government during the Second World War, lasting just 634 days before shutting its doors in June 1944. Unlike the more western internment camps, built mostly in the barren wastelands of the desert in Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and California, Jerome was situated in the marshy swampland of the Mississippi River flood plain in the eastern Arkansas counties of Drew and Chicot. The camp was connected by rail to the other and more well-known Arkansas internment facility, Rohwer Relocation Center. Almost seventy percent of the internees at Jerome were American citizens, and the camp had one of the more active and outspoken youth populations. The camp newspaper provides a look at daily life, with grievances and concerns aired, as well as local celebrations and social events. An important historical source.

Price: $27,500.00