Scope and Contents The interviews in this collection were conducted during the production of the documentary The Merced Assembly Center: Injustice Immortalized. The individuals featured in these interviews provide a range of insights into the history of farming by both Issei and Nisei in the Central Valley and detail the struggles that they and their families faced in the aftermath of the signing of Executive Order 9066, which spurred the internment of those of Japanese descent along the western coast of the...

Scope and Contents While Executive Order 9066 called for the forced imprisonment of all persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast of the United States, there was no existing infrastructure in place for these Japanese-Americans to go. The eventual concentration camps were not yet completed, or were not yet in a condition to house the vast numbers of prisoners needing shelter. Given this, the United States military established temporary detention camps across California, as well as centers in Arizona and...