Archives West Finding Aid

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, a fear of a Japanese insurrection along the western coastal areas of the United States grew rapidly among Americans. Coupled with a long history of prejudices against the Japanese, these suspicions resulted in Franklin D. Roosevelt issuing the Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. As a result, 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry, two-thirds of whom were American citizens, were forcibly removed by the federal government from their homes in militarily strategic coastal areas. At first, these evacuees were placed in assembly centers, which were often abandoned racetracks and stadiums. Later, they were removed to one of ten permanent relocation centers.

One of those relocation centers was established at Topaz, Utah, just outside the town of Delta. Opening on September 11, 1942, the Topaz camp was located on 17,500 acres of alkali land in the middle of the Sevier Desert. A layer of dust seemed to coat the camp and extreme temperatures plagued the evacuees. Often in the mornings temperatures would plummet to around freezing while the afternoons saw summer-like heat.

After enduring a two-and-a-half-day train and bus ride from the Tanforan Assembly Center in California, the new residents of Topaz found that the construction of the camp had not been completed. Residents, at first, had to deal with cramped living spaces and cots without mattresses. Barracks often lacked stoves and proper insulation, and some of these utilities were not installed until months after the evacuees had arrived.

In response to the chaos camp residents experienced because of relocation, government officials tried to give residents a semblance of normal life. A wide range of educational endeavors for both children and adults were available to the camp residents. Different athletic and entertainment activities also went on in the camp. A daily newspaper called the Topaz Times was started and maintained by camp residents. In addition a quarterly literary magazine, the Trek, was published. A variety of religions, such as Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, and Seventh Day Adventists, were active in the camp and formed an Interfaith Church Council.

Soon after the evacuees were placed in camps, efforts to relocate them began. College students, after rigorous screening, eventually were allowed to attend universities, usually on the East Coast. Other evacuees were allowed to obtain permits that enabled them to hold jobs outside of the camp. Over time, the number of Japanese held at Topaz grew smaller until the camp closed on October 31, 1945, two months after the Second World War ended. Many of these evacuees went back to their original homes in the San Francisco Bay Area. Other evacuees at Topaz chose to remain in Utah and settled along the Wasatch Front.