George Takei in Arkansas, 2023.
Channel: Winston Ho (何嶸)
Date: 2023-05-05

Jeff Owyoung and George Takei at the Tenth Anniversary of the WWII Japanese American Internment Museum in Rohwer, Arkansas.  
May 4th, 2023, Thursday.  

On Thursday, May 4th, 2023, the WWII Japanese American Internment Museum in Rohwer, Arkansas held a commemoration for the tenth Anniversary of its founding.  The museum was established in 2013 to commemorate the incarceration of over eight thousand Japanese Americans at Camp Rohwer to the north and another eight thousand at Camp Jerome to the south.  Most detainees were American citizens, and all had been forcibly removed from their homes in several western states in the early months of the Second World War.  

Believing that all ethnic Japanese in the United States, even underage children born in this country, were a potential enemy and could assist imperial Japan in an attack on the Pacific Coast, the federal government sent tens of thousands of Japanese Americans to ten "war relocation centers" in seven states.  Rohwer and Jerome in Arkansas were the farthest east of the ten camps, and with no criminal charge or trial or appeal, the Japanese Americans were detained under armed military guard for nearly four years, until the final months of the war.  

The Japanese American Internment Museum is located at the McGehee train station, roughly halfway between Rohwer to the north and Jerome to the south.  All detainees at Rohwer and Jerome first arrived at the McGehee train station before being transported by trucks to the camps.  

Speakers at the tenth anniversary commemoration included a welcome by Jeff Owyoung, the Chinese American mayor of McGehee and co-founder of the museum.  Other speakers included Mike Smith, president of the McGehee Industrial Foundation, Kimiko Marr, co-founder of the Japanese American Memorial Pilgrimages organization, Rosalyn Tonai, executive director of the National Japanese American Historical Society, and David Meltzer, co-author of the book "Jerome and Rohwer:  Memories of Japanese American Internment in World War II Arkansas."  

A dedication was given by Duncan Williams of the University of Southern California, and the National Anthem was sung by Erin Aoyama, a descendant of a family interred at the Heart Mountain War Relocation Center in Wyoming.  The keynote speaker was George Takei, the actor best known for playing Hikaru Sulu in "Star Trek:  The Original Series."  

Takei was born in Los Angeles, but at the age of 5, his family was removed from their home by U.S. Army soldiers and first incarcerated at the former Santa Anita racetrack.  They were then sent by train to Arkansas and detained at Camp Rohwer.  The Takei family was later sent to the Tule Lake internment camp in California.  

Hundreds of former detainees at Camp Rohwer and Camp Jerome, and their descendants, returned to McGehee for the anniversary.  Buses were on hand to take them to visit the former camps.  Japanese American Memorial Pilgrimages sponsored a virtual symposium and pilgrimage over the next two days.  


Sources.  

2023 Jerome/Rohwer Hybrid Pilgrimage.  Japaese American Memorial Pilgrimages (https://www.jampilgrimages.com/jrpilgrimage2023-may5).  

Rohwer Japanese American Internment Museum (https://rohwer.astate.edu/audio-tour/).  

Russell, Ian.  "Hundreds gather to celebrate anniversary of WWII Japanese-American Internment Museum."  THV11 (2023 May 4).  Accessed THV11 (https://www.thv11.com/article/news/history/anniversary-wwii-japanese-american-internment/91-d8e7a6fa-4900-467a-a0fd-ef4d151ad6b8).  

"McGehee Japanese internment museum commemorates 10 years of preserving history."  KARK 4 News (2023 May 4).  Accessed from Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYvqzLW1BZc).  

"Rohwer Jerome Museum Anniversary."  Delta News (2023 May 4).  Accessed from Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a63u-3OlHq0).  

"George Takei speaks at 10th anniversary of Arkansas' Japanese American Internment Museum."  Arkansas Online (2023 May 4)  Accessed from Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEMm0MXI7FA.  

Densho Archive:  Rohwer (https://encyclopedia.densho.org/Rohwer/).  

Densho Archive:  Jerome (https://encyclopedia.densho.org/Jerome/).  


Winston Ho 何嶸.
Independent Historian.  
Researching Chinese American History in New Orleans 
紐奧良華僑歷史研究.  

http://nolachinese.wordpress.com 
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Winston Ho 何嶸.  Creative Commons License (CC-BY):  when redistributing or creating derivative works, please remember to give attribution to the original author, Winston Ho.