Opened in September 1942, Rohwer Relocation Center spanned 400 acres and housed 8,475 individuals at its peak. Today, the cemetery is the last physical remnant of not one but two World War II camps located in Arkansas. The area contains historic and modern monuments, as well as 24 concrete headstones marking the final resting place of Japanese Americans unconstitutionally incarcerated as threats to national security during World War II.

Prior to the beginning of this project, the cemetery was in dangerously poor condition due to deterioration caused by weathering, neglect, and vandalism. The National Park Service had identified the Rohwer cemetery as an endangered resource. The cemetery had several preservation needs: Historic monuments, markers, and headstones were structurally unstable and covered in biological growths that significantly altered their appearance; engravings were unreadable; and vandalism had taken its toll on the site.

The conservation project has developed in phases. Phase I included the restoration of two of the most iconic monuments at the cemetery, the Monument to the Rohwer Dead and the Monument to the 100th Battalion. Phase II continues the stabilization and restoration of the World War II-era section of the Rohwer cemetery with a focus on cleaning, repairing, and resetting the concrete headstones and flower holders; restoring drainage patterns and channels; and replacing missing concrete pathways. All work at the cemetery is in compliance with the .

With the completion of phase II, the original appearance of the cemetery has been recreated. The cemetery is a rare resource associated with the history of Japanese American confinement in the United States during World War II. The goal of this project is to ensure that this important piece of the nation鈥檚 historic fabric is preserved for future generations of Americans.

The project team includes the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, , and .

was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, for the preservation and interpretation of where Japanese Americans were detained during World War II.

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The exhibit was produced by the Life Interrupted Project, and originally premiered in 2004 as part of a joint effort by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock鈥檚 Master鈥檚 in Public History Program and the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, California.

The project鈥檚 mission was to gather documents and artifacts related to internment, pursue conservation efforts at the two internment camps in Arkansas 鈥� Rohwer and Jerome 鈥� and to create and distribute curriculum materials. The project also hosted a national conference in Little Rock, Camp Connections, which attracted over 1,200 people, along with eight coordinated exhibitions around the city, including 鈥淎gainst Their Will.鈥� Additionally, the documentary Time of Fear was produced as a result of this project, which aired on PBS.

Yesterday, the World War II Japanese American Internment Museum held its grand opening. , actor and social media activist, spoke about his personal experience with Japanese American internment at the dedication ceremony.

Takei was among the 110,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans from the West Coast who were sent to internment camps.  He and his family were forced to leave their home and move to Santa Anita Assembly Center, where they would eventually be transferred to the Rohwer Relocation Center.

The internment of Japanese Americans was a result of Executive Order 9066. Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, on Feb. 19, 1942, the order granted the U. S. government authority to relocate both citizens and non-citizens based on the fear that anyone with Japanese ancestry was a potential spy or saboteur.  In all, ten relocation centers were constructed across the country. Arkansas was the site of two internment camps, the Rohwer Relocation Center (Desha County) and the Jerome Relocation Center (Drew and Chicot Counties).

The collection gathered by the Life Interrupted Project is currently being processed by archivist Shannon Lausch of the 糖心Vlog传媒LR Center for Arkansas History and Culture (CAHC), and is set to open later this year.

Each month, CAHC is releasing a new clip from 35 hours of interview footage, leading up to the opening of an exhibit on Japanese American internment in Arkansas. The interviews include accounts from Japanese Americans who were incarcerated at the Jerome and Rohwer internment camps, narratives from Arkansans who lived near or worked at the camps, and perspectives from scholars on this period in history.

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Sam Mibu recalls his experience as a teenager forced to leave his home in California and move to the internment camp located in Jerome, Arkansas.

Mibu was among 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans who were sent to internment camps under Franklin D. Roosevelt鈥檚 Executive Order 9066. Signed on February 19, 1942, the order granted the United States government authority to relocate both citizens and non-citizens based on the fear that anyone with Japanese ancestry was a potential spy or saboteur.

In all, ten relocation centers were constructed across the country. Arkansas was the site of two internment camps, the Rohwer Relocation Center in Desha County and the Jerome Relocation Center. The two camps held 16,000 internees from September 18, 1942, until November 30, 1945.

The video interviews are a part of CAHC鈥檚 collection, Life Interrupted: The Japanese American Experience in WWII Arkansas. The Life Interrupted project premiered in 2004 as part of a joint effort by 糖心Vlog传媒LR鈥檚 Master鈥檚 in Public History Program and the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. The interviews featured in the collection were filmed during the creation of the documentary, 鈥淭ime of Fear.鈥�

Each month, CAHC will release a new clip from 35 hours of interview footage, leading up to the opening of an exhibit on Japanese American internment in Arkansas in September 2014. The interviews include accounts from Japanese Americans who were incarcerated at the Jerome and Rohwer internment camps, narratives from Arkansans who lived near or worked at the camps, and perspectives from scholars on this period in history.

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