Research: Topaz Relocation Camp
Location: Millard County, Utah, near Abraham, 140 miles
south of Salt Lake City.
Land: Mix of public domain
land, land which had reverted to the county for non payment of taxes and
land purchased from private parties.
Size: 19,800 acres.
Climate: Temperatures ranged
from 106 degrees in summer to -30 degrees in winter; located at an elevation
of 4,600 feet, the region was subject to a constant wind that resulted in
frequent dust storms.
Population origins: Primarily
California:
Alameda County County (3,679)
San Francisco County (3,370)
San Mateo County (722)
The population was almost completely urban in origin.
Peak population: 8,130.
Date of peak: March 17, 1943.
Opening Date: September 11,
1942.
Closing Date: October 31, 1945.
Project director(s): Charles F. Ernst and
Luther T. Hoffman.
Community Analysts: Oscar F.
Hoffman and Weston LaBarre.
Newpaper(s): Topaz Times
(September 17, 1942 to August 31, 1945).
% who answered question 28 of the loyalty questionnaire
positively: 89.4%
Number and percentage of eligible citizen males inducted
directly into armed forces: 472 (7.3%).
History: Topaz featured an
organized protest against the registration questionnaire, in which a petition
was circulated demanding the restoration of rights as a prerequisite for
registration. Issei chef James Hatsuki Wakasa was shot to death by
a guard on April 11, 1943. The literary and arts magazine Trek was
produced here.
Source: Japanese American
History: An A to Z Reference, 1868 to the Present,
by Brian Niiya. New York: Facts on File, 1993
Edited for exhibition by Masumi Hayashi, 1994.
