About Jerome Japanese American Relocation Center
The Jerome Japanese American Relocation Center was one of two War Relocation Authority camps established in Arkansas during World War II. Opened in 1942, it confined more than 8,000 Japanese Americans who had been forcibly removed from their homes, primarily on the West Coast. After the relocation center closed in 1944, part of the property was used as a prisoner-of-war camp for German soldiers.
Most of the former camp has returned to agricultural use, but visitors can still encounter important physical reminders of the site, including a granite memorial near the former entrance, surviving foundations, and a prominent smokestack. The largely rural landscape makes Jerome a reflective place to confront the wartime incarceration policy and its effects on thousands of American families.
