Concentration Camp Mess Hall – 13.01.005.IMG_JAM.MealtimeInMessHall.1942.Densho.ddr-densho-151-432

Japanese Americans were housed in military style barracks with communal bathroom and meal facilities. Because much of concentration camp life was communal, leading everyone to be with friends rather than family, this weakened their own immediate family bonds. Photographed by Dorothea Lange, this photo was captured in Manzanar, CA, July 1942.

Foundations and Futures Logo

The Asian American Studies Center acknowledges the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples as the traditional land caretakers of Tovaangar (Los Angeles basin, So. Channel Islands) and pay our respects to the honuukvetam (ancestors), ‘ahiihirom (elders), and ‘eyoohiinkem (relatives/relations) past, present, and emerging.

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