Historical Background

As the United States prepared for war following the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 in February 1942. Intended to protect "against espionage and against sabotage to national-defense material, national-defense premises, and national-defense utilities," the order led to the relocation of 117,000 people of Japanese ancestry to internment camps. Two-thirds of these people were American-born citizens.

What You Can Find in the Records

The records in this collection are rosters of internment center residents, including details about their entry into the camp, former residence, and destination upon release. The rosters recorded the following details:

• evacuees consecutively numbered
• evacuees alphabetically listed (surnames)
• other names
• family number
• sex
• date of birth
• marital status
• citizenship
• alien registration number
• type of original entry
• date of original entry
• pre-evacuation address (city and state)
• type of final departure
• date of final departure
• destination of final departure

Entries on the rosters are arranged alphabetically by surname, then given name, and families may not be grouped together. Look at the family numbers in column 4 to identify family groups.

Abbreviations Used in These Records

The following abbreviations appear in these records:

Type of Original Admission and Assignment

Assembly Center

      Fresno – FAC
      Manzaner – MnAC
      Marysville (Arboga) – MyAC
      Mayer – MrAC
      Merced – MeAC
      Pinedale – PiAC
      Pomona – PoAC
      Portland – PrAC
      Puyallup – PuAC
      Sacramento – ScAC
      Salinas – SlAC
      Santa Anita – SaAC
      Stockton – StAC
      Tanforan – TsAC
      Tulare – TuAC
      Turlock – TrAC

Direct Evacuation – DE

Institution – I
      Mental – I-Mental
      Penal – I-Penal
      Other – I-Other

Seasonal Work
      Assembly Center – Seas(Name of Assembly Center)
      Direct Evacuation – Seas(DE)

From Hawaii
      Direct Evacuation – Hawaii(DE)
      Exclusion – Hawaii(Excl.)

From Department of Justice Internment and Detention – P-(Name of Camp)

Voluntary Resident – VE

Birth – B

Transfer from Center
      Central Utah (Topaz, Utah – T-Cent
      Colorado River (Poston, Arizona) – T-Colo
      Gila River (Rivers, Arizona) – T-Gila
      Granada (Amache, Colorado) – T-Gran
      Heart Mountain (Heart Mountain, Wyoming) – T-HtMt
      Jerome (Senson, Arkansas) – T-Jero
      Manzanar (Manzanar, California) – T-Manz
      Minidoka (Hunt, Idaho) – T-Mini
      Rohwer (McGehee, Arkansas) – T-Rohw
      Tule Lake (Newell, California) – T-Tule

Type of final Departure and Leave Status

Indefinitive Leave
      Community Invitation – Ind-Invit
      Education – Ind-Educ
      Employment – Ind-Empl
      Join or Accompany Family – Ind-JnFam
      Mixed Marriages Release – Ind-Mix Mar
      Return to Free Area – Ind-Fr Area
      Armed Forces – Ind-AF
      Institution
          Mental – Ind-Metal
          Penal – Ind-Penal
          Other – Ind-Other Inst
      Department of Justice Internment
          Internment – Ind-Intern
          Voluntary Internment – Ind-Vol Int
      To Japan – Ind-Repat
      Other – Ind-Other

Terminal Departure
      With Relocation Grant – Term-With Grant or Term – W G
      Without Relocation Grant – Term-W/O Grant
      Armed Forces – Term-AF
      Institution – I
          Mental – Term-Mental
          Penal – Term-Penal
          Other – Term-Other Inst
      Department of Justice Internment
          Internment – Term-Intern
          Voluntary Internment – Term-Vol Int
      To Japan – Term-Repat
      Other – Term-Other

Transfer to Center
      Segregation (to Tule Lake) – T-S
      Regular – T

Next Steps

One item included in these records is an Alien Registration number (column 9). On June 29, 1940, Congress passed the Alien Registration Act of 1940, also known as the Smith Act. This legislation required registration of all aliens living in or entering the United States. Alien Registrations, or A-Files, can be full of family history details. These records are located at the National Archives in Kansas City, Missouri, and San Bruno, California. For more information and details on requesting these records, see the National Archives’ website.