(First group arrives)
–Excerpts from the Daily Log of the WAR RELOCATION AUTHORITY Central Utah Relocation Project, Project Reports Division, Historical Section. Topaz, Utah
“September 17, 1942:
“502 ARRIVE — The first group consisting of 502 persons arrived in a cloud of dust which hovered suffocatingly over the city. Every person was housed by 12:05 p.m. A holiday spirit took over the city with a band and banners in action.
“HEARTENING WELCOME” — Newcomers on the train were heartened by the appearance of Irvin Hull, head of the Project Reports Division, who personally boarded each car to distribute the first issues of the Topaz Times. Members of the first [advanced] contingent sent back copies of the paper, which included a map of the City, as well as a block plan, to friends still remaining in Tanforan. These people, armed with this information, came prepared to make demands on specific apartments and blocks upon their arrival here. The housing division deplored the issuance of the map.
“OPEN DITCHES — Ditches for water mains separated every block, with only a teetery board, or nothing, bridging the gaps. Of everyday occurrences were falls into those ditches, especially at night. Some were humorous, some painful.”
Even the WRA noted the “cloud of dust which hovered suffocatingly over the city.” It’s doubtful that the newly arrived first contingent of transferees from Tanforan were feeling the “holiday spirit,” however.
Uprooted for the second time in five months to what might have seemed like another planet, where they could not even see traces of the lives they had been forced to leave behind, what must these families and individuals have been feeling? Certainly not amused. Attempts by members of the advance contingent to share information with new arrivals so they could exert a modicum of agency in their disrupted lives was “deplored” by camp administrators. Grace Mori Saito Tom (“On to Topaz”), Ruth Sasaki (“Journey and Arrival”), Ruth Hayashi (“Not Oxford Street”) and Ann Ichiyasu (“Ann’s Letter”) record some impressions.
Images:
- A panorama view of Topaz taken from the water tower. Francis Stewart, WRA photographer. NARA #536975.
- A painting of the Hayashi cottage on the grounds of The Cedars, by Thomas Matsuoka. Courtesy of the Berkeley Historical Society.
The Topaz Stories Team
Plan to visit the Topaz Stories Exhibit in Salt Lake City.
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Media Coverage:
Watch Topaz survivors tell their stories (abc4 news, 4/22/2022)
Listen to the “In the Hive” podcast with interviews with Ann Dion, Jonathan Hirabayashi, and Topaz survivors Jeanie Kashima and Joseph Nishimura (KCPW, 4/28/2022)
Read How a Utah exhibit about Topaz Camp looks to find empathy in ‘an ugly stain on American history (ksl.com, 4/22/2022)
Read “Topaz Stories rise from the dust,” (Department of Culture & Community Engagement, 4/2022)
Listen to KQED Forum, Day of Remembrance interview with Ruth Sasaki, 2/15/2022
Listen to Max Chang and Ruth Sasaki interviewed (KRCL RadioActive, 2/9/2022
Read On Topaz Stories and ‘Authentic Voice’, the Discover Nikkei interview with Ruth Sasaki (10/14/2022)
Listen to Remembering the Japanese American Incarceration, the Topaz Stories podcast with Ruth Sasaki and Jonathan Hirabayashi (6/2/2021)