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Located in Owens Valley, approximately 225 miles northeast of Los Angeles, Manzanar is perhaps the most well-known of the ten War Relocation Authority camps. The camp was built on 6,000 acres of desert terrain, bordered by the Sierra Nevada mountain range, where temperatures reached 110 degrees in summer and dropped below freezing in winter. High winds and frequent dust storms made life even more challenging for those confined there.
The War Relocation Authority‘s camp layout for Manzanar. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.
Long before white settlers arrived in the 19th century, Owens Valley was home to the Nüümü, who called the region Payahuunadü, or “Land of Flowing Water.” Fed by streams descending from the Sierra Nevadas, the valley was once lush and fertile, carefully maintained through sustainable agricultural practices. However, early settlers forcibly removed the Nüümü, and over time, the City of Los Angeles quietly purchased land and water rights, including those of Owens Lake, to sustain its rapidly expanding population. By the time Japanese Americans were incarcerated at Manzanar during World War II, Owens Lake had been drained to a toxic dry bed, becoming the largest source of dust pollution in North America.
Manzanar concentration camp with a view of the Sierra Nevadas in the distance. June 30, 1942. Courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration.
Manzanar concentration camp with a view of the Sierra Nevadas in the distance. June 12, 2022.
Most of Manzanar’s incarcerees came from Los Angeles and surrounding areas. The first arrivals were volunteers in March 1942, sent to help construct the camp. By June 1942, nearly all incarcerees had arrived, but the camp remained unfinished.
Incomplete barrack blocks led to severe overcrowding, forcing up to twelve people to share a single 20-by-25-foot unit. Sewage and water systems were still under construction, and early tests showed dangerously high pollution levels, including E. coli contamination, which contributed to widespread dysentery throughout the camp.
Located in a remote desert over 200 miles outside of Los Angeles at the base of the Sierra Nevadas, Manzanar was one of the many camps afflicted by extreme weather and choking dust storms.
One of the remaining original structures at Manzanar is the Manzanar Fire Department. The wood and tar paper buildings in camp caught fire frequently. Incarcerees worked together to develop a fire protection system to help protect their community. Over the course of the war, incarceree firemen successfully battled 91 fires.
Incarcerees engaged in sports like baseball, football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, softball and martial arts to make life more tolerable. They even built a nine-hole golf course on the camp premises.
Communal gardens like Merritt Park—perhaps ironically named after the camp director Ralph Merritt—were designed and maintained by incarcerees to improve morale and provide gathering spaces for other incarcerees and their children.
Despite these harsh conditions, incarcerees made efforts to improve their surroundings. They sealed knotholes in the barracks with tin can lids to block out dust and dug underground spaces to escape the summer heat. In an effort to beautify the camp, they planted lawns and communal gardens, including Merritt Park, a traditional Japanese garden with a pond, bridges, and a teahouse.
Incarcerees planted orchards to combat the frequent dust storms. Still, dust was an ongoing problem, and former incarcerees report chronic respiratory issues from their years spent at Manzanar.
Owens Lake, a toxic dry lake located outside of the Manzanar concentration camp, is the largest source of carcinogenic particulate air pollution in North America.
Incarcerees took on a wide range of low-wage jobs inside the camp, including digging irrigation canals, cultivating crops, and performing daily maintenance operations. Many worked to support the war effort, assembling camouflage nets for the military.
Recognizing the need for self-sufficiency, incarcerees pooled resources to establish the Manzanar Cooperative, which operated essential services including a general store, beauty salon, barbershop, and even a bank. The cooperative also published the Manzanar Free Press, one of several camp newspapers that provided incarcerees with news and updates on life inside and outside the camp.
When Manzanar closed on November 21, 1945, many of its former incarcerees struggled to find housing in Los Angeles, where anti-Japanese sentiment and redlining practices prevented them from renting or purchasing homes. Some who left the camp temporarily to search for housing returned in frustration, unable to secure a place to live.
In the absence of affordable housing, many former incarcerees relied on hostels, boarding houses, and government-subsidized housing as they tried to rebuild their lives.
Why is Manzanar significant?
The 55th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage in 2024, which drew up to 1,500 attendees.
In addition to being the most visited and photographed of the ten War Relocation Authority camps, Manzanar is also the birthplace of the first postwar pilgrimage in 1969.
A year after the war ended, Buddhist minister Sentoku Maeda and Christian minister Shoichi Wakahiro returned to Manzanar to honor those who had died in the camp and those who could not return home. They continued this tradition annually, journeying back to the desert to commemorate those lost.
Over time, these visits inspired a new generation of Japanese American activists, many of whom were influenced by the Civil Rights Movement. In 1969, they organized the first large-scale pilgrimage, bringing together approximately 150 people as part of a broader campaign to repeal the Emergency Detention Act of 1950, a law that had codified the framework for mass incarceration in the U.S..
Today, the Manzanar Pilgrimage draws over a thousand attendees each year, with descendants, survivors, and allies traveling from across the country to reflect on this dark chapter in American history. Most of the ten former War Relocation Authority concentration camps now hold annual pilgrimages, ensuring that the stories of those incarcerated are preserved and remembered for future generations.
Please note: These photographs were taken with permission and permits where required, in accordance with site guidelines. Visitors must respect and follow all visitation protocols.
This historical overview is informed by research from the Densho Encyclopedia (accessed in 2022), National Park Service (accessed in 2022), and interviews conducted during visits to the camp in 2022 and 2024.
