-
![]()
-
![]()
-
![]()
-
![]()
-
![]()
-
![]()
-
![]()
-
February 19, 2021 marked the 80th anniversary of FDR’s “Executive Order 9066” passed on February 19th, 1942- an act that legalized the forced removal and incarceration of nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans living in the US during the height of WWII. Neither being charged with a crime nor given due process, Japanese American’s were stripped from their homes, properties, business, and fundamental civil rights and were forced to live the remainder of the war in isolated prison camps scattered throughout the county. These prisons were originally regarded as Relocation Centers, we now regard these sites as Internment Camps to remember the fundamental reality that these Japanese Americans were prisoners of an unjust cause stemming from discrimination and persecution.
These photographs are from the remaining sites of the formally known Granada Relocation Center, commonly regarded as Camp Amache, located in Granada, CO. During the height of its operation, over 7,318 prisoners were being held there at one time making it one of the smallest of the 10 major Internment Camps operating between 1942~1945. Though the smallest of the major internment camps, it is exceptionally preserved and affected little by subsequent development (few of the images show the original foundations of the living quarters). Currently, preservation of the site is mainly run by the Amache Preservation Society, a volunteer group consisting of students of Grenada High School which was founded by the current Principal of Grenada High School, John Hopper.
The Amache Nation Historical Site Act has recently passed in the Senate to shift ownership of this site into the hands of the Nation Parks Department to ensure that the preservation of Amache is consistent with all other Internment Camps currently preserved by the NPD. The legislation is now going back to the House for a final vote for passage.
