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Manzanar National Historic SiteClem Albers.
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Manzanar National Historic Site
Clem Albers Gallery

Clem Albers photographed Manzanar for the War Relocation Authority. He also made photographs of the WRA camps at Poston in Arizona, Tule Lake in northern California, and of the evacuation and assembly process. Before and after the war he worked for the San Francisco Chronicle and became their Chief Photographer.

The captions with Albers' photos in our gallery are in his own words. Today we use the term "internee" to talk about the Japanese Americans who lived in the camps. Albers' usage of "evacuee" to describe his photographic subjects reflects the common terminology of 1942.

Albers’ Manzanar photographs are part of the National Archives and are available on-line at the Japanese American Relocation Digital Archive (JARDA).
 
Manzanar apple crate label. Courtesy of Eastern California Museum.  

Did You Know?
Before World War II, Manzanar was an orchard community. The name “Manzanar” is Spanish for apple orchard.

Last Updated: August 16, 2006 at 18:07 EST