Camp Harmony: Japanese American Internment and the Puyallup Assembly Center

by Louis Fiset

This book is the first full portrait of a single assembly center—located at the Western Washington fairgrounds at Puyallup, outside Seattle—that held Japanese Americans for four months prior to their transfer to a relocation center during World War II. Gathering archival evidence and eyewitness accounts, Louis Fiset reconstructs the events leading up to the incarceration as they unfolded on a local level: arrests of Issei leaders, Nikkei response to the war dynamics, debates within the white community, and the forced evacuation of the Nikkei community from Bainbridge Island. The book explores the daily lives of the more than seven thousand inmates at "Camp Harmony," detailing how they worked, played, ate, and occasionally fought with each other and with their captors. Fiset also examines the inmates' community life, health care, and religious activities. He includes details on how army surveyors selected the center's site, oversaw its construction, and managed the transfer of inmates to the more permanent Minidoka Relocation Center in Idaho.

Genres: History

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Stephen Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, systematic overview of the pre-war Nikkei community in Seattle and their time at the Puyallup Assembly Center. More coverage of the actual evacuation process than I've seen elsewhere. The one thing missing is a map, showing both where Puyallup is in relation to other Western Washington locations and of the actual Assembly Center.

[John E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent study of the beginnings of the process and impact of the Japanese incarceration. Racism has bee and continues to be rampant. I can see it happening again with a different group this time. Sad.

[Renee]

Very interesting! I wish I'd had it a year ago when I was writing my thesis

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a sad, sad occurence. I learned more about this issue when I visited the Wing Luke museum, and wanted to learn more about it. This was kind of a "text book" read, but it was very interesting.