The Traveler

This week, in a series of discussions and presentations, UA professors explore topics related to the two Japanese American Internment Camps in Arkansas during World War II. The Center for Arkansas and Regional Studies and the Asian Studies Program teamed up to sponsor "Hard Times in the Arkansas Delta."

"Some of the biggest events of the symposium will take place [today]," said Bob Cochran, director of the Center for Arkansas and Regional Studies. "Our events are multi-faceted. They include lectures that are less standard and a variety of documentary and feature films."

Today's events begin with a showing of the documentary film "Time of Fear" at 10 a.m. in Giffels Auditorium. Made in 2005, this film focuses solely on the two Japanese American Internment Camps in Southeast Arkansas, Jerome and Rohwer. The novelty of this film is the focus on Arkansas. Jerome and Rohwer were the easternmost internment camps in the United States. Most of the other internment or "relocation" camps were located in California and Wyoming.

At 11:30 a.m., following the film, Russell Bearden will deliver a keynote address entitled "Japanese American Internment Camps: Why Arkansas and the State's Reaction." Bearden is an Independent Scholar from Pine Bluff and has been published in the "Arkansas Historical Quarterly."

Cochran said this should be a particularly interesting lecture focusing on how America managed to sell the idea of these camps, since there was little to no protest of them.

"The scary thing is that these camps were being set up in Arkansans' backyards and no one complained about it," he said.

The remaining three films for Friday will be shown in chronological order. The Hollywood feature film, "Go for Broke" made in 1951, will be shown at 1:30 p.m. in Giffels Auditorium. "Unfinished Business," a 1985 documentary, will be aired at 3 p.m., also in Giffels. A showing of the 1997 feature film "Beyond Barbed Wire," in Mullins Library Room 104 will conclude the conference.

The symposium began 10 a.m. Thursday with the film "Passing Boston," which was followed by a discussion with the director of the film, Joe Fox. The events continued with a Power Point presentation, "Drama in the Delta," by professors Johanna Lewis and Emily Roxworthy. Lewis is a history professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Roxworthy is a professor in the theater and drama department at the University of California at San Diego.

A presentation by Bruce Makoto Arnold of Louisiana State University, "Pre-Internment Japan Towns" immediately followed at 2 p.m. A round table discussion of "Passing Boston" and the two presentations took place in Giffels Auditorium at 3 p.m. and was followed by a reception for the speakers in Old Main at 4 p.m.

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