During World War II  Japanese-American prisoners began to arrive in Santa Fe. These people, who were considered of foreign enemy ancestry, were forcibly removed from other parts of the country, mostly the West Coast. Their arrival in Santa Fe was brought about through an executive order signed in 1942 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Department of Justice purchased the Civilian Conservation Corps camp that was previously used as part of FDR’s plan to rejuvenate the economy, providing jobs for young men all over the country who came to be known as Roosevelt’s “Tree Army.” They built cabins at Hyde Memorial State Park in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains northeast of Santa Fe as well as the National Park Service building on the Old Santa Fe Trail. The newly transformed CCC became the Japanese internment camp, one of several opened throughout the country in areas considered to be of military importance to the safety of all Americans.

Within weeks, more than 4,000 men were imprisoned at the camp. These so-called “enemy combatants” were teachers, journalists, businessmen, and artists—the type of people the American government felt posed a threat because they were free thinkers. They were forced to leave their families, businesses, and all ties to the community. 

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