History Colorado

Take a look at snapshots from everyday life at the Granada Relocation Center.

Life in Amache

A young girl arrives at the Grananda Relocation Center in Amache, Colorado.

Japanese Relocation

The Aftermath of Amache

Once Japanese Americans were placed in internment camps, they were not allowed to leave without special permission. If they did leave, they needed to carry travel permits and tags.

A Life in Paperwork

The Granada Relocation Center, also known as Amache, was one of ten internment camps for Japanese Americans built during World War II and the only one in Colorado.

The Granada Relocation Center

Here is the sequence of events from the Granada Relocation Center’s opening in 1942 to its closing in 1945, and the events that occurred after.

 Amache Timeline

Explore Ralph Carr’s desk to find out more about his life.

Stand for Justice

Executive Order 9066 was signed in 1942 by United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt and authorized the internment of tens of thousands of American citizens of Japanese ancestry and Japanese immigrants.

Democratic Principles in Conflict 

The federal government tore down or relocated the buildings that once made up the Amache-Granada Relocation Center, which at its peak housed 7,318 people.
The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006. Restoration and preservation efforts, along with archaeological research, have been ongoing since 2007.

The Amache-Granada Relocation Center: A  Historic Landmark

Ralph Carr was the Governor of Colorado from 1939 to 1943.

The Ralph Carr Story

By April of 1945, WWII was winding down. Hitler died on April 30, and victory in europe was formally declared on May 9. Amache officially closed in October, 1945, though Public Proclamation No. 21 was officially issued on January 2, 1945, allowing Japanese Americans to return home.
But where was home?
People had left homes, businesses, and farms behind. Now they were given very short notice that they had to leave Amache. They were given $25 and a train or bus ticket. Some people returned to California and the west coast and tried to rebuild their previous lives. They often returned to face more prejudice. Others, invited to stay in Colorado by Governor Ralph Carr, started over again in the only western state that welcomed them.

After the War: Leaving Amache

Objects can tell us a lot about a story from the past. Take a look at a few items that might have been brought to Amache from the perspective of a family who lived there. What do they tell us about daily life at Amache? 

Taking Personal Objects to Amache

Become acquainted with several democratic principles and consider the degree to which Coloradans throughout our history have accepted and demonstrated these principles. This list of principles is not complete. These simply represent a sample of key principles. As you review the definition of each principle, think about examples that show up in your own life.
During World War II, many of these principles came into conflict with one another when people of Japanese ancestry were removed from their homes and forced to live in Internment Camps. Think about these principles as you learn more about Japanese Internment through the story of Amache in Colorado.    

Democratic Principles: An Introduction

Circle the objects that the father would have taken to Amache, star the objects that the mother would have taken, and put a square around the objects the children would have taken. What do you think some of these items could be used for? What would you take from your home if you suddenly had to move? How do these objects connect to Japanese-American culture?

Packing for Amache

The federal government tore down or relocated the buildings that once made up the Amache-Granada Relocation Center, which at its peak housed 7,318 people. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006. Restoration and preservation efforts, along with archaeological research, have been ongoing since 2007.

The Amache-Granada Relocation Center: A Historic Landmark

During World War II, 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans were forced into internment camps—including one in Colorado called "Amache." Explore the story of Amache through the lens of democratic principles and discover how they came into conflict in this historic case study.

Additional Resources, Books, Articles, and Photos

Teacher Resources, Colorado Biographies, and Secondary Level Books on Japanese Internment and Relocation

Japanese American Internment in Colorado Teacher Online Resources and Curriculum

Power of Words Handbook A Guide to Language about Japanese Americans in World War II

Letter from the Amache Historical Society 

1. Understand the nature of historical knowledge as a process of inquiry that examines and analyzes how history is viewed, constructed, and interpreted.

1. d. Identify and describe how major political and cultural groups have affected the development of the region.

2. Analyze historical time periods and patterns of continuity and change, through multiple perspectives, within and among cultures and societies.

2. c. Describe both past and present interactions among the people and cultures

3.  Apply geographic representations and perspectives to analyze human movement, spatial patterns, systems, and the connections and

4. Examine the characteristics of places and regions, and the changing nature among geographic and human interactions.

4. c. Analyze how people use geographic factors in creating settlements and have adapted to and modified the local physical environment.

Japanese Internment in Colorado

Civics and Government

Social Studies

U.S. History

World History

The one-story, army-style barracks (120 x 20 foot) were divided into six units, generally one per family. They had tar-paper roofs and walls with no insulation.

PH.PROP.2330.jpg

Amache Barracks

Barracks are military-style buildings used as living quarters. This photograph shows the living quarters in Amache.

PH. PROP.2326.jpg

Amache Barracks Aerial

Workmen are shown laying the concrete foundations for a barracks unit.

Black and white photograph depicting the construction of barracks for Japanese Americans at the Granada Relocation Center in Amache, Colorado, dated August 28, 1942. Workmen are shown laying the concrete foundations for a barracks unit.
Typed on verso: "WAR RELOCATION AUTHORITY, Midland Savings Bldg., Denver, Colo., NO: E-64, DATE: 8/28/1942, PHOTO LOCATION: Granada Relocation Center, Amache, Colorado, DATA: Typical scene of the construction of the barracks. Here workmen are laying concrete foundations for a barracks unit. Photographer: TOM PARKER"

88.312.17.jpg

Amache Building Construction

This brick came from the barracks floor of Amache Block F, Barrack 2, Apartment 13

This object is one of the broken-off halves of a solid red building brick. It has a quadragular shape with an irregular surface on the broken side.

2012.47.1.jpg

Amache Barracks Floor Brick (Partial)

Japanese man feeding two calves at the farms that operated around Amache.

A Japanese man feeds calves at the Amache Granada Relocation center in Colorado.

PH.PROP.2325.jpg

Feeding Cows at Amache

Three Japanese men from Amache with their cattle. Amache internees were able to produce enough livestock for their own camp and ship a surplus to other camps.

Black and white photograph depicting three Japanese American high school students kneeling with the calves in their care at the Granada Relocation Center in Amache, Colorado, dated December 11, 1942.

88.312.12.jpg

Men Pose with Cows

Laundry drying in the hot dusty wind at Block 7H, Building 12.

Black and white photograph depicting a clothes line hung with wash outside Block 7-H, Bldg. 12 at the Granada Relocation Center in Amache, Colorado, dated December 9, 1942.

88.312.15.jpg

Amache Clothes Line

Japanese man pulling a sugar beet from one of the rows in a field at the project farm, Amache.

Japanese man working in the fields at Amache Granada Relocation center,

PH.PROP.2327.jpg

A Japanese Man Works in the Field

An unidentified man standing in a field near the Granada Relocation Center in Amache, Colorado, dated August 27, 1942. The land was to be farmed by the Japanese American residents of the relocation center.

Black and white photograph depicting an unidentified man standing in a field near the Granada Relocation Center in Amache, Colorado, dated August 27, 1942. The land was to be farmed by the Japanese American residents of the relocation center.
Typed on verso: WAR RELOCATION AUTHORITY, Midland Savings Bldg., Denver, Colo. NO; E-65, DATA: 8/27/42, PHOTO LOCATION: Granada Relocation Center, Amache, Colorado. DATA: Typical section of the land to be farmed by the residents of this relocation center. Vegetables and produce will be raised in this area which lies in the rich valley of the Arkansas River"

88.312.14.jpg

Man in a Field at Amache

Inside the barracks one woman knits while the two others share a magazine. The furniture and items shown were made by the women from scrap lumber and wall board.

Black and white photograph depicting three unidentified Japanese American women seated on their beds in the barracks at the Granada Relocation Center in Amache, Colorado on a Sunday afternoon, dated December 13, 1942. One woman knits while the two others share a magazine. The furniture shown were made by the women from scrap lumber and wall board.
Typed on verso: "WAR RELOCATION AUTHORITY, Midland Savings Bldg., Denver, Colo., NO: E-433, DATE:12/13/42, PHOTO LOCATION: Granada Relocation Center, Amache, Colorado. DATA: Sunday afternoon and the three girls who occupy this barracks room relax. The furniture, the book niches, flower pot and print mats are all made by the girls from scrap lumber and scrap pieces of wall board. Photographer: TOM PARKER"

88.312.3.jpg

Women Knit at Amache

Japanese children eat in one of the twenty-nine blocks used as living quarters at Amache.

Photograph depicting Japanese American nursery school students being served milk and graham crackers at the Granada Relocation Center in Amache, Colorado, dated December 11, 1942. The children are seated around a table as their teacher, Sumi Kashiwagi, pours milk.
Typed on the verso: "WAR RELOCATION AUTHORITY, Midland Savings Bldg., Denver, Colo. NO: E-499, DATE: 12/11/42. PHOTO LOCATION: Granada Relocation Center, Amache, Colorado. DATA: Milk and graham crackers being served to nursery school children in a block recreation hall. The nursery teacher is Mrs. Sumi Kashiwagi. PHOTOGRAPHER: TOM PARKER"

Resource Kits

Object Library

Museums

Japanese Internment in Colorado

Life in Amache

The Barracks