The Santa Fe Internment Camp (1942-1946)

The Santa Fe Internment Camp (1942-1946) in the Shadow of Los Alamos

Presentation by Nancy Bartlit

The former Santa Fe Civilian Conservation Corps Camp was converted to a camp for 4,555 civilian men of Japanese descent from 1942 to the spring of 1946. Initially, men of Japanese descent who were brought to the camp had been denied U.S. citizenship even though they had worked in America for two decades or more. Their age averaged 52 years. They were removed from the West Coast because their leadership roles in their communities had a perceived potential to support the enemy, yet they were innocent of wrong doing. This talk describes, through archival photos, how the internees spent their waiting hours while being separated from family while some had sons serving in the U.S. Army.

Nancy Bartlit, President of the Los Alamos Historical Society, is an author and oral historian who taught and studied in Japan. She holds a degree in history from Smith College and a Masters in communications from the University of New Mexico.

This program is sponsored by New Mexico Humanities Council.