In February 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which made it legal for the military to incarcerate people of Japanese ancestry in the United States indefinitely and without trial. Nearly 120,000 people were forcibly detained. The remoteness of the relocation camps meant that postal services were the only connection to the outside world.
The remoteness of the relocation camps meant that postal services were the only connection to the outside world. Above, Japanese Americans line up at the camp post office in Manzanar, California. War Relocation Authority photograph.
