Morgan Blanchard Senior Project Archaeologist Northern Land Use Research Alaska LLC - - -In February 1942, the American government began to intern American citizens of Japanese descent living in military zones established in California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. However, more than a year before the start of World War II, the FBI began creating lists of foreign nationals to be arrested in the event of war with Japan. The resulting arrests began in Alaska the day of the Pearl Harbor attack. This presentation examines how a chance discovery during a cultural resources survey led to an archaeological study of the Fort Richardson Internment Camp and the ongoing effort to learn and tell the unique history of World War II internment in Alaska.
