Beneath Heavy Pines in World War II Louisiana - by Hayley Johnson (Paperback)

About the Book

Critical exploration of Camp Livingston through the experiences of two families

Book Synopsis

December 7, 1941 changed the lives of thousands of Japanese Americans who became "enemy" in the eyes of the United States government within hours. With Pearl Harbor still smoldering, these men would be arrested and put into the enemy alien internment system. As the study of internment has steadily grown, the information about the confinement sites and ability to piece together the experiences of the men within has remained a challenging task.

Camp Livingston, famous as a site for the Louisiana Maneuvers, holds a darker and less well-known history. From 1942-1943, over 1,000 men of Japanese ancestry were held in this internment camp in the pine forests of central Louisiana. The authors approach this camp's history via the experiences and linkages to and through two families, the Miyamotos and Koharas, who are the beating heart at the center of this saga. Through them, the authors have laid out a historical counter narrative that is part biography and part critical exploration of a forgotten chapter of American history.

This manuscript is the first of its kind to focus primarily on exploring Camp Livingston, arguably one of the lesser-known enemy alien internment camps, in depth including its layout, operations, and the daily life and experiences of the internees within.

Review Quotes

Beneath Heavy Pines brings to light, for the first time, one of the most significant yet untold stories of the WWII Japanese American internment. A definitive history of the Camp Livingston Internment Camp in Louisiana, Johnson and Simms tell the story of unjust dislocation, family separation, and incarceration from the perspective of those who experienced the racial and religious animus of the times. Skillfully blending government documents with diaries, letters, and artwork of the internees themselves, Beneath Heavy Pines is a must read for anyone interested in wartime incarceration of those deemed enemy aliens.

Beneath Heavy Pines is a necessary intervention in the study of Japanese Americans during the war. Using oral histories, archival experience, and a rich collection of personal narratives that take the reader from Hawai?i to Louisiana, Johnson and Simms do more than fill a gap in the collective memory of World War II: they present a powerful argument for using diverse research methodologies to explore the realities of life in the internment center at Camp Livingston while reminding historians that there is still much to learn about wartime detention.

Numerous historians have chronicled and investigated various aspects of the incarceration of over 100,000 persons of Japanese ancestry in the US during WW II. While many works reference the A-B-C lists used by federal and military personnel to track and classify supposed enemy aliens prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, it is often as a preamble to the creation of camps run by the Wartime Civil Control Administration and War Relocation Authority. As Johnson and Simms point out, far less of the literature follows the nearly 20,000 Issei who became victims of custodial detention beginning on December 7, 1941. This volume serves to rectify that deficiency by unveiling Camp Livingston's all-but-forgotten role as an internment site for over 1,000 men. Using a combination of government documents, letters, diary entries, artwork, and oral histories, the authors have painstakingly reconstructed not only the history of the camp itself, but the experiences of the internees and their families as well. While meticulously researched, this is also not a purely dispassionate and objective history; it often connects to its subjects on an almost personal level. While endnotes abound, a slight drawback is the absence of a full bibliography. Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.
Choice Reviews

About the Author

Hayley Johnson is head of the Open Scholarship and Government Publications Department at Louisiana State University.
Sarah Simms is Undergraduate & Student Success Librarian at Louisiana State University.