Pomona Assembly Center (Internment/Detention Camp)

The Pearl Harbor Attack not only mobilized the United States to support the war effort of World War II but it introduced extreme measures that was motivated by fear that Japanese Americans and other Asian Americans were in collaborating and supporting the enemy due to their national origin. Due the pressures of war, the United States government and President Franklin Roosevelt issued Presidential Order 9066 in February 1942, which authorized the removal of all Japanese and Japanese Americans the West Coast (Deverell, David, eds, 2014). In the book “A Companion to California History” historian Arthur Verge notes how a vast number of individuals were forcefully relocated and removed from the coastal West and placed in internment camps that spread throughout the United States. California like the much of the nation carried out the presidential order that was violation of civil rights and motivated by fear and suspicion.  

 During World War II, California would see the emergence of internment camps or detention centers used to house Japanese Americans and others that were deemed a risk to society due to possible support or allegiance to the enemy. One location that was used as an interment camp that many Southern Californians recognize but may not be aware of its past use is the Fairplex in Pomona. The Fairplex in Pomona was the site of the former Pomona Assembly Center in which served as an interment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II (Hemmerlein, 2019). Sandi Hemmerlein article that discusses World War II locations in Southern California mentions how the fairgrounds was overrun by the military from 1942 to 1947 which was also used to house German and Italian prisoners of war. Hemmerlein also notes how even today a historical maker can be found near the administration office at Gate 1 of the Fairplex (Hemmerlein, 2019). The creation of internment camps or detention centers for Japanese Americans was a violation of human rights and former site of the Pomona Assembly Center is historic reminder of the role California unfortunately played in the relocation and internment of Japanese Americans. 

Hemmerlein, Sandi. 2019. "Best Places To Explore The Hidden WWII History Of Socal". KCET. https://www.kcet.org/shows/socal-wanderer/best-places-to-explore-the-hidden-wwii-history-of-socal.

Deverell, William, and Igler, David, eds. 2008. A Companion to California History. Somerset: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Accessed May 11, 2021. ProQuest Ebook Central.