Diaspora and social networks in a WWII Japanese American Incarceration Center

Summary

The rich documentary record available to historical archaeologists creates a unique opportunity to recreate social networks in past communities. Social network data can demonstrate how communities and individuals responded to changes to existing social structures, such as those caused by diaspora. Japanese American internment represents a forced diaspora as incarceration altered existing social structures and networks. Data from the Amache Internment center in Southeastern Colorado are used to examine how this diaspora affected the social networks of internees. Network data collected from historic newspapers demonstrates the social ties fostered by internees and presents an example of the ways these data sources can aid archaeological research.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Critical Mass: The Emerging Field of Japanese Diaspora Archaeology   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 440