The Pen … Mightier than the Sword.

Relocation [McGee], Arkansas: The [Rohwer] Outpost, 6 November 1943. 4to (10.5” x 8”), printed blue wrappers, stapled spine. 82 pp. [leaf for pp. 39-40 duplicated, so actually a total of 84 pp.], numerous illus. Front-cover illustrated with cartoon character “Lil Dan’l” in knight’s armor holding a pen. Also present here is a small church service leaflet Rohwer Anniversary Mission Service. (McGee, Arkansas: The Rohwer Outpost, November 1943).

An important and rare publication produced at the Rohwer War Relocation Center in Arkansas by the staff of the prison newspaper, observing Rohwer’s one-year anniversary and containing a wealth of information on the lives of those imprisoned there.

One of ten Japanese American prison camp newspapers issued during WWII, The Rohwer Outpost was produced biweekly from 1942 to 1945. Camp newspapers such as the Outpost kept the incarcerated informed of announcements from the camp’s administration, orders, events, news from other camps, and other matters relating to daily camp life. A stand-alone publication, The Pen was produced by the Outpost’s staff and is divided into The Administrative Section (which includes a message from Project Director Ray Johnson); a Literary Section (featuring poetry, fiction, articles, etc.), and the Highlights Section, which covers notable events from the past year. The Foreword, “A Transition,” opens as follows: "To the outside world, our transition has not even been felt. … but to us, the past year has been one of sorrow, of insecurity, of fear, of deliberation and finally, of renewed hope." A number of pieces in the Literary Section grapple with forced relocation: “A Young Evacuee,” “Random Whirligig,” “Effects of Evacuation,” “Well, It’s Grand,” “On Borrowed Time,” and so forth. One of the more fascinating pieces is the article, “Ideologies and the Nisei: A Crucial Test Case,” which deals with the political orientation of the internees. A map, Layout Plan of Center, shows camp facilities including a movie hall, library, church, fire dept., Girl Scout meeting place, and a hospital. Also included are a chart of the Rohwer's staff and a list of the positions many prisoners held in the camp.

Featured on the front-cover is George Akimoto's cartoon character, “Lil Dan’l,” who made his first appearance in the Outpost's second issue. The first issue of The Outpost appeared on 24 Oct. 1942, five weeks after prisoners began arriving at Rohwer. Initial issues consisted of six pages, typed and mimeographed in the camp. As with other camp newspapers, the staff members were mainly inmates with previous newspaper experience. In its inaugural issue, the editors expressed their hope to create a “good,” “readable” newspaper with “interesting features, straightforward editorials, unusual happenings.” Bean Takeda and Barry Saiki were the original co-editors until parting ways due to differences in editorial philosophy. Nevertheless, Takeda and Saiki each took turns as editor-in-chief. While other WRA centers often censored the contents of inmate newspapers, many inmates believed the Outpost was uncensored by the administration during Saiki's editorship and likely later as well. The newspaper's last issue was published on 21 July 1945, and the Rohwer War Relocation Center closed on 30 Nov. 1945.

OCLC records six holdings, at the University of Arkansas, University of Central Arkansas, UC Santa Barbara, UC Los Angeles, Harvard and Yale.