Manzanar: Recreation Hall

Flower arranging in the Rec Hall

Dorothea Lange, National Archives

Quick Facts

Location:

southwest corner of Block 14

Amenities

1 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

Community Activities

When not working or attending school, incarcerated Japanese Americans looked for ways to occupy their time within the square-mile camp. When someone “with initiative or talent” wanted to start a class or club, they sought an available recreation hall and advertised through the community activities department.\

Each of the 36 blocks had recreation halls—a barracks on the southwest corner of the block that was not used for living space. Recreation halls served as libraries, churches, classrooms, and places to learn arts and music or hold club meetings; one hall even served as Manzanar’s museum.

“Goh, shogi, drama, musicals, woodcarving, gardening and poem writing are the favorite pastimes for the elderly men. Embroidery, flower making, knitting, leathercraft, sewing, dramas and musicals
are the predominant recreations for the women.” 
— Manzanar Free Press, September 10, 1943