TOPAZ
| Official name: | Central Utah Relocation Center | Location: | Millard County, Utah |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coordinates: | 39.41° N, 112.77° W | Size of camp: | 19,800 acres |
| Opening date: | September 11, 1942 | Peak population: | 8,130 |
| Date of peak: | March 17, 1943 | Closing date: | October 31, 1945 |
Bay Area artists and families in the Utah desert
Topaz stood in the Sevier Desert near Delta, Utah. Most people confined there came from the San Francisco Bay Area, many through Tanforan. The art school established under Chiura Obata at Tanforan continued at Topaz, enrolling more than 600 students. Artists and students recorded camp life and the surrounding landscape.
On April 11, 1943, a military sentry shot and killed James Hatsuaki Wakasa near the camp’s fence. Incarcerated workers erected a monument to his memory. The camp administration ordered its removal. The monument’s history records both an act of remembrance and an effort to suppress that remembrance.
Sources: Densho Encyclopedia, Topaz Museum (art school), and Topaz Museum (Wakasa Monument)
