Executive Order 9066 and the WCCA

Executive Order 9066, signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, authorized the removal of all persons of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast by authorized military commanders to designated military areas, however, it was signed before there were any fully constructed sites to house the displaced Japanese Americans. After the voluntary evacuation program failed to entice many families to leave the exclusion zone, the military took charge of the now-mandatory evacuation. On April 9, 1942, the Wartime Civilian Control Administration (WCCA) was established to coordinate the forced-removal of Japanese Americans to inland concentration camps, also known as internment camps. This order had a profound impact on Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, as this neighborhood had and still fosters one of the largest Japanese populations in America.

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