n the spring of 1942, people of Japanese descent living on the West Coast were forcibly removed by the US Army into temporary "assembly centers" while permanent incarceration camps were built. The Puyallup Assembly Center, euphemistically named “Camp Harmony," was hastily constructed at the Washington State fairgrounds, and temporarily housed over 7,000 residents of Seattle, Tacoma, and Alaska.

In this photo, an incarceree maintains a garden outside his barracks. Gardening was a popular hobby among the incarcerees, especially after they arrived at the permanent camps.

Handwritten on sleeve: PUYALLUP, Wash., Japanese colony, Camp Harmony.
Date photograph was filed at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (date of photograph and file date may differ by a month or more): June 12, 1942.