In the spring of 1942, persons 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.

This photo depicts incarcerees waiting in line at a table to register with camp administrators. They carry bags with their possessions and some hold identification tags.

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.