Granada Pioneer [caption title]

Amache, Co, 1945. Good plus.. Eleven issues, totaling [78]pp. Stapled. Minor wear at edges; occasional small chips and very short closed tears. Perforations near top margin from previous posting, sometimes affecting headlines or mastheads. Light, even tanning; occasional minor offsetting. Scattered, contemporary doodles on first leaf recto of one issue. A scattered run of the Granada Pioneer, the amateur newspaper produced by Japanese-American prisoners of the Granada War Relocation Center in southeastern Colorado during World War II. The present group comprises ten regular issues, plus a special Christmas edition, that span from December 1944 to April 1945. The paper was produced at Camp Amache, as the center was also known, by editor Roy Yoshida and a small staff from October 1942 to September 1945, and, according to its masthead was, "Published Wednesday and Saturdays by the WRA [War Relocation Authority] and distributed free to each apartment." Camp Amache was the smallest of the internment camps; it opened in August 1942, making the Granada Pioneer a near constant and significant, but highly ephemeral, presence at the relocation center.

The issues here contain a mixture of local and camp news for residents, but increasingly focused on national and international developments affecting the Amache detainees. The first issue, dated December 20, 1944, contains several articles relating to the imminent end of the Japanese exclusion zones in California, and announces on the editorial page that, "In order that nothing will interfere with your receiving all available information regarding the new developments in relocation and with your future plans, we are giving such material the main news coverage from now on." The editors also dedicated a good deal of space to news of Japanese-American servicemen, particularly those who entered the military from Amache, and posted lists of new inductees, awardees, and casualties in many of the issues. Local news included announcements and schedules of camp events, articles on new developments and changes within the camp, and energetic coverage of the local Nisei basketball league. Scattered issues contain addresses to internees from camp officials, including several lengthy statements from the camp director, James G. Lindley. The special Christmas edition of the Pioneer is printed in red, green, blue, and black, and contains a full-page cartoon and an illustrated page dedicated to men from the Japanese-American 442nd Battalion killed in action, and is fronted by a holiday message from Lindley. In all, a vital resource for the understanding of internment camp life, and an important document of what news Granada internees received and how they received it. Quite scarce.