Granada (Amache) Relocation Camp, Foundations, Granada, Colorado

Overview

“Granada (Amache) Relocation Camp, Foundations” documents the concrete building foundations surviving at Colorado’s smallest internment camp - Camp Amache, which imprisoned 7,318 Japanese Americans in remote southeastern Colorado grasslands. Created in 1997, this 23-by-31-inch moderate nearly-square panorama represents mid-career documentation photographing camp remains 52 years after closure, when foundations provided primary archaeological evidence of barrack layouts and institutional organization after wooden structures disappeared.

Granada (also known as Camp Amache) operated August 1942-October 1945 as one of ten War Relocation Authority camps imprisoning 120,000+ Japanese Americans following Executive Order 9066. Despite smallest population among major camps, Granada’s 7,318+ internees experienced same constitutional violations, forced removal, property loss, and imprisonment without trial or individualized guilt determination that characterized entire incarceration system.

The 1997 creation date positions this work among Hayashi’s mature camp documentation - following early Gila River works (1990) and Manzanar/Heart Mountain series (mid-1990s), demonstrating sustained multi-year engagement photographing all ten WRA camps. The moderate 23×31” nearly-square format (1.35:1 aspect ratio) creates accessible installation scale suited to documenting foundation remains across desert grassland landscape.

The complete edition distribution (0% retention, no edition tracking) prevents determining institutional placements but confirms all five editions circulated through sales, museum acquisitions, or private collections. This contrasts with works showing partial retention or documented placements, suggesting either catalog documentation gaps or deliberate privacy regarding collector/institutional identities.

Foundations: Architectural Archaeology at Camp Amache

Concrete foundations represent most durable camp remains - building footprints surviving decades after wooden barracks, mess halls, and institutional buildings deteriorated, burned, or were salvaged. At Granada (closed October 1945), systematic building removal saw reusable materials salvaged for postwar construction boom, structures relocated to address Colorado housing shortages, and site returned to agricultural use with minimal preservation.

By 1997 documentation (52 years post-closure), foundations provided primary architectural evidence of camp layout impossible to access through photographs or written records alone. These concrete remnants preserve: actual building dimensions documenting cramped family quarters, spatial relationships between barracks and communal facilities, institutional organization separating residential from administrative zones, and physical scale of incarceration infrastructure serving over 7,000 imprisoned people.

The Granada foundations testify to hastily constructed temporary facilities: minimal foundation systems supporting lightweight wooden structures, standardized barrack designs replicated across all ten camps, utilitarian construction prioritizing speed and cost minimization over prisoner comfort, and inadequate facilities subjecting American citizens to substandard living conditions. The concrete’s survival through five decades preserves material evidence of constitutional violations long after camp closure and dispersal of internee population.

Camp Amache: Colorado’s Smallest WRA Camp

Granada (Camp Amache) represented smallest major WRA camp despite imprisoning over 7,000 Japanese Americans. Located near Granada in remote southeastern Colorado - hundreds of miles from Denver and major population centers - the camp’s isolation enforced geographic marginalization paralleling political exclusion. Internees faced harsh climate extremes: summer heat on exposed grasslands, winter cold with inadequate heating, spring dust storms penetrating barrack cracks, and limited natural windbreaks on flat terrain.

Despite smallest population, Granada internees created vibrant community: schools educating camp children, agricultural programs producing crops for camp consumption, civic organizations maintaining Japanese cultural traditions, and publications documenting daily life. Many internees volunteered for military service despite family imprisonment - the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (almost entirely Japanese American soldiers) became most decorated unit in U.S. military history while their families remained imprisoned.

The camp’s postwar legacy includes high school preservation as Granada Relocation Center National Historic Landmark - one of few original camp structures surviving intact. This preservation creates educational resource teaching future generations about internment’s injustice while honoring internees’ resilience maintaining community under oppression.

Moderate Nearly-Square Format and Complete Distribution

The 23×31” moderate nearly-square panorama (1.35:1 aspect ratio - only slightly wider than tall) creates balanced composition documenting foundation remains across landscape context. This format differs from extreme verticals employed for monuments (Gila River Monument 31×75”) or water infrastructure (Granada Water Tank 16×56”), suggesting horizontal foundation patterns spreading across grassland rather than vertical architectural emphasis.

The nearly-square format creates intimate documentary scale - substantial enough for architectural details yet accessible for varied installation contexts. This moderate approach positions Granada Foundations between extreme formats demanding exceptional exhibition spaces and small intimate works limited to close viewing. The 23×31” dimensions allow residential collectors, small galleries, and museum study rooms to display work without architectural constraints limiting extreme panoramas.

The complete edition distribution (0% retention, five editions fully circulated) combined with absent edition tracking creates documentation gap preventing institutional placement verification. Several interpretations emerge: catalog compilation occurred before edition tracking formalized (pre-database systems), collectors/institutions requested privacy regarding acquisitions, sales occurred through galleries maintaining separate records, or Foundation prioritized distribution over documentation during mid-1990s active exhibition period.

This contrasts with contemporary works showing detailed edition tracking (Gila River series documenting JANM and V&A acquisitions) or substantial retention (Granada Water Tank 80% retention suggesting strategic institutional targeting). The Foundations’ complete distribution despite documentation gaps suggests strong commercial or institutional appeal - possibly multiple museum placements unrecorded in current Foundation database.

Collection Information

Year: 1997 Location: Granada, CO, USA (Granada Relocation Center - Camp Amache) Medium: Panoramic Photo Collage Dimensions: 23 × 31 inches Film Format: 4 × 6 Film Stock: Kodak Edition: 1 of 5

1. [Location unknown]
2. [Location unknown]
3. [Location unknown]
4. [Location unknown]
5. [Location unknown]

Note: “Granada (Amache) Relocation Camp, Foundations” documents concrete building foundations at Colorado’s smallest WRA camp using moderate 23×31” nearly-square format suited to foundation patterns across grassland landscape. Created 1997 as mature mid-career camp documentation, work photographs remains 52 years post-closure when foundations provided primary architectural evidence. Complete edition distribution (0% retention) with absent edition tracking prevents verifying institutional placements but confirms all five editions circulated, suggesting strong appeal possibly including multiple museum acquisitions unrecorded in current database. Granada imprisoned 7,318 Japanese Americans in remote southeastern Colorado despite being smallest major camp.