Department of Interior details of Japanese church. In 1942 Japanese Americans in Pierce County were ordered into temporary detention camps located at the Puyallup Fair Grounds and later some were sent to permanent detention facilities in California and Idaho. Following the mass evacuations, Japanese homes, churches and businesses were searched for evidence proving disloyalty. This ransacked room has been identified as being located in the Japanese Methodist Episcopal Church, 1901 Fawcett Ave. There were two Japanese churches in Tacoma during this time, the Japanese Buddhist Church and the Japanese Methodist Episcopal Church, both located on Fawcett Avenue. (Additional information provided by a reader)

World War, 1939-1945--War destruction & pillage--Tacoma; Searching--Tacoma; Japanese Americans--Evacuation & relocation, 1942-1945;