Toyo Suyemoto Kawakami

In October of 1942, Toyo Suyemoto Kawakami and her family arrived at Topaz, a relocation camp more familiarly known as "The Jewel of the Desert." Kawakami and the other evacuees wasted little time in trying to settle into a normal existence in the bleak and dusty surroundings of central Utah. Schools were developed and Kawakami served as an English teacher to both high school students and adults during her time as an internee. In addition to developing a camp newspaper, the residents at Topaz opened a library in December 1942 and its collection grew extensively throughout its three year existence. According to Kawakami, Topaz began to feel like a community by the time the internment camps began to close in 1945.

In his book The Immense Journey, anthropologist Loren Eiseley wrote: "It is a funny thing what the brain will...