By Jaylen Warfield

The Barr Building located at Farragut Square in downtown DC is a historic building that was used back in 1942 by the president at the time, Franklin D. Roosevelt, to oversee the relocations/internments of more than 100,000 Japanese Americans. The Barr Building was the headquarters of the War Relocation Authority and they were the people who managed the daily lives of the Japanese Americans in the incarceration camps and they managed everything like the food, housing, education, work, etc.

The Barr Building right across from Farragut Square is very inconspicuous if you are not paying much attention to the buildings around you. Even I didn’t notice when I was sitting right next to it. When I heard about the Barr Building, and when I found out what it was used for, I was shocked and I began to wonder about what else happened in there and how it was repurposed. In the future, if you are ever in Farragut Square, check out the building, think about it, and maybe share some of its history too.