Ralph Carr Memorial Highway

Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the federal government forcibly sent tens of thousands of Japanese Americans to internment camps, where they unjustly lost their property, possessions, and freedom without due process. During his time as Governor of Colorado from 1939 to 1943, Ralph L. Carr defied overwhelming popular sentiment and defended U.S. citizens of Japanese ancestry, warning that throwing American citizens into concentration camps stripped them of the privileges of citizenship under the Constitution and violated its principles. His brave and unpopular stand cost him his political career but earned him the enduring respect of generations of Coloradans.

Colorado · United States