In recent weeks, more California colleges and universities bestowed honorary degrees on former Japanese American students who were forced to leave their respective campuses due to their forced relocation from the West Coast and imprisonment in American concentration camps during World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
Several campuses in the California State University system along with a number of California Community Colleges held commencement ceremonies recently in which former Japanese American students who were forced to leave their respective campuses due to their forced relocation from the West Coast and imprisonment in American concentration camps during World War II received honorary degrees. Read the rest of this entry »
by LiAnn Ishizuka
When I looked out the car window as we approached the barren landscape of dust and tumbleweeds, I couldn’t help but notice the majesty of the Sierra Nevada backdrop. Snow was sprinkled atop the rocky foundation as if perfectly layering the mountains in a picturesque way—something that could have been taken straight from a promotional Mammoth tourism leaflet.
LiAnn Ishizuka (left) with Jaymie Takeshita (right) at the Manzanar cemetery during the 41st Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage on April 24, 2010.
Photo: LiAnn Ishizuka
We continued to drive until I saw it. In the distance, a hanging placard was at the entrance of the Manzanar site. At a closer glance, the words, “Manzanar War Relocation Center” were carved into the wood. It was the entrance to a place that was once Native American land but became an internment camp, and now a place of living history.
Just seeing that placard flooded my mind with a sense of what once was. The barracks were not there, but I could visualize them and I could feel the dust and constant heat that must have haunted the memories of many former internees.
My own grandmother, who rarely spoke about her concentration camp experience in Poston, Arizona, would remind me how the heat was unbearable. Even though Manzanar was not a place that had displaced my own family, it represented and still represents something that remains to be fully understood by those who have not visited.
For me, it represents a part of living history, a glimpse into a tumultuous period of Japanese American history, a renewed sense of understanding and a place where people of all creeds, religions and backgrounds can reflect on shared histories. Read the rest of this entry »
To download a printable flyer, click on the image above.
Last summer, volunteers helped excavate Merritt Park at the Manzanar National Historic Site, perhaps the most well-known of the elaborate gardens built by the former prisoners of the World War II American concentration camp.
This summer, volunteers will once again have an opportunity to help uncover history at Merritt Park, where further archaeological digs will take place starting June 14, 2010 and ending on June 23. Read the rest of this entry »
To download a printable flyer, click on the image above.
During World War II, the Religious Society of Friends (also known as the Quakers), the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), and its affiliates were among the few groups to publicly support and aid the 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry who were forced to leave their homes on the West Coast and were incarcerated in ten camps across the United States.
Quakers: Friends of the Japanese American Community, an event sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee, the Japanese American National Museum, the Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress and the UCLA Asian American Studies Center is scheduled for June 5 at 2:00 PM at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo, 369 East First Street, Los Angeles, California, 90012. Read the rest of this entry »
The following is a story from UCLA Today, UCLA’s faculty and staff newsletter. It is reprinted here with permission. Original story: Bruins Return 70 Years Later To Receive Honorary Degrees.
by Wendy Soderburg
48 of the 200 former Japanese American students (or their representatives) who were forced to leave UCLA due to their forced relocation and imprisonment in American concentration camps during World War II
received honorary degrees in a May 15, 2010
ceremony at UCLA’s Schoenberg Hall.
Photo: Todd Cheney/UCLA Photo
The curtain rose, revealing a group of degree candidates seated on the stage, clad in cap and gown. Joyful cheers burst forth from the packed house, followed by a long and enthusiastic standing ovation. The degree candidates smiled, and a few wiped away tears, as the familiar strains of “Pomp and Circumstance” filled the hall.
Although all the traditional elements were there, this May 15 event was not your usual commencement ceremony, nor was this your usual group of soon-to-be graduates. These were 48 of the nearly 200 Japanese American former students—or, in some cases, their representatives—who had been forced to leave UCLA and enter internment camps when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 in the winter of 1942. Read the rest of this entry »
Photo: Darrell Kunitomi
Approximately 200 students were forced to leave the campus not long after the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. Read the rest of this entry »
On May 17, 2010, San Diego State University honored its former Japanese American students who were forced to leave the campus due to their imprisonment in American concentration camps during World War II by awarding them honorary degrees (see California State University System To Grant Honorary Degrees To Japanese American Internees).
43 former students were identified as being eligible to receive an honorary degree from SDSU. More than twenty received the degree at the ceremony, some by family members representing relatives who had already passed away. Read the rest of this entry »
The following is a press release from the National Park Service.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 17, 2010
Contact: Alisa Lynch
Phone: (760) 878-2194 ext. 2711
Screenshot of Manzanar Virtual Museum home page.
Photo: Manzanar National Historic Site/National Park Service
“This is the 41st Virtual Museum that the National Park Service has created, and we’re honored to be launching it close to the 41st Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage,” said Manzanar National Historic Site Superintendent Les Inafuku. “From any Internet-connected computer, anytime, any person can explore artifacts, photos, archives, and videos to discover the many stories of Manzanar.”
The Virtual Museum showcases items highlighting Manzanar’s past from centuries of Owens Valley Paiute life to the ranching and farming era; from the World War II confinement of 11,070 Japanese Americans, to later Pilgrimages and the eventual establishment of Manzanar National Historic Site. Most of the items featured online have never been seen by the public. Read the rest of this entry »
Bill Michael (left) receives the 2010 Sue Kunitomi Embrey Legacy
Award from Manzanar Committee Co-Chair Kerry Cababa (right)
at the 41st Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage on April 24, 2010.
Photo: Gann Matsuda
Most would likely expect a long list of Japanese Americans to be in line to receive the award. Indeed, there is a veritable plethora of potential recipients among the former prisoners of the camps and Japanese American community activists. But to those who are familiar with the history of preserving and protecting Manzanar and pushing to establish it as a National Historic Site, the 2010 recipients come as no surprise at all, despite the fact that they are not Japanese Americans. Read the rest of this entry »
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