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covered parks
Manzanar
Manzanar National Historic Site
California
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
We could only carry what
we could carry, and my
suitcase was full of diapers
and children’s clothes.
Fumiko Hayashida (right)
We were judged, not on our
own character . . . but simply
because of our ethnicity.
Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga
ONE CAMP • 10,000 LIVES ONE CAMP • 10,000 STORIES
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In spring 1942, the US Army turned the abandoned townsite of Manzanar, California, into a
camp that would confine over 10,000 Japanese
Americans and Japanese immigrants. Margaret
Ichino Stanicci later said, “I was put into a camp
as an American citizen, which is against the
Constitution because I had no due process. . . .
It was only because of my ancestry.”
For decades before World War II, politicians,
newspapers, and labor leaders fueled anti-Asian
sentiment in the western United States. Laws
prevented immigrants from becoming citizens
or owning land. Immigrants’ children were born
US citizens, yet they too faced prejudice. Japan’s
December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor intensified hostilities toward people of Japanese
ancestry.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive
Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, authorizing
the military to remove “any or all persons” from
the West Coast. Under the direction of Lt. General John L. DeWitt, the Army applied the order
to everyone of Japanese ancestry, including over
70,000 US citizens. DeWitt said, “You just can’t
tell one Jap from another. . . . They all look the
same. . . . A Jap’s a Jap.”
They were from cities and farms, young and old,
rich and poor. They had only days or weeks to
prepare. Businesses closed, classrooms emptied,
families and friends separated. Ultimately, the
government deprived over 120,000 people of
their freedom. Half were children and young
adults. Ten thousand were incarcerated at Manzanar. From this one camp came 10,000 stories.
TWO FAMILIES • TWO STORIES
PIECES FROM THE PAST
The photos above evoke life
at Manzanar. Left to right:
Jerry Fujikawa volunteered for
the US Army while confined in
Manzanar. • The Takemoto
family was among the first to
arrive. • Manzanar’s stark
landscape inspired artists and
poets. • Men, women, and
children endured the same
living conditions. • Playing
with marbles was a popular
children’s pastime. • Every
person wore a numbered tag
to camp. • Fumiko Hayashida
carried her daughter Natalie
during their forced removal to
Manzanar. • Both Japanese
and American sports, like judo
and baseball, were popular at
Manzanar.
Before the war, the Miyatake and Maruki
families lived near each other in Los Angeles. In Manzanar, they lived in neighboring
blocks, yet their experiences were far apart.
The Miyatakes’ eldest son Archie met and
fell in love with Takeko Maeda. They later
married and spent over 70 years together.
The Marukis’ eldest daughter Ruby came
to Manzanar married and pregnant. She
died in the camp hospital on August 15,
1942, along with the twin girls she was delivering. Decades later, Ruby’s youngest sister Rosie said, “My mother never got over
it. It just broke her heart.”
COURTESY HIKOJI TAKEUCHI; MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND IN-
Hundreds attended the Buddhist
funeral of Ruby Maruki Watanabe
and her twin girls, Diane and Sachiko.
DUSTRY, SEATTLE; NPS / MANZ; NATIONAL ARCHIVES / FRANCIS
NPS / MANZ, MARUKI FAMILY COLLECTION
COURTESY FUJIKAWA FAMILY; NATIONAL ARCHIVES / DOROTHEA LANGE; NPS / MANZ; NATIONAL ARCHIVES / DOROTHEA
LANGE; NATIONAL ARCHIVES / FRANCIS STEWART; NPS / MANZ;
STEWART; TOYO MIYATAKE / COURTESY ALAN MIYATAKE
Among the hardships of Manzanar,
the wind and dust storms were some
of the most unforgiving and unforgettable. Artist Kango Takamura
captured this windy street scene in
March 1943.
NPS / MANZ, TANAKA FAMILY COLLECTION
CONFLICT
REMEMBRANCE
APOLOGY
Why didn’t the government give us the chance to prove our loyalty
instead of herding us into camps?
Joseph Kurihara
It was shocking to your soul, to your spirit, and it took many years
for people to talk about it.
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston
America is strong as it makes amends for the wrongs it has committed . . . we will always remember Manzanar because of that.
Sue Kunitomi Embrey
People’s diverse reactions to incarceration and conditions in Manzanar often
led to conflict, erupting on December 6, 1942. A large crowd gathered to protest the jailing of Harry Ueno. The confrontation escalated and military police
fired into the crowd, killing two men and injuring nine others. Soon the consequences of what came to be known as the Manzanar ”riot” reverberated
through all ten camps. Government officials issued a controversial questionnaire to identify and segregate those they deemed “disloyal.” Koo Sakamoto
and her husband gave conflicting answers. She was 19 and pregnant with their
second child when her husband was sent to Tule Lake Segregation Center. They
never saw each other again.
Japanese Americans boarded trains for a 500-mile journey to the high-security Tule Lake Segregation Center in northern California. TOYO MIYATAKE / COURTESY ALAN MIYATAKE
The Manzanar camp closed on November 21, 1945, three months after the war
ended. Despite having regained their freedom, some people found life equally
difficult after the war. Most spent decades rebuilding their lives, but few spoke
openly about their wartime experiences. Buddhist and Christian ministers returned to the cemetery each year to remember the dead. In 1969, a group of
activists came on their own pilgrimage of healing and remembrance. With the
formation of the Manzanar Committee, this pilgrimage grew into an annual
event attended by over one thousand. Efforts to remember and preserve the
camp led to the creation of Manzanar National Historic Site in 1992.
The annual pilgrimage is open to the public. It includes a procession of banners, which ends at
Manzanar’s iconic cemetery monument. GANN MATSUDA / MANZANAR COMMITTEE
In the 1980s, a congressionally authorized commission concluded “race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership” led to the incarceration
of Japanese Americans during World War II. It recommended a presidential
apology and individual payments of $20,000. After receiving her apology letter
from President George H. W. Bush, Miho Sumi Shiroishi “felt as though the
shame of all these years had been lifted and I was able to talk about the experience with much more ease. This letter of apology has meant a great deal to me,
more than anyone can imagine.”
The US government issued over 82,000 apology letters and redress payments to Japanese
Americans in order of age, oldest to youngest, between 1990 and 1999. DENSHO; NPS / MANZ
Reading the Manzanar Landscape
After the war, the government removed most of
the structures, and buried gardens and basements. As time passed, Manzanar was further
buried, both in sand and in memory. Today,
when visitors see Manzanar, they may think
there’s nothing out there. Yet for those who
learn to read the landscape, the place comes to
life. A pipe sticking out of the ground becomes a
water faucet where children splashed their faces
in the summer heat. A foundation reveals the
shoe prints of a child who crossed the wet cement. Ten iron rings embedded in a concrete
slab evoke the humiliation of ten women forced
to sit exposed next to strangers, enduring private moments on public toilets.
Whether driving the 3-mile self-guiding tour
or exploring Manzanar on foot, visitors can
see a number of Japanese gardens and ponds.
People built gardens to beautify the dusty
ground outside their barracks. Others built
larger gardens near mess halls where people
waited in line for meals three times a day.
The most elaborate garden was Merritt Park,
which Tak Muto, Kuichiro Nishi, and their crew
built as Manzanar’s community park. In 2008,
the Nishi family helped park staff remove
decades of soil to reveal the park.
LEFT—NPS / MANZ; BELOW—LIBRARY OF CONGRESS / ANSEL ADAMS
There is not much there anymore in
the way of structures . . . but a lot of
memories remain.
Miho Sumi Shiroishi
The National Park Service continues to uncover and preserve historic features, including
elements of the early 1900s farming town of
Manzanar. This land is home to the Owens
Valley Paiute, whose own stories have been
passed down through millennia and are an
important part of the history of Manzanar.
TO READ MANZANAR’S LANDSCAPE, LOOK FOR:
•
•
•
•
•
Rocks arranged to personalize barracks “yards” or create gardens
Sidewalks that led to doorways
Water pipes that stood at corners of barracks
Concrete foundations of latrines, laundry rooms, and ironing rooms
Concrete blocks that supported barracks
Many pieces from Manzanar’s past lie scattered on the ground. It is
against federal law to disturb or collect these items.
Above: Artist Kitaro Uetsuzi depicted
Merritt Park in 1943 as an oasis where
people could escape the monotony of
barracks living. Top right: That same
year, Ansel Adams photographed the
park at the invitation of Project Director Ralph P. Merritt. Top left: In his 90s,
Henry Nishi, son of park designer
Kuichiro Nishi, helped excavate and
restore his father’s inspired landscape.
NPS / MANZ, NISHI FAMILY COLLECTION
Buddhist Reverend Shinjo Nagatomi
conducts a service at the cemetery.
Property Clerk Mildred
Causey and her daughter
Ann pose at the traffic circle,
next to the administration
building.
TOYO MIYATAKE / COURTESY ALAN MIYATAKE
Cemetery Monument
Catholic stone mason Ryozo Kado built this
obelisk in 1943 with help from residents of Block
9 and the Young Buddhist Association. On the
east face, Buddhist Reverend Shinjo Nagatomi
inscribed kanji characters that mean “soul consoling tower.” People attended religious services
here during the war. Today the monument is a
focal point of the annual pilgrimage, serving as a
symbol of solace and hope.
FRED CAUSEY / COURTESY ARTHUR L. WILLIAMS
Oil
Tank
Recreation Hall
Mess Hall
Ironing Room
Barracks 14
Barracks 7
Administration Area
Barracks 6
Over 200 War Relocation Authority (WRA) staff—and
often their families—lived and worked here, trying to
reconcile directives from Washington, DC, with the realities of managing an incarcerated community. Erica Harth
recalled, “The administrative section where we lived was
literally white. Its white painted bungalows stared across
at the rows of brown tarpaper barracks.” Scores of Japanese Americans also worked in WRA offices.
Barracks 5
Laundry
Room
Womenʼs
Latrine
Barracks 2
Barracks 1
Barracks 12
Barracks 11
Barracks 4
Barracks 3
Barracks 13
Menʼs
Latrine
Block
14
Barracks 10
Barracks 9
Barracks 8
City of Barracks
Manzanar was arranged into 36 blocks. In most
blocks, up to 300 people crowded into 14 barracks. Initially, each barracks had four rooms with
eight people per room. Everyone ate in a mess
hall, washed clothes in a public laundry room,
and shared latrines and showers with little privacy. The ironing room and recreation hall offered
spaces for classes, shops, and churches. Over
time, people personalized their barracks and the
blocks evolved into distinct communities.
Let It Not Happen Again
I have come to a conclusion after many, many years
that we must learn from our history and we must
learn that history can teach us how to care for one
another. Rose Hanawa Tanaka
MORE INFORMATION
The Manzanar Visitor Center features exhibits about the
camp and area history, plus a film and bookstore. Block
14 includes exhibits about the challenges of daily life. The
grounds are open daily, sunrise to sunset. Check the park
website for visitor center hours, programs, events, and
special exhibits.
The story of Manzanar has not ended—Japanese Americans and others
keep it alive. At age 95, Fumiko Hayashida testified before Congress to
support the Nidoto Nai Yoni (“Let it not happen again”) memorial on
Bainbridge Island, Washington. She was photographed at that site in
1942, holding her daughter—an image that became an icon of the
World War II Japanese American experience. At age 100, Fumiko and
her daughter Natalie returned to Manzanar for the first time since
World War II (left). Today, thousands of people who visit Manzanar and
other sites of conscience feel connected to these places and their stories (right). At Manzanar, some see their own struggles reflected in the
injustices that over 10,000 Japanese Americans faced here.
Safety and Regulations It is against federal law to disturb or collect artifacts. • Drive only on the designated
tour road. • Wear sturdy footwear, a hat, and sunscreen.
• Drink lots of water. • Pets are allowed outside if
leashed. • Firearms are prohibited in federal buildings.
Emergencies dial 911
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The National Park Service cares for other Japanese
American World War II sites: Tule Lake (CA), Minidoka
(ID), Honouliuli (HI), and a memorial on Bainbridge
Island (WA).
Manzanar National Historic Site is one of over 400 parks
in the National Park System. To learn more about your
national parks, visit www.nps.gov.
✩GPO:20xx—xxx-xxx/xxxxx New in 20xx
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Accessibility We strive to make facilities, services, and
programs accessible to all. For information go to the visitor center, ask a ranger, call, or check our website.
COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS, CALIFORNIA CHAPTER
© MARIO GERSHOM REYES
Manzanar National Historic Site
5001 Hwy 395, PO Box 426
Independence, CA 93526
760-878-2194
www.nps.gov/manz
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