Message from juliedavis

Japanese American National Museum—July 11, 2006
1. Common Ground: The Heart of a Community (Continuing)

Since I missed a class due to parent conferences, I needed to complete a make-up assignment. I had wanted to visit the Japanese American National Museum for quite some time, but this gave me further incentive to go. I attended with another current seminar participant (Richard) and a former participant (Keely), which was great because we were immediately able to make connections to seminar content and discuss how these exhibits could be incorporated into our curriculum.

The first exhibit we visited was called “Common Ground: The Heart of a Community.” This is a permanent exhibit at the museum. The exhibit details the history of Japanese Americans in the United States, beginning with the arrival of Japanese immigrants to Hawaii through the present. One of the most striking features of the exhibit involved the issue of internment during World War II. An actual tar paper barracks from a concentration camp in Wyoming had been transported to the museum by previous residents, and we were lucky enough on our visit to meet a former resident of one of the internment camps. He was only eight years old when his family was forced to move to Idaho, and he told us that for the first two weeks in the camp, the only things available to eat were Vienna sausages and stewed tomatoes. He could go anywhere he’d like within the camp’s grounds during the day, but at night, he was only allowed to travel within his own block. People were forbidden from singing Japanese songs, having large group meetings, and celebrating Japanese holidays and customs (in short, anything that the soldiers felt promoted Japanese nationalism). To make money, this man had worked harvesting potatoes, where he could earn $0.10 for each bag of potatoes he collected. He even noted that “political correctness” was in place in the camps, as the guard towers that were erected were referred to by the soldiers as “fire watch towers,” as if that is what their real purpose was. This man repeated that even if they had wanted to escape, they couldn’t—where else would they go but the barren desert? One of the most memorable things, though, that this man told us was that even though times were mostly miserable in the camp, there were moments of fun. He said that his view of life has changed and remains positive, and although he used to see life as a “rocky road,” he now sees it more like a ribbon with twists and curves around the “Maypole of life.” I thought that was an incredibly positive attitude to maintain after all he had endured. It was also interesting to see forced evacuation signs, belongings of those in the camps, and photos of how Japanese Americans contributed to the war effort.

I highly recommend a visit to this museum. As I walked through this exhibit, I couldn’t stop thinking about what a valuable experience it would be for my students to hear the personal story of an actual concentration camp resident. That, in combination with the many photos from how the Japanese were treated in Los Angeles, would make history feel much more relevant and close to home. Most of my students think that history happened such a long time ago, but hearing about it firsthand and seeing an actual barracks makes the experience come alive and seem as if it were just yesterday.