Manzanar: A controversial part of our nation's history
Apr 23, 2023 08:45:42 #
Thank you for the post. We stopped there a few years ago and it was a profound experience. Not enough people who are traveling on Highway 395 up and down the East side of the Sierra Nevada take the time to stop and learn our history's details. Since our visit I've encouraged many people to make the visit - especially young people.
Another major internment center was at the other end of California, in the far North at Tulelake. Visiting there isn't as easy as at Manzanar, and the facilities aren't in the same condition, but it is possible.
Another major internment center was at the other end of California, in the far North at Tulelake. Visiting there isn't as easy as at Manzanar, and the facilities aren't in the same condition, but it is possible.
Apr 23, 2023 09:01:17 #
Apr 23, 2023 09:03:31 #
Very interesting. I remember reading about the internment camps as a boy. Glad to learn the facts. Also very interesting to see what the internees did to better their own situation. A lesson for many today.
Apr 23, 2023 09:20:40 #
Thanks for “the rest of the story.” I was very surprised to hear of the non interring states / areas.
Apr 23, 2023 09:36:26 #
DougS
Loc: Central Arkansas
Thank you for posting this very interesting story(s), and history lesson! There were two of those camps in my home state, which I have never visited... I have passed by one, but as you noted, there is nothing there except a small sign. Researching more information is most enlightening on the camps.
The snow covered mountains are certainly pretty! Thanks for sharing!!!
The snow covered mountains are certainly pretty! Thanks for sharing!!!
Apr 23, 2023 09:37:22 #
Very interesting. I get why the powers that were back then believed this was a good decision, but wish it had not happened. I wonder how many Japanese spies were actually interred. I did not know that a Japanese American could relocate to other states as presented here.
Well done story
Chuck
Well done story
Chuck
Apr 23, 2023 09:43:27 #
OldCADuser wrote:
This past January, my wife and I met some friends ... (show quote)
Thank you for sharing this about a little acknowledged period in our history. Ansel Adams photographed Manzanar in 1943, and Dorothea Lange photographed internment camps also. Lange’s photos were impounded by the US Army and not released until 2006. I grew up in the 1950s and 60s, we were not taught about the internment camps in school. I did not learn about them until I was an adult.
Apr 23, 2023 13:46:47 #
Interesting, both the photos and the narrative. Thanks for posting.
Apr 23, 2023 14:26:40 #
Just Fred wrote:
I visited Manzanar and Lone Pine (where the fabulous Alabama Hills are) a couple of years ago.
Lone Pine also has a very nice museum, The Museum of Western Film History, dedicated to the film industry due to all of the many westerns and other movies filmed in the area. A large number of the 50's TV westerns were filmed in the are like the 'Lone Ranger', as well as several famous movies where a desert local was needed, like 'Bad Day at Black Rock' and 'Gunga Din'.
The Museum of Western Film History, which is housed in a old theater which still shows films on a regular basis - January 2023 - Sony a6500, 10-18mm
Some of the material on display in the museum - January 2023 - Sony a6500, 10-18mm
They had a well documented display of memorabilia honoring Audie Murphy, the most decorated American soldier in WWII, who later became a movie actor and who made many of his films in the Lone Pine area - January 2023 - Sony a6500, 10-18mm
Apr 23, 2023 14:38:44 #
Lone Pine is also where you can get a good view of Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous United States, at 14,505 feet.
Mount Whitney as seen from the Eastern Sierra Visitor Center in Lone Pine, California - January 2023 - Sony a6500, 18-135mm
Apr 24, 2023 05:41:10 #
OldCADuser wrote:
And here are photos of the only remaining structures on the site that have survived since the camp closed. As one would expect, due the harsh winter and summer conditions, the wooden buildings were all destroyed and removed years ago. Except for what you see below, virtually all of the buildings in the camp were constructed of wood.
Nice set and info.
Apr 24, 2023 05:50:57 #
OldCADuser
Thank you recording and describing an undertold piece of American history. Arigato.
There are many stories which cover the heroism of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. However, very few cover the stories of the draft resisters or tell the stories of the 5000+ people who denounced their American citizenship or tell the individual stories of the more than 125,000 people who were sent to Camp.
Thank you recording and describing an undertold piece of American history. Arigato.
There are many stories which cover the heroism of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. However, very few cover the stories of the draft resisters or tell the stories of the 5000+ people who denounced their American citizenship or tell the individual stories of the more than 125,000 people who were sent to Camp.
Apr 24, 2023 07:39:20 #
Your Topic and Post are excellent. I would not attempt to judge the rights and wrongs of what was happening in the world 80 years ago - they were scary times in a world that was just starting to embrace technology as we know it.
There must have been enormous emotional problems for the Loyal-to-USA Japanese Americans - especially when the final curtain dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
There must have been enormous emotional problems for the Loyal-to-USA Japanese Americans - especially when the final curtain dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Apr 24, 2023 07:44:58 #
PaulBrit
Loc: Merlin, Southern Oregon
Very interesting and full of information. I was born in 1944, in London, and only came to live in the USA in 2010, although I had business interests in California and New Jersey from 1978.
Apr 24, 2023 09:17:48 #
Thank you for this info ! I was in an area north of Boise Idaho that the US gave some of the interns some land when this was over. I went to school there back in the late 60's & early 70's and knew there were several Japanese kids & familys there. I was told of a little bit of the past & always admired them for how they preserved their heritage. Yes it was hard for them but I understand why it happened. Thank you again for the pictures & the story !
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