On our way home from Mammoth we stopped at Manzanar. Most people probably just whiz by Manzanar, as it is really out in the middle of nowhere. The closest real town is Independence. For JAs, however, it has major signficance, since thousands of them were interned there during WWII. Now there is a little museum, along with a gift shop. The museum also has the cleanest public restrooms you will ever find near a highway, so it is worth a stop, even if you are not JA. They also show a twenty minute movie which is well done. There is a huge wall with the names of everyone who was interned there, so it was interesting to find the names of my relatives, including my grandparents and my dad.
2 Comments
That is so cool! I’ve always wanted to go there. It wasn’t your first time, wss it?
I didn’t know you DAD was interned there. I remember in high school, in history class, you mentioned that you had family members that were interned at Manzanar, and I believe it was Mr. Wilkoff that had quite the reaction.
And oddly enough, just a couple weeks ago I won a door prize at the teachers’ association rep council, with prizes for celebrating Read Across America (Mar. 3). And the book I picked up was about a girl who planted sunflowers while she was interned. I think the author based it on her mother, and both the author and illustrator were Japanese. I seem to remember that they were at a camp in Utah, though.
Neato.
I’d love to hear some stories some time from your dad or grandparents, if you ever get around to it. 🙂 Or is that not a good thing to ask? I just find stuff like that fascinating.
And K is SO stinkin’ big now!! Geez louise, look at her.
🙂
We should get together soon!! I wonder how Susie is doing.
Well, my dad doesn’t really have any stories from “camp” since he was just a baby. My grandparents didn’t talk about it too much, either. Too bad, because it is interesting now that we can look back at what a travesty it was.
Yes, a get-together is in order…b/f Sus has the baby!