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Japanese American Internment

On Feb. 19, 1942, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, incarcerating nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans in internment camps across California, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Arkansas. Discover lesser-known stories surrounding the atrocious policy and reflect on the order's lasting effects generations after.

People at the Manzanar grave site | Courtesy of Toyo Miyatake Studio
A Monument in the Cemetery at Manzanar Relocation Center | Ansel Adams, Courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Episode
26:40
Lost LA

Three Views of Manzanar - Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange and Toyo Miyatake

Adult art classes learning freehand brush strokes. | Dorothea Lange, War Relocation Authority Photographs of Japanese-American Evacuation and Resettlement / National Archives ABs10 MMD
Article
Artbound

Art and the Creation of a Resilient Japanese American Spirit

"George Takei Weaving" by Taiji Terasaki | Courtesy of the artist
Article
Artbound

Troubling History Repeating? Art Examines Parallels Between Japanese American Internment and Today’s Migrants

History & Lesser-Known Stories

Descanso Gardens: Japanese Internment Camellias
5:37
Lost LA
Learn the Untold History of the Japanese Internment and Camellias
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A Community Erased: Japanese Americans in El Monte and the San Gabriel Valley
Man playing baseball | Courtesy of Toyo Miyatake Studio
Lost LA
Baseball, A Silver Lining in the Japanese American Internment Camps
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Concealed San Bernardino Mural Reveals Japanese-American Story
Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
Lost LA
National Security, Racism, Detention: The Relocation of California's Japanese-American Population
A student of Chiura Obata's art classes painting a free water color | Dorothea Lange, War Relocation Authority Photographs of Japanese-American Evacuation and Resettlement / National Archives ABs10 MMD
Artbound
Creativity in Captivity: Photos of Resilience Inside the Camps
Toyo Miytake at Manzanar | Courtesy of Toyo Miyatake Studio
Lost LA
The Photographer Who Captured the Insider's View of Manzanar
Poston girls | Courtesy of Bill Bell
Artbound
Out of the Desert: Internment Camp Art Discovered in Banning
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Azusa Street to Bronzeville: The Black History of Little Tokyo
A before photo of the Tsurutani family at Manzanar by Ansel Adams and an after photo of Bruce, now 76, by Paul Kitakagi Jr.
Lost LA
Photographer Traces the Stories of Incarcerees Post-WWII

Japanese American Resilience, Reflection and Celebration

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Artbound
Isamu Noguchi: A Voluntary Stay at the Japanese American Internment Camp
Buddhist and Christian ministers say prayers and chants during the interfaith service at the annual Manzanar Pilgrimage.
Remembrance and Ritual: The Manzanar Pilgrimage Experience
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Departures
Growing Up Japanese American in Crenshaw and Leimert Park
Masters of Modern Design
56:06
Season 10 Episode 1
Artbound
Masters of Modern Design
Nebuta float during Nisei week Festival | Christopher Lance/Flickr/Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Artbound
Where to Enjoy Japanese American Culture in L.A.
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Departures
Otomisan: The Last Japanese Restaurant in Boyle Heights
Japanese-American veterans execute salute at WWII memorial in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles
'Go For Broke' Commemorates Japanese American Soldiers