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A Circle of Freedom: Lost and Restored (exhibition)

Museum Exhibitions
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
History
Evils of racism, Importance of community
Limited availability

Exhibition at the History Museum of Hood River County on the Japanese American experience in Hood River, Oregon. Instigated by Museum Coordinator Connie Nice once she learned of the of the wartime incarceration of local Japanese Americans and the particularly virulent opposition to their postwar return, the exhibition has the support of the local community. The small exhibition included four sections: "Our Lives Before," "Our Lives Removed," " Our Lives in Camp," and "Our Lives in Service." Included in the exhibition are documents from the local American Legion chapter, which made national headlines in 1944 when it removed the names of Nisei soldiers from a local "roll of honor." The exhibition subsequently became a semi-permanent part of the museum.

American Pastime (film)

Films and Video
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
Drama, History, Sport
Widely available

A 2007 feature film directed by Desmond Nakano that is based on true events that occurred at Topaz , an American concentration camp in Utah which held thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II. The film's story focuses on the Nomura family, whose mother and father are both Issei , and their two Nisei children, Lane and Lyle. Following the signing of Executive Order 9066 in February 1942, the Nomuras, along with over 120,000 other Japanese living on the West Coast, are forced into desolate government camps across the country. To boost the morale of the younger inmates and help build a sense of community, Mr. Nomura, who was once a professional baseball player, forms an in-camp league within the concentration camp, in an attempt to to instill some sense of normality into their lives.

America's Betrayal (book)

Books
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Grades 7-8
Fiction, History
Coming of age, Companionship as salvation, Everlasting love, Evils of racism, Female roles, Losing hope, Will to survive
Limited availability

Young adult novel by Jodi Icenoggle written in the first person voice of Margaret Yamaguchi, a high school sophomore and aspiring writer in Valle Verde in coastal California. Her father runs a successful orchard and oversees a happy family that includes Margaret's mother, an older brother Robert, and younger brother Timmy. She has also started going steady with John Wilson, star athlete of Valle Verde High. But her happy life is slowly torn apart by the outbreak of war. As anti-Japanese sentiment rises after the attack on Pearl Harbor, so do tensions at the high school, particularly for an interracial couple like John and Margaret. Inevitably, the Yamaguchis get sent first to the Salinas Assembly Center , then to Poston , while John gets drafted. As family tragedies ensue, Margaret comes of age in the concentration camp, starting a camp newspaper and waiting for John to come back. But will …

An American Story: Norman Mineta and His Legacy (film)

Films and Video
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
Biography, History
Empowerment, Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice, Quest for power, Wisdom of experience
Widely available

Documentary film that profiles Nisei politician Norman Mineta with a particular focus on his childhood years in an American concentration camp and his role forty years later in the Redress movement .

A Boy No More (book)

Books
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Young Adult, History
Coming of age, Growing up – pain or pleasure, Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Widely available

A 2004 young adult novel by Harry Mazer about Adam Pelko, who is torn between grieving his father, who died on the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 , and his feelings of loyalty towards his Japanese American best friend, Devi, whose own father has been arrested and taken to the War Relocation Authority camp in Manzanar, California. When Devi asks Adam to help him find his father, Adam is faced with a moral conflict: should he risk both his own safety and his friendship in order to do what is right? He is also still deeply affected by the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the urge to scapegoat the Japanese Americans, despite his urge to help and defend his friend.

Canefields and Deserts: Japanese American Internment (exhibition)

Museum Exhibitions
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
History
Evils of racism, Injustice
No availability

Early traveling exhibition assembled by the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) and displayed in venues in Honolulu and Denver, Colorado, in 1992. As part of the 50th anniversary commemoration of Executive Order 9066 , JANM put together Canefields and Deserts , which opened at the Ala Moana Center in Honolulu on July 10, 1992. Curated by Pam Funai, the exhibition included photographs of Hawai'i internment camps Sand Island and Honouliuli , letter and sketches by artist George Hoshida , and a large scale model of Manzanar made by Robert Hasuike. After its brief ten-day run in Honolulu, the exhibition traveled to Denver in August 1992.

Come See the Paradise (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Drama, History, Romance
Everlasting love, Family – blessing or curse, Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice
Widely available

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Coming Home: Memories of Japanese American Resettlement (exhibition)

Museum Exhibitions
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
History
Displacement, Evils of racism
No availability

Exhibition organized by the Japanese American National Museum and curated by Darcie Iki and Jim Gatewood that explored the obstacles—such as housing and employment shortages and discrimination—that Japanese Americans faced after they left the confines of America's concentration camps. The exhibit opened on August 14, 1998, and ran until February 7, 1999. The exhibit explored the process of rebuilding community as well as the individual struggle to come to terms with the larger "camp" experience.

Confined Citizens: The Amache-Granada Relocation Center, 1942-1945 (exhibition)

Museum Exhibitions
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
History
Displacement, Injustice
Available

Section within the Colorado Stories exhibition, a permanent installation at the History Colorado Center in Denver that was part of its 2012 grand opening.

Crafting History: Arts and Crafts from America's Concentration Camps (exhibition)

Museum Exhibitions
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
Art, History
Expression through art, Desire to escape
Limited availability

2002 exhibition at the Japanese American National Museum (JANM). Crafting History highlighted some 400 objects from JANM's collection made by Japanese Americans held in American concentration camps during World War II, ranging from a five foot tall Buddhist altar carved in Heart Mountain to bird pins, clothing and other textiles, and furniture. Curated by Kristine Kim, the exhibition opened on November 16, 2002. A full slate of public programs took place during the six-month run of the exhibition, including many crafting workshops. Craft items from the camps were also the subject of The Art of Gaman , a lavishly illustrated book published in 2005 and an exhibition that traveled around the country and in Japan starting in 2010.

A Crossroad Called Manzanar (film)

Films and Video
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
Short, History
Growing up - pain or pleasure, Loss of innocence
No availability

Short dramatic film about two nine-year-old girls who are best friends—Aya Matsui and Penny Chan—in the final days before Aya's family will be forced to board busses for Manzanar . On what will be her final day of school, Penny—wearing the "Proud to Be Chinese" button than her mother pins on her every morning—comes to pick up Aya as usual. But after being harassed by white children on their way to school, they decide to spend the day playing in the fields and parks before heading home. Aya's family eats on the floor, the rest of their things packed or sold off. The next morning, the Matsuis report for their exile and are put on busses for Manzanar. Penny comes by their house, finding it empty and, shunned by the other kids, rides alone on the school bus to school.

Dark Clouds Over Paradise: The Hawai'i Internees Story (exhibition)

Museum Exhibitions
Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
History
Lost honor, War - glory, necessity, pain, tragedy, Rights - individual or societal
No availability

Exhibition organized by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i (JCCH) that focused on the World War II internment of Japanese Americans living in Hawai'i. Originally organized in 2004, a later traveling version of the exhibition debuted in 2006 and traveled widely in Hawai'i over the next several years.

Dash (book)

Books
Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8
Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8
Children's, History
Companionship as salvation, Evils of racism, Displacement, Heartbreak of betrayal
Widely available

Dash, Kirby Larson's book for 4-6 grade readers, tells the story of 11-year-old Mitsi Kashino and how the love for her dog Dash gives her strength while she and her family are sent to an incarceration camp.

Farewell to Manzanar Educational Kit (curricula)

Curricula
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Memoir, Drama, History
Coming of age, Displacement, Evils of racism, Family - blessing or curse, Growing up - pain or pleasure, Injustice, Patriotism - positive side or complications, Power of the past
Limited availability

In 2003, the Farewell to Manzanar Education Initiative distributed 10,000 copies of the Farewell to Manzanar Educational Kit to California public schools and public libraries. The kit consists of the book, Farewell to Manzanar and Related Readings (1998), a teaching guide for the book (1998), a VHS cassette of the Farewell to Manzanar made-for-television movie (1976) with an additional 35-minute classroom version, and a video study guide (2002). Separate elements of the kit are available for purchase (except for the video study guide).

A Fence Away From Freedom: Japanese-Americans and World War II (book)

Books
Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12
Grades 7-8
Young Adult, History
Displacement, Evils of racism, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications, Power of the past
Widely available

Book for young adults that tells the story of the wartime removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans through the oral history voices of those who were children and young adults at the time.

Fred Korematsu Speaks Up (book)

Books
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Children's, History
Heroism – real and perceived, Injustice, Rights - individual or societal
Widely available

Book for middle school audiences on Fred Korematsu , who challenged the forced removal of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Instructions to All Persons: Reflections on Executive Order 9066 (exhibition)

Museum Exhibitions
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8, Grades 9-12, Adult
History
Evils of racism, Injustice, Power of the past, Rebirth, Wisdom of experience
No availability

Exhibition mounted by the Japanese American National Museum (JANM) to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Executive Order 9066 .

The Internment of Japanese Americans (Enslow Publishing) (book)

Books
Grades 7-8
Grades 7-8
Children's, History
Displacement, Evils of racism, Hazards of passing judgment, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Available

Overview work on the Japanese American wartime removal and incarceration for middle school audiences that is part of Enslow Publishers' "Our Shared History" series. It draws heavily from Kent's earlier The Tragic History of the Japanese-American Internment Camps (2008) and can be seen as a slightly updated version of the earlier book.

Children of the Relocation Camps (book)

Books
Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5
Grades 1-2, Grades 3-5
Children's, History
Displacement, Evils of racism, Growing up – pain or pleasure, Injustice
Available

Picture book for elementary school children that tells the story of the wartime removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans from a children's perspective. The book was named a Carter G. Woodson Elementary Level Honor Book in 2001.

The Internment of the Japanese (book)

Books
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Young Adult, History
Displacement, Evils of racism, Injustice, Patriotism – positive side or complications
Available

Overview book by Diane Yancey on the wartime forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans for middle school audiences that is part of Lucent Books "World History Series."

Island Roots (film)

Films and Video
Grades 9-12, Adult
Documentary, History
Change versus tradition, Rebirth
Widely available

Short documentary film on the Filipino American community on Bainbridge Island, Washington from the migration of the first immigrants in the late 1920s to the present day. Many came to Bainbridge to serve as farm laborers on strawberry farms run by Japanese Americans. During World War II, when Japanese Americans were forcibly removed from Bainbridge and the entire West Coast, many turned their farms over to their Filipino American farmhands to mange in their absence. As a result, many Japanese American farmers were able to return to intact farms after the war. Some Filipino Americans were able to use this as a jumping off point to owning their own farms after the war. The film concludes with the restoration of the Filipino American community hall on Bainbridge and the return of the Strawberry Festival that serve as the center of the community in the present.

Japanese American Internment Camps (Children's Press) (book)

Books
Grades 3-5
Grades 3-5
Children's, History
Evils of racism, Hazards of passing judgment, Injustice, War – glory, necessity, pain, tragedy
Available

Short overview book for younger children on the wartime removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans that is part of Children's Press's "Cornerstones of Freedom," Second Series of books.

Japanese American Internment Camps (Greenhaven Press, 2001) (book)

Books
Grades 7-8
Grades 7-8
Young Adult, History
Displacement, Evils of racism, Hazards of passing judgment, Injustice
Available

Anthology of first-person pieces on the wartime removal and incarceration as part of Greenhaven Press's "History Firsthand" Series.

Japanese American Internment Camps (Greenhaven Press, 2002) (book)

Books
Grades 7-8
Grades 7-8
Young Adult, History
Displacement, Evils of racism, Hazards of passing judgment, Injustice
Available

Collection of pieces on the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans for middle and high school audiences. As part of Greenhaven Press's "Opposing Viewpoints" and "At Issue in History" series, the assembled pieces express different perspectives on the topic.

Japanese American Journey: The Story of a People (book)

Books
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
Grades 3-5, Grades 7-8
History, Children's
Empowerment, Fulfillment, Heartbreak of betrayal, Overcoming – fear, weakness, vice, Progress – real or illusion
Available

Overview work for children on the Japanese American experience produced by the Japanese American Curriculum Project (JACP) in 1985. Consisting of a historical overview, eleven biographies of notable Japanese Americans, and three short stories, Japanese American Journey was adapted from a 1970 JACP publication titled Japanese Americans: The Untold Story .

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