Tag Archives: Manzanar

Dead Body Found Near Manzanar

On August 8, 2020 Inyo County Sheriff’s Dispatch received a report from a hiker of a potentially deceased female in the foothills west of Manzanar National Historic Site. Sheriff’s Deputies arrived and located a deceased female. A search of the area produced a red sweatshirt and multicolored tennis shoes approximately two miles from her body near the base of the Sierra Mountain Range.

Inyo County Search and Rescue were dispatched to the scene to provide additional tracking support on August 8 and August 9. Based on foot impressions it is believed that she walked north along Foothill Road after exiting a vehicle, then east along a smaller dirt road where she eventually sat down and perished. There was no indication of a struggle or initial signs of foul play.

There was no identification located near or around the body; however Bishop Police Department had logged contact with a female matching the description of the decedent on July 30. Based on the information gathered during the contact, a positive identification was confirmed on August 11 and next of kin was notified. The deceased has been identified as Elaine Hartnett, a 48-year old woman from Pioneer, CA. A forensic autopsy has been scheduled to take place in Orange County, CA to determine cause of death. If anyone has had contact with Ms. Hartnett in Inyo County and can provide information please call Sheriff’s Dispatch at 760-878-0383, option 4

MANZANAR ART SHOW

THE FIRST OF THREE MANZANAR ART SHOWS WILL TAKE PLACE February 18th.

Posted by Seth Conners

 

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the US Army to exclude “any and all persons” from designated areas. While the order did not name a specific group, the Army forcibly removed and incarcerated all Japanese Americans and Japanese immigrants in California, western Oregon and Washington, and southern Arizona. The government incarcerated more than 11,000 of these men, women, and children in Manzanar. In 1992, after decades of grass-roots efforts by Japanese Americans and others, Congress established Manzanar National Historic Site. Since then, the National Park Service (NPS) has worked with scores of stakeholders to preserve and interpret Manzanar and its stories.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of Executive Order 9066 and the 25th anniversary of Manzanar National Historic Site. In recognition of these significant milestones, Manzanar National Historic Site is hosting three special art shows this spring.

The first of the three, artist Michi Takemoto’s show opens February 18, featuring a series of watercolors she painted from historic photographs, including many taken 75 years ago. Her parents and two-year-old brother were incarcerated at Tule Lake in Northern California before being transferred to Topaz, Utah, where Michi was born. Her family eventually resettled in Chicago, Illinois. Ms. Takemoto spent her 30-year career as a psychotherapist in Redding, California. She will be available Saturday, February 18, 2017, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., to meet with visitors and share her work. Manzanar History Association will offer light refreshments. The show will run through late March.

For those unable to experience the shows in person, the artist’s works are featured online.

 

Michi Takemoto:   http://www.michitakemoto.com/series-inner

The exhibits will be featured in the Manzanar Visitor Center, open 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. Admission is free. The visitor center also features extensive permanent exhibits and a 22-minute introductory film, Remembering Manzanar. Nearby, a World War II-era mess hall and two reconstructed barracks interpret the challenges of daily life. An auto tour road circles the site, highlighting Japanese gardens, historic orchards, the cemetery, and more.

Manzanar is located at 5001 Hwy. 395, six miles south of Independence, California. For more information, please call 760-878-2194 ext. 3310 or visit our website at www.nps.gov/manz or Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ManzanarNationalHistoricSite.

 

 

Manzanar Recruiting Youth Corps Members

MANZANAR RECRUITING YOUTH CONSERVATION CORPS MEMBERS

Manzanar National Historic Site will sponsor an 8-week long Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) program this summer. Youths 15 to 18 are encouraged to apply, provided they do not reach their 19th birthday before August 8, 2015.

YCC team members will work June 15, 2015 through August 7, 2015, earning the Federal minimum wage of $9.00 per hour. The YCC team will work at Manzanar National Historic Site under the supervision of National Park Service (NPS) staff Monday to Friday from 8:15 to 4:45 p.m. Those selected will need to provide their own transportation to work and will need to have their own checking or savings account before they begin. A background investigation may be required prior to employment.

“We have had YCC crews since 2002 and have given local youth an opportunity to learn about American history and to participate in preserving resources associated with this part of the Owens Valley,” said Superintendent Bernadette Johnson. “Last summer, the crew included members from Bishop, Big Pine and Lone Pine, so I’m looking forward to seeing this year’s applications.”

The YCC team will focus on the preservation of resources associated with the internment of Japanese American during World War II, the Manzanar orchard community and the Owens Valley Paiute. The crew will have opportunities to visit other historically significant areas in the valley, to gain a more complete understanding of Owens Valley history and the issues facing the protection of these resources in the future.

Applications may be obtained from the Manzanar National Historic Site Visitor Center, 5001 Highway 395, six miles South of Independence. The completed application must be received at Manzanar no later than Thursday, April 30, 2015 to:
Manzanar National Historic Site
Attn: Human Resources
PO Box 426
Independence, CA 93526

The participants and alternates for the 2015 program will be notified by May 11, 2015. For more information, please contact Facility Manager Troy Strawn at 760-878-2194 ext. 3337.

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Manzanar opens Barracks Exhibits

MANZANAR OPENS LONG-AWAITED
BARRACKS EXHIBITS

During World War II, more than 10,000 Japanese Americans coped with spartan living conditions at Manzanar. They were from cities and farms, young and old, rich and poor, extended families and single people. All were forced from their pre-war homes to live in crowded apartments in identical barracks in Manzanar.
Visitors now have the opportunity to learn more about the personal experiences of individuals, families, and communities incarcerated at Manzanar through new permanent exhibits installed in two reconstructed barracks. The exhibits feature extensive photos, documents, and quotes illustrating the challenges and changes people faced at Manzanar. Six audio stations and one video station feature a total of 42 oral history clips.
Exhibits in barracks 1 focus on the early days of Manzanar, when thousands of people arrived to an unfinished camp. Barracks 1 also includes a Block Manager’s office, featuring the papers of Block Manager Chokichi Nakano. Barracks 8 features an “improved” apartment with linoleum and wall board. A second room explores the Loyalty Questionnaire and its profound long-lasting impacts.

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“We’re happy to have the new exhibits installed in time for next weekend’s annual Pilgrimage,” said Superintendent Bernadette Johnson. “The Pilgrimage is a time when people come together to share stories. The new exhibits make it possible to experience the living conditions and create personal connections for our visitors as they tour the barracks and hear stories told by incarcerees.”

Manzanar National Historic Site is located at 5001 Hwy. 395, six miles south of Independence, California. Admission is free. For further information, please call (760) 878-2194 ext. 3310, visit their website at www.nps.gov/manz, or explore their page at www.facebook.com/ManzanarNationalHistoricSite.

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Baseball History, World War II & Kerry Yo Nakagawa at Manzanar This Month

The Hidden Legacy of Japanese American Cultural Ambassadors—on the Baseball Diamond.

Four generations of Japanese Americans broke down racial and cultural barriers in California by playing baseball.

JA Baseball in CA Cover
Behind the barbed wire of concentration camps during World War II, baseball became a tonic of spiritual renewal for disenfranchised Japanese Americans who played America’s pastime while illegally imprisoned.
Later, it helped heal resettlement wounds in Los Angeles, San Francisco, the Central Valley and elsewhere.
Today, the names of Japanese American ballplayers still resonate as their legacy continues. Mike Lum was the first Japanese American player in the Major Leagues in 1967, Lenn Sakata the first in the World Series in 1983 and Don Wakamatsu the first manager in 2008.
Join Kerry Yo Nakagawa in this update of his 2001 classic as he chronicles sporting achievements that doubled as cultural benchmarks.
Kerry Yo Nakagawa is founder of the non-profit Nisei Baseball Research Project (NBRP). His earlier works include the book Through a Diamond: 100 Years of Japanese American Baseball and the film American Pastime.
PUB DATE
7.29.14
Baseball, and sports in general, have been a large part of Kerry Yo
Nakagawa’s family legacy. In 1993, Kerry swam from Alcatraz prison
to San Francisco, and in 1994, he played as an all-star for the national
champion Fresno Bandit semipro team.
He is also a black belt in the martial arts and an advanced tennis player. His athletic family history includes his dad, who was a semipro football player and sumo champion, and his uncles—Johnny, Lefty and Mas—who competed with Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Lefty O’Doul, Jackie Robinson and the all-stars of the Negro League.
His dedication to the NBRP project is well respected and has
morphed into a educational organization to bring awareness and
education about Japanese American concentration camps through theprism of baseball and its many multimedia projects.
The NBRP exhibit “Diamonds in the Rough” has achieved international status and has been shown in such locations as the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in Tokyo. Kerry’s other visions to communicate this story include a documentary with Pat Morita entitled Diamonds in the Rough: Zeni and the Legacy of Japanese American Baseball and the Telly Award–winning educational documentary Site to
Patriotism.
He produced and acted in the award-winning film American Pastime, which is still educating and entertaining teachers and students through its dramatic narrative and specific curriculum.
He is an author, filmmaker, actor, historian, husband and father of two spectacular professional kids.

Kerry Yo Nakagawa at Manzanar

August 30-31Talks: 10 am & 3 pm Saturday, Aug. 30 & 11 am Sunday, Aug. 31

Nakagawa will be available to sign his book in the Manzanar store before and after his programs.
Manzanar National Historic Site5001 U.S. Hwy. 395
Independence, CA 93526

Tel. 760-878-2194 ext. 3310

The Hidden Legacy of Japanese American Cultural Ambassadors—on the Baseball Diamond.

https://www.kibskbov.com/baseball-history-author-at-manzanar/

Eastern Sierra / Japanese American Baseball / History / Japanese American History / Manzanar Historic Site / Concentration Camps / World War ll / Baseball