A Reminder to Heed
Map
Map
Story & Experience
We did our Earth Exchange at Manzanar Relocation Center, the site of one of ten American concentration camps. More than 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II from March 1942 to November 1945. The Manzanar relocation center had over 11,000 inmates at its peak—one of the more shameful events of our country’s history—and one that we fear is repeating itself in current times (although perhaps in a somewhat different way).
The camp itself is in the desert, at the feet of the Sierra Nevada range, opposite the Inyo Mountains in south central California. Few buildings remain, but visitors can walk around the camp and view some of the foundations, as well as read informational signs describing the facilities that had been located on particular spots – a clinic, hospital, barracks, dining hall, and warehouse-type buildings where people worked at different tasks. There is also a small park designed by an internee who was a landscape architect, which became the favorite location for weddings and other special events. The park was covered with sand after the site was abandoned upon the end of World War II, but was reclaimed in 2023 with assistance from the landscape architect’s descendants. It is a place of incongruous beauty in the midst of a desolate scene.
We did our Earth Exchange at Manzanar Relocation Center, the site of one of ten American concentration camps. More than 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II from March 1942 to November 1945. The Manzanar relocation center had over 11,000 inmates at its peak—one of the more shameful events of our country’s history—and one that we fear is repeating itself in current times (although perhaps in a somewhat different way).
The camp itself is in the desert, at the feet of the Sierra Nevada range, opposite the Inyo Mountains in south central California. Few buildings remain, but visitors can walk around the camp and view some of the foundations, as well as read informational signs describing the facilities that had been located on particular spots – a clinic, hospital, barracks, dining hall, and warehouse-type buildings where people worked at different tasks. There is also a small park designed by an internee who was a landscape architect, which became the favorite location for weddings and other special events. The park was covered with sand after the site was abandoned upon the end of World War II, but was reclaimed in 2023 with assistance from the landscape architect’s descendants. It is a place of incongruous beauty in the midst of a desolate scene.
Why this Place?
Manzanar Relocation Center, CA
We chose this place as a reminder of both human and ecological wounds that occurred in this place, which we need to assure are not repeated.
Act of Beauty
We had to look around a bit to find materials for our act of beauty: the Radical Joy bird, made in the sand of dry grass, rock, and sticks. This was a very moving experience, as we tried to imagine the anguish the Japanese internees had felt here in the desert when so many of them had been farmers or prosperous business people. We found a larger stick and plunged it into the center of the bird, as evidence of the pain inflicted on so many in this place, terribly wounded by years of fear, captivity, and unreasoning hatred.
Additional Photos
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