By Paula Peterson
Many of us have driven on Highway 395 between South Lake Tahoe and Southern California. I’ve done that route many times myself on the way to and from San Diego and Disneyland. As heading South, the Owens Valley opens up after leaving the town of Bishop, just over 200 miles from Tahoe. You’ll pass through the town of Independence, and six miles later you’ll find yourself at the Manzanar National Historic Site (the town has an ironic name as you’re about to find out).
Perhaps you’ve stopped by and visited this site as you drive through the valley, or, perhaps you’re like me and notice it, tell your kids about what happened there, and keep on driving.
This trip, I finally stopped.
It’s an easy exit off the highway and a great chance to get out, walk and stretch your legs. The rather plain looking building adjacent to the parking lot looks unassuming and you may wonder what could possibly be inside.
As you step through the front door, a world much different from the one we now live in is unveiled.
In 1942, the government feared that Japanese Americans living in the United States might join their country of origin and attack from within. The government ordered more than 110,000 Japanese American men, women and children to leave their homes, their jobs, their belongings, their friends and detained them in remote military style camps. Manzanar War Relocation Center was one of ten camps where they were interned during World War II.
10,000 people lived at Manzanar and their lives and experiences are now captured in the visitor center and surrounding area where their homes, schools, mess halls and other buildings once stood. The building that is now the visitor center was once the high school gym, built by the internees.
Inside the center there are extensive exhibits, a film showing in a little theater and a bookstore. A 22 minute film, Remembering Manzanar, shows every 30 minutes, and if time allows you should try and watch it. There are photos of what life was like for those living at the camp as well as audiovisual programs and artifacts.
What I found the most impressive was a full wall display, lit from behind, that listed all 10,000 names of those that once lived there.
As you walk through the displays you realize that Manzanar was more than a camp where people were forced to live, it was a community complete with school, a newspaper, hospital, orphanage, a band and choir, store, farms, churches and a large hall where they had town dances and other events. Even though the residents were behind a barbed wire fence, they tried to make the best of their surroundings.
Two-thirds of those that lived here were under the age of 18 and 541 babies were born during the three years the camp was open. 146 incarcerees died at the camp during this time. Once you leave the visitor center you can do a walking tour of the grounds, or hop in your car and do a driving tour. There are some “barracks” still remaining that showed how the residents lived. There were 504 barracks organized into 36 blocks. Each block had 200-400 people living in them. A combination of eight people were given a 20-by-25-foot room with the only furnishings being an oil stove, single hanging light bulb, cots, blankets and straw filled mattresses. There were communal latrines and showers with no stalls, so privacy was a constant issue.
The cemetery, a quick drive from the visitor center, is marked by a monument built by an incarcerated stonemason. The front of it is in Japanese and says “Soul Consoling Tower.” Strings of origami left by visitors are draped across the monument as well as other mementoes. Since their numbers are great the Park Service routinely collects and catalogs them.
Every April there is an Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage with a full weekend of activities everyone is invited to attend. The historic site also has other events and programs throughout the year.
The free exhibit should definitely be a stop on your next trip down Hwy 395. For more information, visit their website.
“We should never have moved the Japanese from their homes and their world. It was un-American, unconstitutional, and un-Christian.” -Quote from the exhibit.