Manzanar was one of ten relocation centers established by the United States government in 1942 for the forceable relocation of Japanese Americans living along the west coast. The presidential executive order by President Roosevelt directing the relocation was in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese government and the perceived threat to national security by Japanese Americans who were thought to be potentially sympathetic to Japan.
Although clearly a violation of the rights of U.S. citizens established in the US Constitution, the action was described by the Army and the government to be for their protection. In the context of the time, when the US was at war with Japan and the national outrage towards Japan and its sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, along with long established attitudes of racial prejudice in many parts of the country. There was also widespread public support of the relocation action. In the decades before WWII, politicians, newspapers and labor leaders fueled anti-Asian sentiment in the Western United States. Laws prevented immigrants from becoming citizens or owning land. Immigrants' children were born US citizens, yet they too faced prejudice. The Pearl Harbor attack only intensified hostility toward people of Japanese ancestry.
Manzanar was established in 1942 at the abandoned townsite of Manzinar into a camp that would confine over 10,000 Japanese American citizens and Japanese immigrants. The camp was guarded and run by the Army and a government agency administering the program. The camp was closed in November 1945, three months after the war ended. Despite regaining their freedom, many had a difficult time adjusting, and spent decades rebuilding their lives.
In the 1980s a congressional authorized commission recognized that race prejudice, a failure of political leadership, and war hysteria were responsible for the relocation and recommended a presidential apology and individual payments of $20,000 to each person incarcerated. The recommendations were approved by President Reagan and implemented in 1988 by President George H.W. Bush.
After the war all the relocation sites were dismantled and materials were sold as surplus.
At Manzanar however Buddhist and Christian ministers returned to the cemetery each year to remember the dead. In 1969 a group of activists came on their own pilgrimage of healing and remembrance. With the formation of the Manzanar Committee, this pilgrimage grew into an annual event attended by over a thousand people each year. These efforts to remember and preserve the camp led to the creation of the National Historic Site in 1992. This pilgrimage continues each year the last week in April and the 50th anniversary of the annual pilgrimage will be held next weekend with over 1,000 people expected to attend.
Manzinar today has been partially restored with some buildings housing examples of what they looked like when the camp was active. There are also numerous interactive displays inside the reconstructed buildings. There has been a dedicated effort by the Park Service to capture as much oral history as possible from people who were at the camp. They have an excellent job in doing this and many recordings are available to listen to as you tour the buildings.
A focal point of the restored site is the camp cemetery, It is marked by an iconic stone monument. A Catholic stone mason in the camp built the obelisk in 1943 with help from other residents of the camp. A Buddhist reverend at the camp inscribed the kanji characters that mean "soul consoling tower". Camp residents attended religious services here during the war. Today the monument is a focal point of the annual pilgrimage, serving as a symbol of solace and hope. The site is visited by thousands of people each year who come to reflect, worship, remember or protest. Many leave small offerings or artifacts in memory of not only the 150 people who died at Manzinar but all 120,313 Japanese Americans confined by their own government in WWII. Judy left a small offering during our visit today.
There is also an outstanding visitors center with a great introductory documentary movie and excellent exhibits.
After touring Manzinar we went into Lone Pine and had a late lunch/early dinner at a local café. Nothing fancy, but good.
On the way back to the RV park we stopped at he Lone Pine Visitors center, operated jointly by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Park Service. This is where you get permits for hiking up Mt. Whitney, backpacking and camping reservations and other information about recreational opportunities in the area. Lone Pine is the gateway to Mt. Whitney and an access point to Death Valley about 100 miles to the east. There are also a number of excellent displays and exhibits as well as a native plant garden adjoining the center.
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