Personal and official photographs, letters and diaries, transcribed oral histories, art, and more show the faces of:
People: the men, women, and children who were incarcerated
Places: prewar neighborhoods and wartime camps
Daily Life: eating, sleeping, working, playing, and going to school
Personal Experiences: letters, diaries, art and other writing by internees
On December 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. The next day, the United States and Britain declared war on Japan. Two months later, on February 19, 1942, the lives of thousands of Japanese Americans were dramatically changed when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. This order led to the assembly and evacuation and relocation of nearly 122,000 men, women, and children of Japanese ancestry on the west coast of the United States. Continue reading.
Teacher-created lesson plans for grades 4-12 are based on the art and writing of internee Estelle Ishigo, official photographs, and other selected primary sources.
Views and Voices from Within: The Art and Writing of Estelle Ishigo, Heart Mountain Relocation Center, 1942-1945 (Grades 4-5)
Are We Americans Again?: A Portrait of Japanese American Internment (Grades 6-8)
Beauty Behind Barbed Wire: The Relocation Camp Experience of Estelle Ishigo (Grades 9-12)