President Joe Biden formally designates the Amache National Historic Site as part of the NPS.
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden signed the Amache National Historic Site on March 18, designating the Amache site in Granada, Colo., as part of the National Park System. This designation, the first in the National Park System during this administration, will permanently protect the site for future generations and help tell the history of Japanese American incarceration during World War II.
“As a nation, we must face the wrongs of our past in order to build a more just and equitable future,” said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. “I applaud President Biden and the bipartisan action in Congress that has ensured this important and painful chapter in our nation’s story is preserved and honored for the generations to come. After visiting Amache and meeting with survivors and descendants, I was moved by their resilience and the way in which Colorado communities came together during and after the injustice to support Japanese Americans. May we all be inspired to do the same today for all our fellow citizens.”
Amache, also known as the Granada Relocation Center, was one of 10 incarceration sites established by the War Relocation Authority during WWII to detain Japanese Americans forcibly removed from the West Coast of the United States under the terms of Executive Order 9066. From 1942-45, more than 10,000 people were incarcerated at Amache, which housed 7,310 incarcerees at its peak, two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens.
“It is our solemn responsibility as caretakers of America’s national treasures to tell the whole story of our nation’s heritage for the benefit of present and future generations,” said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams. “The National Park Service will continue working closely with key stakeholders dedicated to the preservation of Amache, and those directly impacted by the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, to preserve and interpret this significant historic site to the public.”
In July 2021, the bill first passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, followed by the Senate in February. Amache joins two other War Relocation Authority incarceration sites in the National Parks Service system: Manzanar in California and Minidoka in Idaho.
Present at the White House for the historic signing by President Biden were Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.); Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27); Rep. Mark Takano (CA-41); Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory; Sams; Erika Moritsugu, deputy assistant to the president and Asian American and Pacific islander senior liaison; and Theresa Pierno, president and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Assn.
“It is an honor to join President Biden at the White House today to welcome Amache National Historic Site into our park system,” said Pierno in an official statement. “Our national park sites include wide open wild spaces, as well as places that represent some of our country’s most important history. Not all stories they tell are easy to hear, like those of Amache, but perhaps those are the stories we as a nation need to hear most. By preserving Amache, we can ensure that as a country we confront our mistakes, honor the stories of those who were unjustly imprisoned and protect the site for future generations.”
Said NPCA Colorado Senior Program Manager Tracy Coppola in an official statement: “We are forever grateful to President Biden, Sec. Haaland, Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper and Congressmen Neguse and Buck for leading and supporting this critical opportunity for America to respect, honor and heal at Amache. We honor the Amache descendants, the Amache Preservation Society, the Town of Granada, the National Park Service and the many storytellers, historians, civil rights and military veteran groups, offices of tourism, preservation offices, county commissioners and other local elected officials who we worked alongside in seeing this through. Most of all, this moment stands on the shoulders of giants — the Amache survivors, who, with incredible generosity and strength, have waited for this day for so long and whose stories will now be revealed and remembered.”
Today, the Amache site consists of a historic cemetery, a monument, concrete building foundations and several reconstructed and rehabilitated structures from the camp era. Amache was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on May 18, 1994, and designated a National Historic Landmark on Feb. 10, 2006.
Amache is open to the public and currently managed by the Amache Preservation Society and owned by the Town of Granada. Currently, Granada High School students from the Amache Preservation Society provide tours of the site and nearby museum.
The National Park Service will continue to work closely with the many stakeholders dedicated to the preservation of Amache to continue those services and care for the history and memories of those who were once incarcerated at this site.
The designation of the Amache National Historic Site is an important step in telling a more complete story of the Japanese American incarceration during WWII. Many stakeholders, including former incarcerees and their descendants and the Amache Preservation Society were instrumental in obtaining the initial National Historic Landmark designation and advocating for the site to become part of the National Park System. The legislation, originally introduced by members of the Colorado delegation, garnered strong bipartisan support in the House and Senate.
“NPCA and so many others in Colorado and across the country came together with Japanese American incarceration survivors and descendants, community members and elected officials to help make today’s victory a reality. I am proud to stand alongside many of these partners today and carry so many others with me. This is an important legacy we leave those who will come long after us,” said Pierno in an official statement.
Sec. Haaland visited the Amache site in February with Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo., 2nd District) to honor the 80th Day of Remembrance, marking when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed EO 9066, which gave the U.S. Army the authority to remove civilians from the military zones during WWII.
While there, Sec. Haaland met with survivors about their experience as incarcerees and learned how that time has shaped them and their families.
To formally establish the park, the National Park Service will work with the Town of Granada to acquire the lands intended in the law, a process that is likely to take more than a year.
For more information, visit nps.gov/AMCH.
Amache Quotes
“This moment is a testament to the Amache survivors, descendants and advocates who never stopped pushing to get this done. Thanks to their work, future generations will now have the opportunity to learn about what happened at Amache and the Americans who were interned there. We have a responsibility to carry their legacy forward, and now Amache has the recognition and resources it deserves.”
—Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.)
“Designating Camp Amache as a National Historic Site will honor those who were imprisoned and educate future generations about this dark chapter. Our Colorado communities were the driving force behind this bill.”
—Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.)
“Colorado welcomes President Biden’s important action to establish Amache site as a National Park unit, highlighting injustices of the internment of Japanese Americans. Colorado is home to 12 world-class National Park units, and adding the Amache site is an important step to preserve and protect our national history and cultural experiences, even when we are called to face dark times in our nation’s past.”
—Colorado Gov. Jared Polis
“I have waited many, many years to see the day where we can be certain that Amache, as a place of reflection, remembrance, honor and healing, is protected for our current and future generations. President Biden’s signature on the Amache National Historic Site Act today brings me hope that we are finally closer to this certainty. My parents did not live to see this day. The time is not only right; it is long overdue.”
—Bob Fuchigami, Amache survivor
“As a young boy at Amache, I never thought I’d see an America that cared about my story. I am now a 91-year-old veteran who served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. Thank you, President Biden, Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper, and Congressmen Neguse and Buck, for your leadership and for the great decisions made regarding Amache as a National Park Historic Site. Now signed by the president, long-lasting U.S. history is made.”
—Ken Kitajima, Amache survivor
“Many young men at Amache served in the U.S. Army, though their country incarcerated them for their Japanese ancestry. I was 10 and incarcerated along with my mother and siblings at Amache, where I was also a Boy Scout. In 1943, our camp troop went to the Granada Railroad Station at 4 in the morning to see the young enlisted men off. Our scout commissioner told us to play as loud as we could. Years later, I served as a medic in the U.S. Army Korean War. In the 1980s, I worked to preserve Amache, organizing reunions and working on various preservation efforts. Thank you to President Biden for signing the Amache National Historic Act so that these efforts are not forgotten.”
—Min Tonai, Amache survivor
“As a former Amachean and as a volunteer for the Amache Field School, I have learned the importance of having Amache as a National Park unit, as it would illustrate the hardships and the perseverance of the incarcerated people. It would also point to the injustice of their being placed there, simply because of their ethnicity, not because of what they had done. Most importantly, it would signify the reasons that further groups, such as Muslims, should not be treated as were the Japanese Americans — there have been hints of this in current times.”
—Charlene Tanigoshi Tinker, Amache survivor
“Congressmen Neguse and Buck and Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper demonstrated what cooperation looks like on the Hill. With the bill now signed by President Biden, this is finally the expression and realization of the people’s will.”
—Mike Honda, former member of Congress and Amache survivor
