Contents of the Japanese American History in Oregon Traveling Trunk Project. (Photo: Courtesy of Robert Warren)
The museum’s Traveling Trunks project
earns recognition for its educational value.
PORTLAND — The Japanese American Museum of Oregon was recognized by the Oregon Heritage Commission with an Oregon Heritage Excellence Award at a ceremony in Mt. Angel, Ore., on April 29.
The museum received the award for the Japanese American History in Oregon Traveling Trunks project, an educational resource with hands-on objects and lessons on Japanese American history that can be checked out by classroom teachers throughout Oregon and parts of Idaho.
The traveling trunk contains standards-aligned lessons, primary resources and artifacts and biographies of Japanese Americans from Oregon that support students in third through fifth grade. To ensure a wide reach, five identical trunks are available for checkout from JAMO, the Oregon Historical Society, the History Museum of Hood River County, the Benton County Historical Society and, in Idaho, the Minidoka National Historic Site. All the lessons and objects are also available digitally at jamo.org/traveling-trunk.
Elissa Dingus, director of education and engagement at the JAMO and manager of the trunk project, received the award on behalf of the museum. Linda Tamura and Ron Iwasaki, who contributed family members’ biographical information for the trunk, were also in attendance, along with Cynthia Basye, a longtime JAMO volunteer who helped guide the project.
The Oregon Nisei Veterans WWII Memorial Highway and Historical Marker Project, on which JAMO was a partner, also received an Oregon Heritage Excellence Award at the same ceremony.
The Oregon Heritage Excellence Awards, a program of Oregon Heritage, recognize individuals, organizations and projects that have made outstanding contributions to preserving Oregon’s heritage.
“The award recipients are representative of efforts and activities that are exemplary and go above and beyond for an individual, organization and project, serving as a model for heritage preservation work in Oregon,” said Katie Henry, coordinator for the Oregon Heritage Commission. “This year, we had several nominations focused on the work of documenting, preserving and sharing a more complete story of Oregon’s history.”
