By JACL Staff
WASHINGTON, D.C. — To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will feature a special exhibition of Japanese American incarceration artifacts in an effort to tell the story of the Japanese American experience during World War II.
A Smithsonian representative will be attending the 2015 JACL National Convention on July 14-15 in search of incarceration images and objects to be featured in a JACL-sponsored exhibit that will open on the Day of Remembrance, Feb. 19, 2017, and remain accessible until November. It is projected to reach more than 3 million visitors in the museum and millions more online.
JACL National Convention attendees with object(s) that might be considered for the exhibit are encouraged to bring a photograph of the item so that it can be examined by the Smithsonian representative.
Specific exhibit objects include:
- 100th Infantry Battalion full uniform
- Photos from Japanese American World War II veterans (100th, 442nd RCT/MIS)
- Handmade toys and children’s items from camp
- Cards and games used in camp for leisure (kids and adults)
- Textbooks, report cards, projects and artwork from camp schools and adult education classes
- Birth and death certificates from camp
- Camp worker’s documentation and records, such as salary logs, etc. (for both Japanese Americans and non-Japanese)
- Sports-related artifacts, photos and documents from camp
- Camp newsletters and newspapers
- Personal Letters (e.g., Nisei soldiers writing to parents in camp, etc.)
- Resettlement documents
For more information, please contact americanhistoryapacollections@si.edu.
