Discovering the Rediscoveries
Embracing the cyclical way in which we learn about, document, and archive the past.
This is a photo I discovered in the National Archives (Still Picture Room) while I was doing research on the photographs my Grandfather took while he was incarcerated at the Rohwer concentration camp during WWII. It’s in the collection of WRA photography — photos taken as part of a government program to document the forced removal, incarceration, and resettlement of Japanese Americans. All the photographs in this collection are fascinating, but this one really got my attention. On the back of this photo is a very brief caption:
“Shown here beside her mural depicting ‘Evacuation’ is Miss Kishi.”
It is one of eight photographs showing young Japanese Americans individually standing before their original artwork — murals that are expansive in scope, unique in style, and thoughtfully provocative in terms of themes they are exploring and the imagery they are presenting.
I was convinced I was discovering something very important. And I was flooded with questions: Who are these young artists? Why did they paint these murals? Where had the murals been showcased in the camp? Did any of these artists go on to become famous, with a lifetime’s worth of work to view? Where are the paintings now?
I also wanted to know who took the photographs of these young artists with their murals — was it by chance my Grandfather?
What was happening there in the Still Picture room is that I was most certainly discovering something important, in terms of my own archival explorations. But these images, and the artists and murals they depict, are a known and documented story — including that they’ve been showcased through exhibitions. You can learn more about the artists and murals here (note that the full name of the mural artist in the picture above is Teruyo Kishi). A heartbreaking element to the history is that the actual murals have been lost to time. Only early draft fragments of the original murals are preserved, saved by the students’ art teacher and eventually — and thankfully — donated to the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies. It is assumed that the original murals were destroyed when the camp closed.
Interestingly enough, and more specific to my research, is that the photographer of these images is not known. There is no credit on the photos in the Archive, and so far as I have seen, on none of the articles or publications about the murals.
But these images are key to this story, because those photographs are the only documentation we have of what the original murals looked like. That they are captured with the artists standing before them is an absolute treasure.
As I delve more into the history of the incarceration, I have noticed a recurring theme — a discovery is often a rediscovery, and not for the first time, but rather just part of an ongoing, expanding cycle of awareness spinning precariously on the hidden edges of fading memories, departed souls, out-of-print books, sealed-up boxes in the rafters, and dusty shelves.
I am grateful to the many people who have established and continue to keep this cycle of discovery and rediscovery going, firming up the foundation for the work of revelatory excavation to continue and grow.
And in fact, next week I am thrilled to get to meet a bunch of these folks in-person at the Jerome Rohwer Pilgrimage in Arkansas. I’ve been a part of the planning committee for the pilgrimage, and it has been a truly inspiring and energizing experience. I’m also excited to be a part of the programming, sharing more of my research into my Grandfather’s photographs, as well as moderating a conversation with Frank Abe, co-editor of the just-published anthology The Literature of the Japanese American Incarceration (an ambitious and important project that is a very strong example of discovering the rediscoveries). Overall, I am looking forward to sharing the pilgrimage experience with this community, and especially my family members.
I will have a full report on the Jerome Rohwer Pigrimage in my next newsletter.
SO MANY RECENT ARTICLES AND PROJECTS ABOUT THE WWII JAPANESE AMERICAN INCARCERATION EXPERIENCE
This is quite a list of articles and books and films to check out, but all very much worth your time and attention. Notice the theme of “discovering of rediscoveries” throughout.
I’ve mentioned this project before in previous newsletters and I am happy to share that Frank Abe and Floyd Cheung’s anthology from Penguin Classics — The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration — is now available. Over the past couple weeks Frank and Floyd have been doing lots of events and promoting the heck out of this important collection. I am so excited to be moderating a conversation with Frank at the upcoming Jerome Rohwer Pilgrimage.
Fantastic article in the New York Times by Rebecca Carballo about a traveling art exhibit featuring the work of three Japanese American women artists, Hisako Hibi, Miki Hayakawa and Miné Okubo: “Women Who Made Art in Japanese Internment Camps Are Getting Their Due.”
An excellent NBC News report by Lynda Lin Grigsby about the effort to get Mitsuye Endo Tsutsumi honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Endo Tsutsumi is one of four Japanese Americans who legally challenged the incarceration during WWII. She’s the only one to win her case before the Supreme Court, and also the only one to not be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The effort for proper recognition and commendation continues.
A new children’s book from Kaepernick Publishing to check out: The Bridges Yuri Built: How Yuri Kochiyama Marched Across Movements. The book is written by Yuri Kochiyama’s great-granddaughter Kai Naima Williams, and illustrated by Anastasia Magloire Williams. Learn more about the book on the publisher website here.
A new memoir from Satsuki Ina, which tells the story of her parents through diary entries, photographs, letters, and haiku: The Poet and the Silk Girl: A Memoir of Love, Imprisonment, and Protest (published by Heyday).
A late-running obituary for Bill Hosokawa (by Jonathan van Harmelen and Greg Robinson), a journalist and author with an expansive career that included becoming one of the first editors of color at a major metropolitan newspaper. The feature is part of the New York Times’ “Overlooked” project — “a series of obituaries about remarkable people whose deaths, beginning in 1851, went unreported in The Times.”
A must-watch: the new documentary: Snapshots of Confinement, directed by Joshua G. and written by Esteban Gómez and Whitney Peterson. The film explores the role of family photo albums in documenting, remembering, and excavating the stories of the incarceration experience. Diana Tsuchida, director of Tessaku, does an excellent job providing context and sharing her family’s story, as well as the stories of others through interviews, in this one-hour documentary. Watch the film here.
SAVE THE DATE PILGRIMAGE CALENDAR
These are confirmed dates for the 2024 pilgrimages, and wow, where is the time going? Already we are half-way through the year, and several of the pilgrimages have already taken place.
April 27, 2024 (always the last Saturday in April) —Manzanar PilgrimageMay 2-4, 2024 —Topaz Art PilgrimageMay 17-19, 2024 —Amache PilgrimageJune 5-8, 2024 — Jerome Rohwer Pilgrimage (note: I am on the planning committee for this one, so do let me know if you have any questions).
July 4-7, 2024 — Minidoka Pilgrimage (Here’s the eventbrite registration page)
July 5-8, 2024 — Tule Lake Pilgrimage
July 25-27, 2024 — Heart Mountain Pilgrimage
JAMP (Japanese American Memorial Pilgrimages) keeps an extensive pilgrimage calendar updated here — bookmark it!
THANK YOU FOR READING AND SUBSCRIBING
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Note that this newsletter is free, but if you want to show your support, please consider donating to my fundraising page for the upcoming Jerome Rohwer Pilgrimage. All donations go to support the programming, speaker honorariums, and logistics, as well as the registration fees for elders. Huge thank you to the folks who have already donated — truly appreciate it and I, and the others on the pilgrimage planning committee, are grateful for your generosity.
If you’ve got a camp/pilgrimage-related resource or project or event that should be featured in a future newsletter, please leave a note in the comments, or simply reply to this email. Always wonderful to further connect with the Japanese American community and it would be great to hear from you.
And finally, thank you for all the wonderful feedback and suggestions, and for spreading the word about this newsletter project.
ABOUT THE WRITER OF THIS NEWSLETTER
My grandparents (and their families) were incarcerated at the Rohwer concentration camp in Arkansas during WWII. This is family history that I’ve known my entire life, but it wasn’t until I visited the Rohwer and Jerome sites with my wife in the summer of 2021 that I started to fully grasp the immensity of this story — mostly how little I really knew or understood. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to visit more of the sites (Topaz, Tule Lake, Minidoka), connect with others in the Japanese American community, and join the Jerome Rohwer Pilgrimage Planning Committee. Concentrational Resonance is a project-in-progress where I am sharing this ongoing journey of discovery. You can learn more about me at my website — jeffreyyamaguchi.com.
This is a photo I took on my first visit to the Rohwer site. The grove of trees envelopes a cemetery and monuments, and is situated in the middle of a working farm. It is a tranquil and peaceful space, and I look forward to returning to it with my wife, family members, and fellow pilgrims at the upcoming Jerome Rohwer Pilgrimage.
Jeff, thanks for sharing your discoveries like the murals created by artists in the camps. I always learn new info from your articles. How true that discoveries are often rediscoveries.
Hope your Rohwer pilgrimage is fulfilling and successful!