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“Telling
Our Stories: Japanese Americans in the San Fernando
Valley” Exhibit Coming to Pomona College
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A powerful exhibition of oral histories and more than 40
rare photographs of the experiences of Japanese Americans in
the San Fernando Valley, “Telling Our Stories: Japanese
Americans in the San Fernando Valley 1910s-1960s,” opens at
Pomona College on Thursday, Oct. 19.
Approximately 3,200 Japanese Americans, mainly farming
families, lived in the San Fernando Valley prior to
internment. Unfortunately, many records of their lives were
lost or destroyed following the bombing of Pearl Harbor when
Japanese Americans were accused of being national enemies
and subject to internment by the American government.
“Telling Our Stories” is a moving attempt to recover and
make known the experiences of Japanese Americans in the San
Fernando Valley from before and after internment.
Edith Wen-Chu Chen, a professor at California State
University, Northridge, and her students, assembled “Telling
Our Stories” as a collaborative project between CSUN and the
San Fernando Valley Japanese American Community Center.
When Japanese Americans were ordered out of their Valley
homes and into internment camps after the U.S. entry into
the war, explained Amy Ikeda, many lost all of their family
photos and much of their written history. "They were only
allowed to take a couple or so bags each," she said. "So
there are lots of pictures documenting the camp periods, but
not of their life before internment."
Another reason for the rarity of such records, said Michael
Razon, compounds the tragedy of the Nisei wartime
experience. "The records were buried or burned by the
families," he said. "Because many of their parents were
immigrants," added Ikeda, "they didn’t want Americans to
think they had ties to Japan."
Their fears were fed by the actions of the FBI. "It was not
uncommon at this time that the FBI would go into people’s
homes and search through their belongings," Chen said. "So
they thought any evidence linking them to Japan furthered
this notion that they were the enemy, they were not true
Americans."
A reception officially opening the exhibit will take place
on October 19, at 4:15 p.m., in the Pomona College Hahn
Building (420 N. Harvard Ave., Claremont). The exhibit will
remain on display until October 26. The building is open
Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. For more information
on this event, co-sponsored by the Pomona College Department
of Sociology and the Intercollegiate Department of Asian
American Studies, contact (909) 607-2604.
Pomona College, one of the nation’s premier liberal arts
institutions, offers a comprehensive program in the arts,
humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its
hallmarks include small classes, close relationships between
students and faculty, and a range of opportunities for
student research. Visit Pomona College on the Web at
www.pomona.edu. |
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