Japanese Americans Push to Preserve WWII Internment Camps
ot much remains of the Heart Mountain Relocation Center amid the Bighorn Basin sagebrush in north-central Wyoming _ just a brick smokestack and a couple long, narrow buildings.
Yet the Japanese-Americans who were imprisoned at Heart Mountain and dozens of similar camps during World War II do not want their forced relocation to be forgotten. And now they have an opportunity to share their thoughts on preserving the sites during a series of public hearings starting Tuesday on a new $38 million (euro27.82 million) federal grant program.
``The purpose of the grant program is to find the resources for local community groups to determine how they want their story told, what kind of legacy they want to leave, and then come in and seek federal funding,'' said Gerald Yamada, national coordinator for the Japanese American National Heritage Coalition.
Last year, Yamada's group lobbied the U.S. Congress to pass the grant program for the 10 major internment camps and 40 other sites related to Japanese relocation in 17 U.S. states. President George W. Bush signed the bill in December and Yamada expects lawmakers to approve funding next year.
Supporters hope the funds will be used for projects, both big and small, with the shared goals of raising awareness and preserving history.
``It could be an interpretive center. It could be a marker,'' said Yamada, who spent part of his childhood at two internment camps in southern Arkansas. ``It doesn't necessarily have to be a multimillion-dollar project. It could be a plaque.''
He said the two tribes on the Gila River Indian Reservation just south of Phoenix, Arizona, might apply for a grant involving the Gila River Relocation Center, which housed some 13,348 people at its peak. The tribes are interested in making an exhibit on the camp part of a planned tribal museum, Yamada said.
In Arkansas, the funds might help a group obtain land for a state park at the Jerome Relocation Center, Yamada said.
``At each location, the stories are different,'' he said. ``I keep saying that the only common bond that the internment camps have is Executive Order 9066, which established the internment camps.''
Greg Kendrick, partnership coordinator for the National Park Service in Denver, said there has been a need for the grant program, especially at sites not owned by the agency. The National Park Service owns only two internment camp sites, Manzanar in California and Minidoka in Idaho, he said.
``They're owned by nonprofits who are struggling to not only preserve the site, but struggling to provide better visitor education programs,'' Kendrick said.
The National Park Service is overseeing the public comment period, which continues through early November and includes 16 meetings in cities including Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Little Rock, Ark. The first was scheduled for Tuesday in Las Vegas.
Heart Mountain, with a peak population of nearly 11,000 in 1943, was Wyoming's third largest city and was fourth-largest of the 10 major internment camps. The Heart Mountain, Wyoming Foundation recently announced it would raise $5.5 million (euro4.03 million) for an interpretive center at the site. The grant program could provide $3 million (euro2.2 million) with the rest being raised through donations and other fundraising efforts, according to Dave Reetz, foundation president.
The interpretive center would be built to resemble the old, tarpaper-covered barracks.
``Hopefully, the building itself will evoke interest and emotion and intellectual curiosity,'' Reetz said.
ot much remains of the Heart Mountain Relocation Center amid the Bighorn Basin sagebrush in north-central Wyoming _ just a brick smokestack and a couple long, narrow buildings.