This week we are honored to bring you part 2 of Harue Minamoto’s memoir: “Tanforan.”
Harue was an expectant mother when she arrived at Tanforan with her husband and family members. With her characteristic unsparing eye for detail, she recounts the conditions that met her and the incarcerees’ attempts to adapt.
Read “Tanforan” on our Topaz Stories website. If you missed part 1, read “Forced Removal.”
Parts 3-5 will be shared in upcoming posts.
Images: 1. Families of Japanese ancestry arrive at Tanforan Race Track, April 29, 1942. Dorothea Lange, War Relocation Authority. NARA 537485. 2: This scene shows one type of barracks for family use. These were formerly the stalls for race horses. San Bruno, CA. June 1942. Dorothea Lange. WRA #C619. Courtesy of the UC Berkeley Bancroft Library. 3. Aerial view of the Tanforan Assembly Center from DeWitt’s “Final Report.” This photograph was taken facing approximately northwest, with Huntington Avenue running to the north (right) of the track and the grandstand west (left) of the track closer to El Camino Real. Interstate 380 will run where the line of trees are south of the track.
The Topaz Stories Team
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Media Coverage:
Read Internee’s story told with ‘Topaz Collages’ (Wheel of Dharma, Vol. 5, Issue 3, March 2023).
Watch Topaz survivors tell their stories (abc4 news, 4/22/2022)
Listen to the “In the Hive” podcast with interviews with Ann Dion, Jonathan Hirabayashi, and Topaz survivors Jeanie Kashima and Joseph Nishimura (KCPW, 4/28/2022)
Read How a Utah exhibit about Topaz Camp looks to find empathy in ‘an ugly stain on American history (ksl.com, 4/22/2022)
Read “Topaz Stories rise from the dust,” (Department of Culture & Community Engagement, 4/2022)
Listen to KQED Forum, Day of Remembrance interview with Ruth Sasaki, 2/15/2022
Listen to Max Chang and Ruth Sasaki interviewed (KRCL RadioActive, 2/9/2022
Read On Topaz Stories and ‘Authentic Voice’, the Discover Nikkei interview with Ruth Sasaki (10/14/2022)
Listen to Remembering the Japanese American Incarceration, the Topaz Stories podcast with Ruth Sasaki and Jonathan Hirabayashi (6/2/2021)