January 18-December 31, 2022
Utah State Capitol Building, 3rd floor mezzanine
Salt Lake City, Utah
Thirty-one stories from the WWII Japanese American incarceration at Topaz Relocation Center will be on display in the Utah State Capitol Building in 2022. The exhibit, originally scheduled for June-December 2020, was postponed due to COVID and has been rescheduled through the kind efforts of Brad Westwood (Utah Dept. of Culture & Community Engagement) and Stephanie Angelides (Capitol Curator).
The stories reflect the diverse voices of three generations of men, women and children who endured three years in the Utah desert, behind barbed wire and under armed guard, from September 1942 to October 1945–their only crime, their ancestry.
The exhibit will feature an innovative design by exhibit designer Jonathan Hirabayashi and a selection of camp artifacts from the Topaz Museum.
A public event is being planned for a date to be determined in April or May. Updates will be published here.
The Topaz Stories team
October 9, 2021
Images (family photos: all rights reserved):
- James and Dan Hirano, “Father and Son.”
- Evacuation notice in San Francisco. Dorothea Lange. NARA #536017, “Left Behind.”
- Yae Kami Yedlosky, Grace Mori Saito Tom, Setsuko Asano Ogami, and Kaz Oyamada Iwahashi, “Friends Forever.”
- Amy and Jeanie Takagi, “Topaz Birth.”
- Norm and Pat Hayashi, “Every Little Moment.”
- Tomiko and Shigeru Sasaki, “Life Goes On.”