Ties That Bind

by Jonathan Hirabayashi

Dorothea Lange photo of an elderly Japanese woman waiting by bus lists posted on a building in Irington, CA.
Evacuation orders posted on a building in Irvington, California. Photo by Dorothea Lange. National Archives. Photo #537588.

My family’s journey to Topaz began on bus no. 2. The family names of Hirabayashi and Mitsuyoshi, my mother’s family, among many others, can be seen posted as lists on a building in Irvington, California. 

On May 9, 1942, these families were bused to Tanforan, a racetrack located across San Francisco Bay in San Mateo. Here at Tanforan, my family spent about six months living in horse stalls before the Topaz internment camp in Utah was ready for internees. 

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