A.
Focus
1)
How does your project draw
linkages and comparisons to the experiences of other populations so that the
causes, circumstances, lessons and contemporary applications of this and
similar events will be illuminated and understood?
Dr. Kitamoto addresses the term “concentration camp,” which
many question in regard to the “internment camps,” as Manzanar etc. were
officially termed. He cites the many times official government publications
and communiqués themselves used the term, points out that the soldiers’ guns
in the guard towers were not pointed out and away in protection, but toward
the detainees in the camps. The experience of victims of the Nazi
concentration camps was different and far worse, and will not be used as a
direct comparison other than this use of the correct term. However, and
more to the point, Dr. Kitamoto relates how during the Gulf War he asked
students who had heard his speech if anything like this could ever happen
again in America. At first they said no, but then when he asked about
American residents or citizens of Iraqi background, would it be wrong to
incarcerate them? And at the time, there were students who thought that
would be acceptable – until Dr. Kitamoto points out the similarity to the
XYZ XYZexperience. He mentions that the US government had indeed set aside
remote properties for just such a contingency, so it’s made clear that these
issues aren’t dead issues from history, but ever-present dangers to American
civil liberties. Thus he brings the issues into a contemporary context,
which is more to the point than historical comparisons.
2)
In what way, if
any, does your project address the variety of experiences of Americans of
Japanese ancestry affected by exclusion, detention, and military service
during World War II? Of, if your project focuses on the experiences of a
particular individual or group, historic event(s) or time period (e.g. court
cases, draft resistors, Japanese Peruvians, artists, etc.) please describe
in details. Why is this area of focus important?
XYZ Island was the first community whose residents of
Japanese ancestry were evacuated and interned. The XYZ Island Review was the
only newspaper to protest this violation of civil liberties. The editor,
Walt Woodward, championed the victims throughout the war, printing accounts
from the camps to keep Islanders in touch with their former neighbors. XYZ
Island is also home to the author, once a XYZ High School English teacher,
of the best-selling novel Snow Falling On Cedars based on this
history. This book is now required reading, along with Shakespeare, for
17-18-year-olds throughout the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, and
Northern Ireland), so there is a growing international awareness of the XYZ
Island XYZ XYZcommunity. The BIHS Museum provided research assistance to
author David Guterson, and continues to serve many researchers, authors,
journalists, scholars, and students of the subject with its files, tapes,
photographs, and objects. XYZ Islanders were detained and served in the
armed forces. Even with an Island focus, the Multicultural Committee of the
school district recommends making available to high school students, as part
of the proposed curriculum package, Frank Abe’s video “Conscience and the
Constitution,” about the 60 or so men who were jailed for refusing military
service.
B.
Participants
1)
If your
project involves former detainees, those excluded from military areas,
American of Japanese ancestry who served in the military and their
descendants, pleas describe their role in that process.
The main participant in this project is Dr. Frank Kitamoto,
President of the XYZ Island XYZ XYZCommunity. BIJAC is one of our partners
on the project and, in addition to advice and review of materials, can
provide access to XYZ former detainees, their families, and others in the
region. BIJAC will provide internees to serve as panelists or speakers to
student and public groups as part of the local curriculum. Paul Ohtaki, now
living in San Francisco, was a reporter from the camps for the XYZ Review;
he has agreed to be on hand for advice and consultation also. A scrapbook
he assembled of newspaper clippings during and after the war in the BIHS
Museum McCracken Reference Library, open to the public. The BIHS Museum
collections also contain audiotaped oral histories from Tom Takioshi
(recorded 1971), about the original Port Blakely Japanese community; Paul
Sakai (1977), on the XYZ XYZcommunity on XYZ; Kay Nakao (1986), on Executive
Order 9066; and Tat Kojima, Francis Ross, Theresa Allen, and Betty LeClaire,
on the Japanese relocation (recorded 1968). These audiotapes are to be
transcribed for use in the exhibit and for wider accessibility for
scholars. In addition, there are biographical files in the museum’s
McCracken Reference Library, which is open to the public, on the following
families: Hayashida, Ichihara, Kitayama, Nakao, Nakata, Ohtaki, and Sakai.
There is a large box of documents available to the public in the library on
the subject of the XYZ XYZinternment, as well as a collection of books.
These materials are accessible for students to conduct their own research
with as a part of the curriculum, which will encourage original research
with source documents, beyond just “surfing the Net.”
C.
Audience/Populations
1)
Does
your project have a state-wide strategy and plan for raising the level of
awareness and understanding among the public regarding the World War II
exclusion and detention of Americans of Japanese ancestry so that the causes
and circumstances of this and similar events may be illuminated and
understood? If so, please describe them (e.g. what geographical regions,
what communities, or institution to be reached, and how).
Targets: PRESENT and FUTURE generations of:
Public and private school
students gr. on XYZ Island, WA state, USA;XYZ Island adult community and
leadership; Researchers, local and international, on this subject
A museum’s constituencies, perhaps more than any other institution, include
the future generations of students, citizens, tourists, researchers, and
scholars who may benefit from the preservation of source materials and
information. Thus the theme of this project is the preservation – through
physical means and through the education of the community memory – of those
source materials that bear evidence to the events and consequences of
Executive Order 9066. We plan to extend through space and time and across
generations the powerful message of Dr. Kitamoto’s slide presentation. His
ability to communicate with children, adults, and the elderly has been amply
demonstrated in the museum’s XYZ History Series, which will continue
this year with a presentation on the anniversary of Dr. Kitamoto’s arrival
at Manzanar, on April 1. Copies of the videotape will be placed in all the
XYZ Island schools as part of the curriculum package, for this and future
generations, although it is more desirable to see and hear Dr. Kitamoto and
other detainees in person. This option won’t always be available, however,
and our motive is to preserve the story before it is too late. Meanwhile,
the project will fund travel for Dr. Kitamoto to eastern XYZState schools
and community organizations. Likewise, the museum exhibit has a twofold
function: to tell the story about the XYZ experience displaying source
materials, and to raise awareness of the function of museums in holding the
evidence of history and preserving it for future generations. Students also
need to learn the value of seeking out primary documentation, whether
in-person accounts, audiotapes, or print materials. The local Sakai
Elementary school’s 5th grade teacher has developed a website
where kids interviewed XYZ detainees and posted their stories there; it will
tie in with this project, and we can add the transcriptions of museum
audiotapes to the museum website.
2) If your project has developed a
strategy and plans to reach a broad multicultural population, please
describe them.
The Multicultural Committee of the XYZ School District will be advising our
curriculum developers on the project. Their chairperson, Cecilia Fong,
echoing Dr. Kitamoto’s sentiment, says “This curriculum should reach any
population regardless of its demographics. If anything, I think Populations
that are homogeneous are sometimes in greater need of this exposure. It’s
part of our history as West Coast citizens and residents, and as XYZ
Islanders.” We will seek out multicultural advisory committees and
specialists in other school districts to connect with. Dr. Kitamoto says
that appreciating diversity and overcoming fear of differences is most
important for the majority culture, because they will be most heavily
represented in the country’s leadership. By producing a broadcast-quality
videotape with entertainment value beyond mere documentation, his story will
be desirable as programming on public television programs, reaching a broad
audience state wide and beyond (KCTS has already indicated a keen interest
in the project to our producer). King County I-Net Project is developing a
delivery system through broadband lines of streaming video that will be
available to all schools, and we will offer the video to them. The temporary
exhibit of Ansel Adams’ photographs will draw people from beyond XYZ to the
subject and the museum for their artistic and celebrity value; there is also
a story behind the photographs, as Adams’s photos and negatives were
confiscated before they could be published by the FBI before the end of the
war, as “anti-American” propaganda. (The collection was only recently and
quietly released.) XYZ Island is easily reached by ferryboat from downtown
XYZ and is a popular tourist destination; this is the sort of exhibit that
could attract that audience and spread the awareness of the XYZ community’s
experience to beyond the state and nation. We will also be seeking to put
links on websites with other museums and related organizations.
D.
?
E.
?
F.
Refer to budget narrative
The XYZ Island Historical Museum will provide in-kind support in the form of
photocopies and video copies for the curriculum packages, estimated at $ 33
per class, for a total of $660 for 20 classes.
Another source of support for parts of this project will be sought through
the XYZState Commission for the Humanities. There is no spring 2001 grant
cycle, however. Their grant guidelines are under review and will not be
available until May 2001. Although they don’t fund video projects, they may
consider the exhibit or speaker components.
Budget Narrative
The XYZ Island Project is a comprehensive educational experience that
combines five components, in order to reach a broad audience over time and
space. The components are:
-
Video Production
We will produce a broadcast-quality video of Frank Kitamoto’s
slide presentation by contracting with Foxglove Films LLC. A detailed
proposal from Foxglove Films that itemizes costs is enclosed. The “Other”
line refers to converting to DVD, developing a website, and $ 500 for
publicizing the availability of the video. The producer is in communication
with TV stations to generate interest in broadcasting the video, as well as
with an educational distributor for the curriculum package. If there’s an
interest in broad distribution this way, the funding for making and
packaging many copies will need to be secured beyond this grant.
-
Traveling
Speaker
Dr. Kitamoto requests $ 5,000 to take his talk on the road.
We estimate an average of $ 500 per trip, which would vary depending on
whether he flew (to XYZ, for instance) or drove. The BIJAC traveling exhibit
“Kodomo No Tame Ni—For the Sake of The Children” can accompany him.
We will charge $ 100 per talk to cover incidentals, although
this fee may be waived in cases of hardship, generating about $ 1,000 in
fees. We estimate that $ 5,000 will cover ten trips.
-
Museum Exhibit
This is to be a “permanent” exhibit in the XYZ Island
Historical Museum. At present we display the portable BIJAC exhibit, but
have a few original source artifacts, particularly woodcut prints from
unknown camp artist(s), senior class photographic portraits from 1942-43,
and audiotapes of oral histories, that we would include in a modern
exhibit. Lighting, plexiglass, and curatorial services to develop and
install the exhibit are itemized on the “Budget Detail” sheet enclosed.
School groups that come to the museum will pay $ 2 per
student for pre-visit materials and a guided program. In the first year we
estimate that 20 classes of average size 25 will generate $ 1,000 in
income.
-
Curriculum
We would develop four curriculum packages: one for XYZ middle
schoolers that would incorporate a trip to the Museum; one for XYZ high
school students that would incorporate research in the Museum’s library.
Both of these can also incorporate in-person class visits or appearances at
the museum of former detainees, if available. There would also be an option
of hearing Dr. Kitamoto in person (ideal), but with the choice to watch the
video, which will be a length useful for teachers (27 minutes).
The video will be a key piece of curriculum for off-Island
students who less likely to hear Dr. Kitamoto in person, again at two age
levels, middle school and high school. Two curriculum developers will be
contracted with, each for an estimated 100 hours at the going local rate of
$ 25 per hour.
The BIHS Museum will cover photocopies, video copies, and
postage of the curriculum packages.
-
Research Source
Materials
We have 10 audiotapes of oral histories of Japanese Americans
and other XYZ residents of the era that we will have transcribed by a word
processor in order to use the information in the exhibit and to make
accessible to researchers, even over the Internet. See Budget Detail for
costs.
-
Temporary
Exhibit
We will need to build stand-along display walls to mount the
Ansel Adams exhibit and will pay for shipping and insurance and cost of
installation, roughly estimated here at $ 1,000. Since the museum does not
charge admission, but accepts only donations at the door, we do not expect
to be required to pay a fee to the owner museum. |
