Merced Assembly Center - Merced, California
Posted by: 
hotshoe
N 37° 17.467 W 120° 29.020
10S E 723055 N 4130136
Site of central California relocation of Japanese-American citizens
Waymark Code: WM9RB8
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 09/23/2010
Views: 16
This is the location of one of America's more shameful moments of history. All persons of Japanese ancestry in Pacific coast states were ordered to relocation camps because of the government panic following Pearl Harbor. The assembly center for northern and central California was here, at the Merced County fairgrounds.
According to the text of one of the signs explaining the history here:
"On December 7, 1941, the world that the Issei and Nisei of the San
Joaquin Valley knew was shattered by the events of Pearl Harbor and
the entry of the United States into World War II. Japanese Americans
across the Western United States faced the reality that the United
States was at war with Japan. The loyalty and faith of the Japanese
American community would be
severely tested through the
war years. The initial period of
worry and fear was replaced by
government orders for "evacua-
tion" to "relocation camps."
Motivated by fear, without due
process of law, all Japanese
Americans, both American
citizens and their immigrant parents, across the Western United States
were forced to leave their homes, give up their possessions, businesses,
and farms simply because of their race.
The government forced over 4,600 persons of Japanese ancestry in
Northern and Central California to relocate to these fairgrounds. All
internees could bring only what they could carry. The workers,
including high school students, were hired to quickly build the
barracks in eleven days. ..."
There is no remant of the structures which housed the internees nearly seven decades ago.
The idea for this memorial was sparked by a local congressman, Dennis Cardoza, after he learned about the fairgrounds history from Representative Mike Honda, who himself had been interned here as a baby. It was not funded by the government, however, but by local donations in a spirit of reconciliation. More than a hundred survivors of the internment were able to attend the dedication ceremony on February 20, 2010.
Related Website: [Web Link]
Supplementary Related Website: [Web Link]
Admission Fee: none, except during special fair events
Opening Days/Times:
weekdays 8AM to 5PM, open later during special events; weekend special events times vary
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Visit Instructions:
Posting a picture(s) of the location would be nice although not required.