Legacy-Manzanar National Historic Site - Independence CA
Posted by: 
Don.Morfe
N 36° 43.524 W 118° 09.708
11S E 396255 N 4065039
Over the years, this monument has become an icon, inspiring a grass-roots movement to preserve Manzanar and remember the sacrifices of 120,313 Japanese Americans confined by their own government.
Waymark Code: WM135PP
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 09/21/2020
Views: 2
Legacy-Manzanar National Historic Site--Over the years, this monument has become an icon, inspiring a grass-roots movement to preserve Manzanar and remember the sacrifices of 120,313 Japanese Americans confined by their own government. Buddhist minister Sentoku Mayed and Christian minister Shoichi Wakahiro first returned here on Memorial Day 1946. For the next 30 years, they made “pilgrimages” to honor Manzanar’s dead.
Amid the 1960s civil rights struggles, younger Japanese Americans spoke out, shattering their elders’ silence and shame about the camps. On a cold December day in 1969, 150 people journeyed here on the first organized pilgrimage. An annual event since, the Manzanar Pilgrimage attracts hundreds of people of all ages from diverse backgrounds. On the last Saturday of April, they gather here for a day of remembrance with speeches, a memorial service, an traditional ondo dance.
Visiting the cemetery anytime can be a personal pilgrimage—of reflection, worship, remembrance, or protest. Some people leave offerings---coins, personal mementos, paper cranes, water and sake, and religious items—as outward expressions of the ongoing, unspoken conversations about America’s past and future.
(Quote at the bottom of the marker:)
“America is strong as it makes amends for the wrongs it has committed…We will always remember Manzanar because of that.” –Sue Kunitomi Embry
(Inscription on the left side of the marker:)
Sue Kunitomi Embry 1923-2006-Sue Kunitomi arrived at Manzanar in May 1942, at age 19. In camp, she served as a teacher’s aid, wove camouflage nets to support the war effort, and worked as a reporter and then managing editor of the Manzanar Free Press.
Years later Sue Kunitomi Embry was among the first of her generation to speak out about the camps. As the driving force behind the Manzanar Committee, she organized the Manzanar Pilgrimage for 37 years and worked tirelessly to ensure that this site and its stories would be preserved to protect the human and civil rights of all. Today, Sue’s legacy endures in the ongoing work of informing and inspiring future generations.
Group that erected the marker: National Park Service
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
5001 Highway 395 (Entrance to the Site)
On the grounds of Manzanar National Historic Site
Independence, CA USA
93526
|
Visit Instructions:
Take a picture of the marker, preferably including yourself or your GPSr in the photo. A very detailed description of your visit may be substituted for a photo. In any case please provide a description of your visit. A description of only "Visited" or "Saw it while on vacation" by anyone other than the person creating the waymark may be deleted by the waymark owner or the category officers.