Manzanar National Historic Site preserves one of the 10 Japanese American incarceration camps from World War II. This is probably the most famous of the camps due to the evocative memoir Farewell to Manzanar, written by Jeanne Wakatsui Houston and James Houston, and the movie based upon the book.
In February 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, giving the military the authority to relocate Japanese Americans from the West Coast of the United States. Approximately 125,000 people were displaced to the 10 camps. About two-thirds of those relocated were American citizens who had their Constitutional rights stripped from them.
While the term we all learned in history was internment camps, the Japanese Americans who were in the camps prefer the term incarceration camps, so that’s the term I will use.
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What to See at Manzanar National Historic Site
Visitor Center
Your first stop, as with any National Park, is to go to the visitor center, which is housed in the restored Manzanar High School Auditorium, one of three original buildings at the site.
Here, you will find extensive exhibits not just of the camp but how the land itself was used by humans going back to the Owens Valley Paiute tribe. But the most gut-wrenching of the exhibits are those of the Japanese-Americans incarcerated here.
The exhibits will walk you through the entire history of the relocation, starting with the immediate aftermath of Pearl Harbor to assembly centers to the arrival at an incomplete Manzanar.
You will learn about life in the camp, the relationships and struggles with the Army guards and the infamous loyalty questionnaire. You will learn more about how the Japanese Americans were treated upon release from the camps.
My one piece of advice: expect to learn more about this dark moment in American history than you ever learned in school.
Block 14
In Block 14, you will find reconstructed buildings that highlight what life was like for those incarcerated here.
You will find a barracks building that demonstrates the austere conditions that greeted the Japanese Americans. When they arrived, the barracks rooms had Army cots and an oil stove. That was it. The walls of the barracks were tarpaper, which did little to truly keep the elements out, and the wood used was so green that wide gaps appeared in the floors quickly. There was one bare light bulb hung from the ceiling for a 20-foot by 25-foot “apartment” for a family of up to eight… no partitions, no privacy.
You will also find a reconstructed communal ladies’ latrine with no partitions for the toilets or the showers.
Each of the blocks had a mess hall and the Park Service has a reconstructed mess hall building for the Block 14 exhibits, as well as a reconstructed classroom and block manager’s office.
Driving Tour
While you can easily walk from the visitor center to Block 14, it is a good idea to drive if you are going to take the driving tour. Along the tour, you will find several informational signs to give you an even better idea of what life was like while this camp was active.
Merritt Park
Merritt Park, named for the director of the camp, Ralph Merritt, was a 1.5-acre haven for those incarcerated here. It was designed by Kuichiro Nishi, a landscape architect, and included pathways meandering over arched wooded bridges with water features throughout.
The National Park Service is still in the process of recreating the park but you can easily see the artistry of what the Japanese Americans created despite the conditions of the camp.
Cemetery and Monument
At the west end of the compound, just beyond the barbed wire fence and where the guard tower stood, you will find where the cemetery is located. While the remains of those who died here have been relocated, the monument created by Ryozo Kado remains a stark visual reminder of the difficulties of camp life.
Camouflage Net Factory and Rubber Plantation
As you drive around the park, keep an eye out for the exhibits for the camouflage net factory and the experimental rubber plantation. The camouflage net factory helped out the war effort by creating nets to camouflage military equipment.
The Manzanar Guayule Project was an attempt to solve the rubber shortage during the war due to Axis control of the areas where rubber trees were grown. Japanese American scientists at the camp, in conjunction with Cal Tech, tried using a different plant, Guayule, to produce rubber. They were successful and created a better rubber, but the US government shut the project down and prevented the lead scientist from publishing the work.
Sentry Posts and Reconstructed Guard Tower
On your way out, be sure to stop at the sentry post at the historic entrance to the camp, which is one of the few original buildings of the camp. The distinctive shape of the building became a symbol of the camp.
On the road outside the camp to the north of both entrances, you will find a reconstructed guard tower, one of six that surrounded the camp.
Getting to Manzanar National Historic Site
Manzanar National Historic Site is located north of Lone Pine, CA at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It is about two hours’ travel to the west from Furnace Creek Visitor Center in Death Valley National Park. It is also about two hours travel south of Lee Vining on the east side of Yosemite National Park.
That puts this site in a relatively easy day trip distance from two major national parks in California and it is quite worth it to make the trip.
Final Thoughts of Visiting Manzanar National Historic Site
This is the fourth of the Japanese American incarceration camps we have visited (after Minidoka, Heart Mountain, Amache) and is easily the most complete in terms of exhibits and facilities. The National Park Service has done an excellent job telling the story of this site. Of the camps preserved by the National Park Service, Manzanar is easily one of the most accessible.
Even with our visits to other sites, the impact of what happened here still hit me with full force. Despite the fact I teach about this in my American Literature course (we read George Takei’s The Called Us Enemy), visiting here was still a gut punch.
That’s why visiting one of these camps is so essential as an American. You really have to see it to fully understand how bad the treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II was.
Then I hope you will join me in this vow: “Never again. Not on my watch.”
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