Interesting/unusual facts
Prior to 1943, Tule
Lake was just one of ten relocation centers. It was converted into a
segregation center for those the War Relocation Authority termed "disloyal"
as a result of their answers on the mandatory loyalty questionnaire
in early 1943. The internees who answered "yes" to the loyalty
questionnaire were supposed to choose a new center to transfer to, but
4,000 who did not want to move again, chose to stay at the segregation
center. By the summer of 1943, Tule Lake was a maximum security segregation
facility, with eight army tanks for security purposes.
After a farm worker
strike following the death of a farm worker, the camp administration
brought in 234 Japanese Americans from other relocation centers to
harvest crops.
Tule Lake had the
lowest percentage of eligible male citizens inducted into the armed
forces.
Much of the exterior
filming of the 1970s television movie "Farewell to Manzanar"
was shot a Tule Lake.
Land Ownership
Presently a mix of public, private, and state land.
Special Designations
State Historic Landmark, August 20, 1975. In September 2001 five structures
were determined to be eligible for listing on the National Register
of Historic Places.
Preservation and Interpretive Efforts
A monument of basalt rock and concrete along State Highway 139 commemorates
the relocation center and was dedicated in 1979.
The Bureau of Reclamation office in Klamath Falls, OR has historical
photographs and other files from the relocation center.
There is a small exhibit about Tule Lake Center at the county fairgrounds
museum.
Lava Beds National Monument in Tulelake, CA maintains a small collection
of ceramics and other artifacts from the relocation center.
Public access to the site today
The former relocation center is located 35 miles south of Klamath
Falls, OR and 10 miles south of the town of Tulelake, CA.
Local Resources
The Tule Lake Committee is the organization spearheading the preservation
of a portion of the camp as an educational center. Key contact people:
(1) Jimi Yamaichi: 408-269-9458, Email: jimi_yama@aol.com. (2) Patricia
Shiono: 415-648-4453, Email: pshiono@pacbell.net.
Selected Books
Collins, Donald E. Native American Aliens: Disloyalty and the Renunciation
of Citizenship by Japanese Americans During World War II. Westport,
CT: Greenwood Press. 1985. On "disloyals" at Tule Lake,
renunciation of citizenship, and the ordeal of seeking its restoration.
Takei, Barbara and Judy Tachibana. Tule Lake Revisited: A Brief
History and Guide to the Tule Lake Internment Camp Site. T and
T Press, 2001.
Thomas, Dorothy S. and Richard Nishimoto. The Spoilage. Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1946.
Weglyn, Michi. Years of Infamy: The Untold Story of America's
Concentration Camps. New York: William Morrow and Co. 1976. Detailed
overview of the removal and detention of Japanese Americans during
World War II.
Tsuchitani, Scott T. Meeting at Tule Lake. Video. 1994. NAATA
Distribution, 346 9th Street, second floor, San Francisco, CA 94103.
Tel: 415-552-9550.
Websites
www.tulelake.org
The history of Tule Lake and the Pilgrimages (information and pictures).
www.oac.cdlib.org/dynaweb/ead/csl/tulelake
California State Library, Tule Lake Collection
www.sierra.cc.ca.us/events/standguard/overview.html
An extensive collection of oral histories of Japanese Americans sent
to Tule Lake from Placer County, California