Our Partners

Grass-roots groups, led by the Manzanar Committee, worked for decades to recognize and preserve Manzanar and its stories. As a direct result of these efforts, Congress established Manzanar National Historic Site as a unit of the National Park Service (NPS) in 1992. Other entities—such as the Eastern California Museum—worked concurrently to preserve archives and objects related to Manzanar and to share its many stories.

National Park Service Director’s Order 21: Donations and Philanthropic Partnerships is a policy that guides all aspects of Manzanar National Historic Site’s partnerships, fund-raising and friend-raising efforts.

The list below includes several formal partners and sovereign nations whose homeland includes Manzanar. For a link to other National Park Service sites preserving confinement sites and stories, visit our places page.

 

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Entities with Formal Partnerships and/or Philanthropic agreements with the NPS at Manzanar

 

 

Eastern Sierra Interpretive Association (ESIA) partners with Manzanar as the non-profit Cooperating Association which operates the store in the Manzanar Visitor Center. Profits support Manzanar’s programs and projects. ESIA is also a formal fundraising partner and seeks grant funding and donations to enhance support for Manzanar National Historic Site.

 

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Entities that the NPS Collaborates with at Manzanar

 

Eastern California Museum

Eastern California Museum (ECM) has a permanent exhibit on the camp created for former Manzanar incarcerees Shiro and Mary Nomura. The NPS and ECM have collaborated on multiple projects. Some of ECM’s museum collections are available online.

 

Friends of Manzanar

The Friends of Manzanar works has raised funds for specific projects at Manzanar, including reconstructing a guard tower, restoring historic vegetation, and helping to reconstruct a women’s latrine.

 

Eastern Sierra Sustainable Recreation Partnership

The Eastern Sierra Sustainable Recreation Partnership is a unique public/public partnership between the US Forest Service, local agencies and communities to create a replicable sustainable recreation program in California’s magnificent Eastern High Sierra.

 

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The Nüümu (Paiute) of Payahuunadü (Owens Valley) Sovereign Nations