News Release
NPS/Manzanar
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Contact: Alisa Lynch, 760-878-2194x3311
INDEPENDENCE, CA—Manzanar National Historic Site invites visitors to participate in a weekend of special events in conjunction with the Manzanar Committee’s 54th Annual Pilgrimage. All are welcome and the events are free.
Pilgrimage weekend begins Friday, April 28, with a public reception with light refreshments hosted by the Friends of Eastern California Museum from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Eastern California Museum is located at 155 Grant Street in Independence. It features exhibits including Shiro and Mary Nomura’s Manzanar Collection, the Anna and O.K. Kelly Gallery of Native American Life, and exhibits on other facets of local and regional history. Eastern California Museum is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The Manzanar National Historic Site Visitor Center is open 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. On Saturday, April 29 only, the center will extend hours to 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. It features extensive exhibits and audio-visual programs. A special art show, Portraits of the People of Payahuunadü, honors indigenous people whose connections to this valley stretch back to time immemorial.
Just outside the visitor center, Block 14 features two reconstructed barracks and a women’s latrine, as well as a restored World War II-era mess hall. The barracks exhibits offer an in-depth exploration of the challenges and changes people faced in their daily lives at Manzanar. An exhibit on schools is featured in the north end of Barracks 8. The mess hall exhibits highlight the logistics and politics of food in Manzanar. The women’s latrine powerfully evokes the humiliation people endured during private moments in public spaces.
The Manzanar Committee’s 54th Annual Pilgrimage Ceremony begins at noon, Saturday, April 29, at the Manzanar Cemetery. A free shuttle service from the visitor center parking lot to the cemetery will be available from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
UCLA Kyodo Taiko will kick off the event with traditional Japanese taiko drumming at 11:30 a.m., followed by the procession of camp banners at noon. This year’s theme is “Our Legacy: Generational Struggles for Democracy” and will honor the late Jim Matsuoka of Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress and the late Rev. Alfred Tsuyuki of Konko Church of Los Angeles.
Featured speakers include Manjusha Kulkarni and Dr. Arthur A. Hansen. Kulkarni is the Executive Director of the AAPI Equity Alliance and a co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate. Hansen, one of the leading scholars documenting and researching Manzanar and the Japanese American Incarceration, is the author of the new book, Manzanar Mosaic: Essays and Oral Histories on America’s First World War II Japanese American Concentration Camp.
The Pilgrimage program concludes with a traditional interfaith service and ondo dancing. The Manzanar Committee requests that those wishing to pay tribute by placing flowers on the base of the cemetery monument please bring their own flowers.
The Manzanar At Dusk program begins at 5:00 p.m. Saturday at Lone Pine High School located at 538 South Main Street (Hwy. 395) in Lone Pine. The program offers participants opportunities for intergenerational discussions and sharing. The program is co-sponsored by the Nikkei Student Unions of California Polytechnic University, Pomona; California State University (CSU), Fullerton; CSU, Long Beach; University of California, Los Angeles; and University of California, San Diego.
At 11:00 a.m., Sunday, April 30, Dr. Arthur A. Hansen will speak on his book, Manzanar Mosaic. The program will take place in the visitor center’s west theater. Manzanar’s non-profit partner Eastern Sierra Interpretive Association will host a book signing after the program.
With the exception of Friday evening’s reception and Saturday evening’s Manzanar At Dusk program, all events take place at Manzanar National Historic Site located at 5001 Hwy. 395, six miles south of Independence, nine miles north of Lone Pine, and approximately 230 miles northeast of Los Angeles. There is no food service at Manzanar. Please bring your own chair, a water bottle, and lunch or snacks. Wear sunscreen, a hat, comfortable shoes, and dress for the weather.
For more information on Manzanar National Historic Site, please call 760-878-2194 ext. 3310 or visit our website at www.nps.gov/manz. Additional Pilgrimage program information is posted on the Manzanar Committee blog at https://manzanarcommittee.org
Last updated: April 13, 2023