Photo -- See Caption Below

Bookcase

c 1943 - 1944
Made by Yoshihisa Yamanaka


Internees reused wood from fruit and packing crates to build furniture. To provide work opportunities for those with manual skills, the War Relocation Authority [WRA] established both a clothing and furniture factory. A homemaking and building class created a model apartment in Block 7 as part of a project they called, "How a Barracks Becomes a Home."

Some people brought books but there were also several libraries in camp. The Manzanar Library expanded to include a collection of 24,000 volumes (20,000 volumes were donated by other libraries), and a periodical subscription of 157 magazines. Popular books of the time included John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath (Pulitzer 1940), and The Yearling by Majorie Kinnan Rawlings (Pu
litzer 1939)

Wood, plastic. H 109.2 W 49.5 D 27.9 cm

Manzanar National Historic Site, MANZ 3296