The “Imprisoned at Home” exhibition in the Valene L. Smith Museum of Anthropology on the CSU, Chico Campus immersed visitors in the incarceration camps of World War II. A few weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, 120,000 Japanese and Americans of Japanese descent were forcibly taken from their homes to “War Relocation Centers.” In conjunction with this exhibition, the museum hosted a speaker series, including historians and actual survivors of the camps.

Designing the World War II Japanese and Japanese-American Incarceration

Dr. Lynne Horiuchi
Art & Architectural Historian

Decorative: Image from slideshow presentationIn this presentation, Dr. Lynne Horiuchi talks about the planning, design, building, and physical scale of the relocation centers used to imprison Japanese and Japanese-Americans during World War II. This massive project, undertaken by the US military, created what Dr. Horiuchi calls “urban cities” of 5,000 to 18, 000 people – enough to house a total of 130,000 people. She shares some of her research findings for her forthcoming book, “Dislocations & Relocations: Building Prison Cities for Japanese and Japanese-Americans during World War II.” Dr. Horiuchi’s talk was part of a lecture and film series in conjunction with the Valene Smith Anthropology Museum’s exhibition at CSU, Chico about the incarceration of Japanese and Japanese-Americans. Presentation Time: 1 hour, 18 minutes | View Now

Time of Remembrance

Marielle Tsukamoto

Decorative: Image of two childrenA few weeks after the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor, 120,000 Japanese and Americans of Japanese descent were taken from their homes to “War Relocation Centers.” From January 30-August 2, 2018, this event was the subject of the exhibit, “Imprisoned at Home – Reflections on Civil Liberties: The incarceration of Japanese Americans at Tule Lake,” at the Valene L. Smith Museum of Anthropology on the CSU, Chico campus. A related lecture-film series included this presentation, with historic photos, by Marielle Tsukamoto. At the age of five, Ms. Tsukamoto and her family was incarcerated in a relocation camp in Arkansas. She addresses both the history of the camps and how redress was achieved after a decades-long struggle. Presentation time: 1 hour, 25 minutes | View Now