2010 / Manznar National Historic Site: Docent Programs, Sept 25, Oct 9, 10, Nov 13, 14

Manzanar 2010 Fall Docent Programs Poster

Fall 2010 Docent Programs at Manzanar

The programs are free and open to the public. Manzanar National Historic Site Interpretive Center is located at 5001 Highway 395, six miles south of Independence, California.

For walks, bring drinking water, sun protection, and appropriate footwear for level but uneven ground with dust and low brush.

For more information on the programs, call (760) 878-2194 or visit Manzanar’s website at www.nps.gov/manz.

September 25: Victor Mitsuno  meets and greets visitors from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm

Victor Mitsuno was a young child during World War II, when he and his family were sent to Manzanar. He remembers the long train ride from Southern California, getting locked in a classroom closet, and accidently setting fire to the Block 22 laundry room.

On Saturday, September 25, Mr. Mitsuno will share stories of camp, and of moving into substandard government housing in Burbank, California after the war. Mr. Mitsuno will be available from 11:00 to 5:00 to meet and greet visitors, answer questions, and orient them to the camp’s scale model.

October 9 and 10: Art Williams and Fred Causey lead walks at 11:00 am; give slide presentations at 1:30 pm and 3:30 pm

Art Williams and Fred Causey are not Japanese Americans, yet they spent World War II at Manzanar as children. Both of their fathers were employees of the War Relocation Authority (WRA).

Mr. Williams and Mr. Causey return to Manzanar on Saturday, October 9, and Sunday, October 10, 2010, to share with visitors their unique experiences as Caucasian kids in a camp for Japanese Americans. At 11:00, Mr. Williams and Mr. Causey will lead walks around the administrative area of camp where they lived. At 1:30 and 3:30, they will show slides of camp life in the auditorium.

For the walks, please meet in the lobby of the Interpretive Center, wear sturdy shoes, hat and sunscreen, and bring water to drink.

November 13 and 14: Julia Hirosawa Tafel gives talks at 1:00 pm

What does a Sonoran Desert shrub have to do with Japanese American incarceration during World War II? In 1940 and 1941, the Empire of Japan seized most of the world’s natural rubber supply in Southeast Asia. Julia Tafel’s father Frank Hirosawa, and a number of other chemists incarcerated at Manzanar, participated in important research for an alternative source to Southeast Asian tree rubber.

Their contribution was vital to the American war effort. Julia will share stories of her father’s research work, plus her own story as one of 541 “Manzanar Babies,” during talks at 1:00 p.m. both days.