We went out to Manzanar National Historic Site (World War II internment camp) late Saturday, after the interpretive center had closed. If you've followed the blog, you know we've been here before.
I don't know why we're so drawn to it. Maybe it's just the idea that 10,000 people lived here in barracks like these for a couple of years while their businesses languished and their former communities moved on without them.
Maybe it's also partly that when we first visited about 10 years ago, there was just a little sheet of paper noting various landmarks you could pick out, but which weren't very well marked. Now there's a wonderful interpretive center, a reconstructed guard tower (important, because there was actually a book available at the Lone Pine Drug Store that denied that anyone was kept here against their will or that there were even guard towers,) and signs that they are working to restore some of the water gardens created by the people who lived here.
We've been visiting this spot for years. Last year there was no sidewalk and some of the deepest pool was filled with dirt. I climbed all around it, because I suspect that by next time this will be fenced off. It looks like they're going to move the barracks over here, too, because there were unearthed (or recreated?) blocks of foundation concrete on either side.
Looking south past monument at the graveyard. Most of the bodies were moved to other locations when the camp was closed.
One of the interesting tributes left on the monument.
The grave marker of Baby Jerry Ogata.
Here's a link to the photos Ansel Adams took there, courtesy of the Library of Congress.
2 comments:
You know, I've never been to Manzanar. I should make a point to visit. I knew one woman who lost everything. She's a pack rat, her apartment filled from floor to ceiling with stuff. She can't seem to get rid of anything. I think it's a side effect of those times.
Wow, that sounds reasonable. I'm not sure why we're so drawn to the place. The idea that we are standing on historic ground, that there were so many people there filled with such high emotion, maybe. It seems to resonate still.
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