Incarcerated at Tanforan Racetrack - Revision history

Ccarlsson at 05:18, 28 April 2025

2025-04-28T05:18:27Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:18, 27 April 2025
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	This is the site of the 1942 Tanforan temporary detention center, where 8,000 people were imprisoned from April 28-October 13, 1942 due to their ethnicity. They were Bay Area children, parents, adults, and elders. Now a transit station and a shopping mall, Tanforan was the largest Northern California facility to incarcerate people of Japanese descent, 64% of whom were American citizens by birthright. Upon its closure most of the inmates were moved to Topaz concentration camp in Utah.		This is the site of the 1942 Tanforan temporary detention center, where 8,000 people were imprisoned from April 28-October 13, 1942 due to their ethnicity. They were Bay Area children, parents, adults, and elders. Now a transit station and a shopping mall, Tanforan was the largest Northern California facility to [[Japanese Internment in San Francisco\|incarcerate people of Japanese descent]], 64% of whom were American citizens by birthright. Upon its closure most of the inmates were moved to Topaz concentration camp in Utah.

	This exhibition honors and acknowledges these prisoners who lived in the repurposed Tanforan racetrack, commandeered for the temporary detention facility in early April 1942. Though the hastily whitewashed horse stables covered the horsehair and bugs on the walls, the indignity, stench, and filthiness could not be hidden.		This exhibition honors and acknowledges these prisoners who lived in the repurposed Tanforan racetrack, commandeered for the temporary detention facility in early April 1942. Though the hastily whitewashed horse stables covered the horsehair and bugs on the walls, the indignity, stench, and filthiness could not be hidden.

Ccarlsson at 05:12, 28 April 2025

2025-04-28T05:12:42Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:12, 27 April 2025
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	The current exhibition replaces an earlier display that memorialized the 70th anniversary of Tanforan. The revised presentation offers an expanded understanding of the 1942 Tanforan incarceration though personal stories, artist interpretations, and intergenerational experiences.		The current exhibition replaces an earlier display that memorialized the 70th anniversary of Tanforan. The revised presentation offers an expanded understanding of the 1942 Tanforan incarceration though personal stories, artist interpretations, and intergenerational experiences.

	~~[[Image:Tanforan-Mochida-Memorial-from-side-w-cherry-blossoms 20250409 000427529.jpg\|300px\|right]]~~

	My desire is that the exhibition inspires dialogue about racial discrimination, identity, and civil liberties. Understanding the histories and traumas of the past can lead to equitable and humane treatment of all people. Please visit the Tanforan Memorial directly outside of the BART station, which includes the names of the 7,984 incarcerees and a statue of the Mochida sisters who were among those imprisoned at Tanforan.		My desire is that the exhibition inspires dialogue about racial discrimination, identity, and civil liberties. Understanding the histories and traumas of the past can lead to equitable and humane treatment of all people. Please visit the Tanforan Memorial directly outside of the BART station, which includes the names of the 7,984 incarcerees and a statue of the Mochida sisters who were among those imprisoned at Tanforan.
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	''Photos: Chris Carlsson''		''Photos: Chris Carlsson''

			[[Image:Tanforan-Mochida-Memorial-from-side-w-cherry-blossoms 20250409 000427529.jpg]]


	[[category:Japanese]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:South Bay and Peninsula]] [[category:racism]] [[category:Military]] [[category:2020s]]		[[category:Japanese]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:South Bay and Peninsula]] [[category:racism]] [[category:Military]] [[category:2020s]]

Ccarlsson at 05:06, 28 April 2025

2025-04-28T05:06:20Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:06, 27 April 2025
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	''Photo: Dorothea Lange, Library of Congress''		''Photo: Dorothea Lange, Library of Congress''

			[[Image:Notice-to-all-of-japanese-ancestry 20250204 220307161.MP.jpg\|800px]]


	This is the site of the 1942 Tanforan temporary detention center, where 8,000 people were imprisoned from April 28-October 13, 1942 due to their ethnicity. They were Bay Area children, parents, adults, and elders. Now a transit station and a shopping mall, Tanforan was the largest Northern California facility to incarcerate people of Japanese descent, 64% of whom were American citizens by birthright. Upon its closure most of the inmates were moved to Topaz concentration camp in Utah.		This is the site of the 1942 Tanforan temporary detention center, where 8,000 people were imprisoned from April 28-October 13, 1942 due to their ethnicity. They were Bay Area children, parents, adults, and elders. Now a transit station and a shopping mall, Tanforan was the largest Northern California facility to incarcerate people of Japanese descent, 64% of whom were American citizens by birthright. Upon its closure most of the inmates were moved to Topaz concentration camp in Utah.
Line 34:		Line 37:

	The current exhibition replaces an earlier display that memorialized the 70th anniversary of Tanforan. The revised presentation offers an expanded understanding of the 1942 Tanforan incarceration though personal stories, artist interpretations, and intergenerational experiences.		The current exhibition replaces an earlier display that memorialized the 70th anniversary of Tanforan. The revised presentation offers an expanded understanding of the 1942 Tanforan incarceration though personal stories, artist interpretations, and intergenerational experiences.

			[[Image:Tanforan-Mochida-Memorial-from-side-w-cherry-blossoms 20250409 000427529.jpg\|300px\|right]]

	My desire is that the exhibition inspires dialogue about racial discrimination, identity, and civil liberties. Understanding the histories and traumas of the past can lead to equitable and humane treatment of all people. Please visit the Tanforan Memorial directly outside of the BART station, which includes the names of the 7,984 incarcerees and a statue of the Mochida sisters who were among those imprisoned at Tanforan.		My desire is that the exhibition inspires dialogue about racial discrimination, identity, and civil liberties. Understanding the histories and traumas of the past can lead to equitable and humane treatment of all people. Please visit the Tanforan Memorial directly outside of the BART station, which includes the names of the 7,984 incarcerees and a statue of the Mochida sisters who were among those imprisoned at Tanforan.

	More information on artists and historians who contributed to this important permanent installation can be found [https://www.bart.gov/about/planning/art-program/exhibit here].		More information on artists and historians who contributed to this important permanent installation can be found [https://www.bart.gov/about/planning/art-program/exhibit here].

			[[Image:Tanforan-Memorial-statue 20250409 000355926.jpg]]

			[[Image:Tanforan-memorial-wide-view 20250411 181952248.jpg]]

			'''At the western exit of the San Bruno BART station adjacent to the entry to Tanforan Mall.'''

			''Photos: Chris Carlsson''


	[[category:Japanese]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:South Bay and Peninsula]] [[category:racism]] [[category:Military]] [[category:2020s]]		[[category:Japanese]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:South Bay and Peninsula]] [[category:racism]] [[category:Military]] [[category:2020s]]

Ccarlsson at 04:53, 28 April 2025

2025-04-28T04:53:30Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:53, 27 April 2025
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	The current exhibition replaces an earlier display that memorialized the 70th anniversary of Tanforan. The revised presentation offers an expanded understanding of the 1942 Tanforan incarceration though personal stories, artist interpretations, and intergenerational experiences.		The current exhibition replaces an earlier display that memorialized the 70th anniversary of Tanforan. The revised presentation offers an expanded understanding of the 1942 Tanforan incarceration though personal stories, artist interpretations, and intergenerational experiences.

	My desire is that the exhibition inspires dialogue about racial discrimination, identity, and civil liberties. Understanding the histories and traumas of the past can lead to equitable and humane treatment of all people. Please visit the Tanforan Memorial directly outside of the BART station, which includes the names of the 7,984 incarcerees and a statue of the Mochida sisters who were among those imprisoned at Tanforan. More information can be found at www.bart.gov/art.		My desire is that the exhibition inspires dialogue about racial discrimination, identity, and civil liberties. Understanding the histories and traumas of the past can lead to equitable and humane treatment of all people. Please visit the Tanforan Memorial directly outside of the BART station, which includes the names of the 7,984 incarcerees and a statue of the Mochida sisters who were among those imprisoned at Tanforan.

			More information on artists and historians who contributed to this important permanent installation can be found [https://www.bart.gov/about/planning/art-program/exhibit here].


	[[category:Japanese]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:South Bay and Peninsula]] [[category:racism]] [[category:Military]] [[category:2020s]]		[[category:Japanese]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:South Bay and Peninsula]] [[category:racism]] [[category:Military]] [[category:2020s]]

Ccarlsson: Created page with "''' Historical Essay ''' ''by curator Na Omi Judy Shintani, MA'' '''Tanforan Incarceration 1942: Resilience Behind Barbed Wire''' Image:Tanforan-Assembly-Center-Special-Collections-California-State-Univ-Fresno.jpg '''Tanforan horserace track reconfigured as the euphemistically labeled "Assembly Center" where Japanese-American U.S. citizens were gathered by the U.S. military..."

2025-04-28T04:50:46Z

Created page with "''' Historical Essay ''' ''by curator Na Omi Judy Shintani, MA'' <big>'''Tanforan Incarceration 1942: Resilience Behind Barbed Wire'''</big> Image:Tanforan-Assembly-Center-Special-Collections-California-State-Univ-Fresno.jpg '''Tanforan horserace track reconfigured as the euphemistically labeled "Assembly Center" where Japanese-American U.S. citizens were gathered by the U.S. military..."

New page

''' Historical Essay '''

''by curator Na Omi Judy Shintani, MA''

<big>'''Tanforan Incarceration 1942: Resilience Behind Barbed Wire'''</big>

[[Image:Tanforan-Assembly-Center-Special-Collections-California-State-Univ-Fresno.jpg]]

'''Tanforan horserace track reconfigured as the euphemistically labeled "Assembly Center" where Japanese-American U.S. citizens were gathered by the U.S. military in early 1942.'''

''Photo: courtesy Special Collections, California State University, Fresno''

[[Image:Tanforan-lines-Dorothea-Lange.jpg]]

'''Lines of newly incarcerated Japanese-Americans await assignment to temporary quarters in Tanforan horse stables in San Bruno, California.'''

''Photo: Dorothea Lange, Library of Congress''

This is the site of the 1942 Tanforan temporary detention center, where 8,000 people were imprisoned from April 28-October 13, 1942 due to their ethnicity. They were Bay Area children, parents, adults, and elders. Now a transit station and a shopping mall, Tanforan was the largest Northern California facility to incarcerate people of Japanese descent, 64% of whom were American citizens by birthright. Upon its closure most of the inmates were moved to Topaz concentration camp in Utah.

This exhibition honors and acknowledges these prisoners who lived in the repurposed Tanforan racetrack, commandeered for the temporary detention facility in early April 1942. Though the hastily whitewashed horse stables covered the horsehair and bugs on the walls, the indignity, stench, and filthiness could not be hidden.

[[Image:Tanforan-stables-w-residents-and-sb-mtn.jpg|800px]]

'''Tanforan stables with residents and San Bruno Mountain behind in the distance.'''

''Photo: BART exhibit, San Bruno Station''

Even while surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards, a bright spirit of resilience flourished among the prisoners. To create a sense of pride and normalcy, the inmates developed their own schools, library, newspaper, sports, and recreation activities. Imprisoned activists taught and made art, which in turn created solace and healing. Their artwork became powerful documentation and is displayed in the exhibition, along with expressions of incarceree descendants who strive to keep this history alive.

[[Image:Tanforan-totalizer.jpg]]

'''The Tanforan Totalizer, a resident-produced publication, 1942.'''

The current exhibition replaces an earlier display that memorialized the 70th anniversary of Tanforan. The revised presentation offers an expanded understanding of the 1942 Tanforan incarceration though personal stories, artist interpretations, and intergenerational experiences.

My desire is that the exhibition inspires dialogue about racial discrimination, identity, and civil liberties. Understanding the histories and traumas of the past can lead to equitable and humane treatment of all people. Please visit the Tanforan Memorial directly outside of the BART station, which includes the names of the 7,984 incarcerees and a statue of the Mochida sisters who were among those imprisoned at Tanforan. More information can be found at www.bart.gov/art.

[[category:Japanese]] [[category:1940s]] [[category:South Bay and Peninsula]] [[category:racism]] [[category:Military]] [[category:2020s]]