Michael Satterfield
Manzanar War Relocation Center is where Japanese Americans were forcibly imprisoned from December 1942 to 1945. Located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in California’s Owens Valley
Manzanar which translates to “apple orchard” in Spanish was home to over 10,000 Japanese Americans during WWII. The site was identified by the United States National Park Service as the best-preserved of the former campsites and is now the Manzanar National Historic Site, which preserves and interprets the legacy of Japanese American internment in the United States.
The site is about a 3-hour drive from Los Angeles, the visitors center is located in what was the camp’s original assembly hall. Inside guests are shown the unfiltered reality of how fear and racism lead to the internment of over 120,000 Americans of Japanese heritage. The exhibit gives you a different perspective on how different the world was and how much really hasn’t changed.
If you would like to plan your visit or learn more visit the National Parks Service site HERE.
