The following photographs are from the very first organized Manzanar Pilgrimage on December 27, 1969, by photographer Evan Johnson, who attended the Pilgrimage, along with others from the Asian American Studies Department at the University of California, Davis.
Johnson donated his collection taken that day to the Manzanar National Historic Site.
“Regretfully, I have no other details of the participants or how this came about, but [that] our contingent was from U.C. Davis Asian American Studies Department, under the leadership of brilliant, inspiring and knowledgeable professor, Isao Fujimoto, still there after all these years,” Johnson wrote, in a letter that accompanied the film negatives.
We hope you will enjoy this brief glimpse at what went on during the very first Manzanar Pilgrimage back in 1969.
LEAD PHOTO: Pioneering attendees at the first organized Manzanar Pilgrimage, held on December 27, 1969, gathered around the Manzanar cemetery monument. Photo: National Park Service/Evan Johnson Collection.
1969 Manzanar Pilgrimage, December 27, 1969
Photos from the National Park Service/Evan Johnson Collection. Used with permission.
51 photos. click on any thumbnail to view a larger image, and to scroll through the gallery)
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