April 2019
Dear Media Member:
On behalf of the Manzanar Committee, welcome to the 50th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage/2019 Manzanar At Dusk programs. We deeply appreciate your attendance and your coverage of our events.
2019 is a special year for us as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first organized Manzanar Pilgrimage, which was held on December 27, 1969. This annual event quickly became an institution in the Japanese American, Asian Pacific American and broader civil rights communities. It was a catalyst for the redress and reparations movement of the late 1960s – early 1990s, and it continues to be relevant today—far too relevant, given the current political climate.
Our Manzanar At Dusk program, which began in 1997 as Manzanar After Dark and is now in its 22nd year, will look at the history and issues surrounding Japanese American Incarceration during World War II and will show that, despite the passage of more than 75 years, this history is repeating itself today. The program will also give participants the opportunity to discuss what they learned during the Pilgrimage program and about present-day injustices that they may be experiencing in their own communities, drawing connections to what Japanese Americans had to endure during World War II. Participants will also talk about what can we do now?
To help facilitate your coverage, this web page includes our media guidelines for both events, along with background information on our organization and our press releases about our events, all of which you can download via links below (Adobe Acrobat Reader or equivalent PDF reader software required). A flyer detailing programs sponsored by the National Park Service at the Manzanar National Historic Site, and the National Park Service’s guidelines for news media, along with other materials, are also included for download.
Once again, welcome to the annual Manzanar Pilgrimage and Manzanar At Dusk program. Thank you for attending and we look forward to your coverage.
Sincerely,
Gann Matsuda
Director, Communications and Social Media/Web Editor
Manzanar Committee
E-Mail: communications@manzanarcommittee.org
Media Advisory and Guidelines for Coverage
Media Information Packet
50th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage -Printed Program
National Park Service – Pilgrimage Weekend Events/Media Guidance Document
Resources on Recommended, Non-Euphemistic Terminology Regarding Japanese American Incarceration
- Concentration Camps, Not Relocation Centers by Sue Kunitomi Embrey (1976)
- Power of Words Handbook
- Words Can Lie Or Clarify: Terminology of the World War II Incarceration of Japanese Americans
LEAD PHOTO: The interfaith service during the 48th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage, April 29, 2017. Photo: Mark Kirchner/Manzanar Committee.
Manzanar Committee 