LOS ANGELES — On November 1, the Manzanar Committee and the Venice Japanese American Memorial Monument (VJAMM) Committee announced that the First Annual Arnold Maeda Manzanar Pilgrimage Grant is now available. Two college students will be selected to work with the Manzanar Committee to help plan and produce the 52nd Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage, to be held on April 24, 2021, by researching materials, contacting speakers and presenters, assisting in video recordings, attending Manzanar Committee planning meetings, and performing other duties, as needed. Recipients would work a total of 30 hours each and would each be paid a $500.00 stipend.
Maeda, who passed on September 10, 2020, at the age of 94, inspired the Venice Japanese American Memorial Monument Committee, in which he participated as a charter member, and he proved to be an invaluable speaker and fundraiser. The VJAMM Committee dedicated the monument on April 27, 2017, on the northwest corner of Venice and Lincoln Boulevards, where some 1,000 persons of Japanese ancestry were forcibly removed from Venice, Santa Monica, and Malibu, lined up with only what they could carry, for their day-long bus ride to the American concentration camp at Manzanar. Maeda remembered that day in his quote engraved on the monument:
“Instead of being worried about where we were going, I was obsessed with the fact that I had parted with my constant companion, my pet dog, Boy. For a fifteen-year old, that was unforgettably traumatic.”
Applicants will have opportunities to get to know Maeda and his legacy through his many online interviews and articles, and will write a short essay, short story, or poem addressing specific focus areas. Applications are due no later than Friday, December 4, 2020 and winners will be announced by the end of December.
For more information, please visit the Manzanar Committee web site at https://manzanarcommittee.org/amgrant-info or the VJAMM web site at https://www.venicejamm.org. Questions? Please use the contact form below.
You can download the application form by clicking on the link below:
First Annual Arnold Maeda Manzanar Pilgrimage Grant (PDF; 370KB. Adobe Acrobat Reader or equivalent software required).
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LEAD PHOTO: From left: Norman Toyoshige Maeda, Sasami Takeda Maeda, Arnold Tadao Maeda. Photo courtesy: Maeda Family.
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