;LOS ANGELES — Our Legacy: Generational Struggles For Democracy is the theme for the 54th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage, which will be held live and in-person, conditions permitting, at the Manzanar National Historic Site on Saturday, April 29, 2023, at 12:00 PM PDT. The 2023 Manzanar At Dusk program will also be held live and in-person in the hours following the 54th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage.
Manzanar was the first of the American concentration camps in which more than 120,000 Japanese Americans and their immigrant parents were unjustly incarcerated during World War II.
People from all walks of life attend the Manzanar Pilgrimage each year, including students, teachers, community members, clergy and former incarcerees. Planning is already underway for this year’s program.
Unlike the last few years when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Committee to move the annual Pilgrimage to an online, recorded video format, this year’s event will return, conditions permitting, to its traditional program at the Manzanar National Historic Site.
The 2023 Manzanar At Dusk program, which has also been held online the last two years, will follow the afternoon Pilgrimage program, conditions permitting, at 5:00 PM PDT, at Lone Pine High School gymnasium, located at 538 South Main Street (U.S. Highway 395), in Lone Pine, California, approximately eight miles south of the Manzanar National Historic Site, across the street from McDonald’s (see map below).
Now in its 25th year, Manzanar At Dusk is co-sponsored by the Nikkei Student Unions at California Polytechnic University, Pomona; California State University (CSU), Fullerton; CSU Long Beach; the University of California, Los Angeles; the University of California, Riverside and; the University of California, San Diego.
Through a creative presentation, small group discussions, and an open mic session, participants will have the opportunity to interact with former incarcerees in attendance and others to hear their personal stories. Participants will also be able to share their own experiences and discuss the relevance of the Japanese American Incarceration experience to present-day issues.
Further details about the 54th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage and the 2023 Manzanar At Dusk program will be announced at a later date.
Both the Manzanar Pilgraimage and the Manzanar At Dusk program are free and open to the public. For more information, call (323) 662-5102, or send e-mail to info@manzanarcommittee.org.
The Manzanar Committee, sponsor of the annual Manzanar Pilgrimage and Manzanar At Dusk program, the youth education project, Katari: Keeping Japanese American Stories Alive, and their annual Sue Kunitomi Embrey Student Awards Program, is dedicated to educating and raising public awareness about the incarceration and violation of civil rights of persons of Japanese ancestry during World War II and to the continuing struggle of all peoples when Constitutional rights are in danger. A non-profit organization that has sponsored the annual Manzanar Pilgrimage since 1969, along with other educational programs, the Manzanar Committee has also played a key role in the establishment and continued development of the Manzanar National Historic Site.
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LEAD PHOTO: The I Rei To (soul consoling tower) at the Manzanar cemetery. Photo by Gann Matsuda/Manzanar Committee.
Manzanar National Historic Site via Google Maps
Lone Pine High School via Google Maps
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