Official Web site of the Los Angeles-based Manzanar Committee, sponsor of the annual Manzanar Pilgrimage since 1969.
by Patricia Biggs, Park Ranger (Interpretive staff), Manzanar National Historic Site. Manzanar National Historic Site has become an intense place to work lately. Every day, at least one visitor (usually more) tells me that he/she is worried that the same racist, knee-jerk reaction discriminating against a minority group is happening again. Every Day. And, if... Continue Reading →
LOS ANGELES — The Manzanar Committee extends its deepest sympathies to the family of former Manzanar National Historic Site Superintendent Frank Hays, who passed away due to a heart attack on March 3, which was, coincidentally, the 25th Anniversary of the establishment of the Manzanar NHS. A 58-year-old native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Hays was the... Continue Reading →
In 1969, approximately 150 people, mostly Japanese American college students, made the 230-mile trip to the site of the Manzanar concentration camp where 11,070 Japanese Americans and Japanese immigrants (who were prevented by racist laws from naturalizing) were unjustly incarcerated during World War II. Their journey was the first organized Manzanar Pilgrimage, which has become... Continue Reading →
The following is a press release from the National Park Service. INDEPENDENCE, CA — 105,307 people from throughout the United States and around the world visited Manzanar National Historic Site in 2016, topping the previous year’s record of 95,327. From near and far, youth and elders, first-time visitors and Japanese Americans who had been incarcerated,... Continue Reading →
LOS ANGELES — Never Again To Anyone, Anywhere! 75th Commemoration of Executive Order 9066 is the theme for the 48th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage, sponsored by the Manzanar Committee, on Saturday, April 29, 2017, at the Manzanar National Historic Site, located on U.S. Highway 395 in California’s Owens Valley, between the towns of Lone Pine and... Continue Reading →
LOS ANGELES — The 2016 Presidential election has unleashed thoughts, feelings and acts that are antithetical to our democracy. Blatant racism and xenophobia are on the rise, including a dramatic increase in anti-Asian racism, and hundreds of hateful incidents, along with unconstitutional calls to ban or deport immigrants and Muslims—all of this grips our country.... Continue Reading →
During the 46th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage on April 25, 2015, we honored the Reverend Paul T. Nakamura, pastor of Lutheran Oriental Church in Torrance, California as the recipient of the 2015 Sue Kunitomi Embrey Legacy Award. The award was named after the late chair of the Manzanar Committee who was also one of the founders... Continue Reading →
INDEPENDENCE, CA — February 19, 2017 will mark the 75th Anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signing of Executive Order 9066, which resulted in the unjust incarceration of more than 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, more than two-thirds native-born American citizens, into ten American concentration camps during World War II. Coincidentally, just a few weeks... Continue Reading →
On September 10, Buzzfeed.com released a video by Jen Ruggirello (whose grandparents were incarcerated during World War II), who, along with four others, including Los Angeles Japanese American activist Sean Miura, visited the Manzanar National Historic Site. They documented their visit, their observations and what they learned in the video, A Trip To Manzanar, which... Continue Reading →
Manzanar Committee 