Japanese-American museum in California to display World War II internment art

SAN FRANCISCO – A California museum has acquired an art collection created by Japanese Americans held in internment camps after an East Coast auction house cancelled the sale of photographs and other artifacts amid protests.

The Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles will display the collection of art done by people of Japanese descent who were imprisoned over fears that they were spies. Dates were not announced.

Roughly 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated at 10 relocation camps after the Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.

“The mission of the Japanese American National Museum is to share this story,” said museum President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Kimura. “We honour the sacrifice of our forebears who suffered to prove their loyalty to the U.S. by ensuring that such constitutional violations never happen again.”

The collection includes nameplates carved from wood that were once attached to tar-paper barracks, watercolour and oil paintings, wood animal sculptures, wooden furniture and black-and-white photographs of residents in their daily lives.

The John Ryan family of Connecticut had the artifacts for many years before turning to the auction house last fall to help find the most appropriate home, said David Rago, founding partner of Auction Center.

However, the auction was cancelled amid backlash and protests.

Internees gave the collection to historian Allen H. Eaton while he was researching his 1952 book, “Beauty Behind Barbed Wire: The Arts of the Japanese in Our War Relocation Camps.” Eaton’s daughter sold the lot to the Ryan family.

The announcement about the exhibit came during the museum’s annual gala dinner, which honoured Star Trek actor and activist George Takei with its Distinguished Medal of Honor for Lifetime Achievement and Public Service.

A young Takei and his family were among those incarcerated during World War II.

“All of us can take to heart that our voices were heard and that these items will be preserved and the people who created them during a very dark period in our history will be honoured.” Takei said in a statement.