In the four years between 1942 and 1946, the United States government "evacuated" and interned more than 120,000 Japanese American citizens as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066. The U.S. government has since admitted that there was little evidence for the disloyalty of the internees, and that the entire affair was based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership" (100th Congress, S. 1009). This poignant online exhibit from the University of California chronicles the experience of the incarcerated men, women, and children. Click on People, Places, Daily Life, and Personal Experiences to view paintings and photographs or read primary texts and historical analyses of this most unfortunate government overreach. A variety of lesson plans aligned with California Content Standards are also available and include such topics as "Are We American Again?" and "Beauty Behind Barbed Wire."
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