Taken From Their Families: Japanese American Incarceration during World War II, a traveling exhibit from the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, opens this weekend at the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center.
For decades before its closing in 1940, the Angel Island Immigration Station was the gateway to the United States for immigrants from Asia, much like Ellis Island in New York was for Europeans. After the imperial Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the station was converted to an internment camp for Japanese immigrants who were rounded up under the provisions of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.
Six hundred of the Japanese immigrants were from Hawaii, while another 100 were from the U.S. mainland. They were mostly religious and community leaders, including some journalists and even some martial artists. After their stays at Angel Island, they were shifted to other camps run by the Justice Department.
Some incarcerees, such as Chokichi Satow of Fresno, lived in multiple camps during the war. Satow was incarcerated at six places, including Angel Island, before he was eventually repatriated to Japan in November 1945.
“This exhibit offers a rare opportunity to explore an even less known part of the story of Japanese American incarceration: the story of the men who were rounded up and arrested by the FBI in the hours and days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, based on their religious affiliation, hobbies, profession, or even simply unfounded accusations from anonymous informants,” said Cally Steussy, Heart Mountain’s director of interpretation and preservation.
The exhibit will remain at Heart Mountain until early October.