Last Wednesday our featured speaker was KUNC reporter and host, Emma VandenEinde who shared her research and reporting which resulted in a KUNC 3-part story Saving Amache: The Community Effort to Preserve a Bitter History. Stacy Plemmons introduced Tammy Terwelp, President and CEO of KUNC who introduced Emma. Emma shared her report on Amache, one of ten incarceration camps in the US that housed Japanese Americans during WWII. Emma is a KUNC reporter who also does feature stories (heard on NPR programs like Here and Now, Science Friday and The World). Today’s presentation was based on her 3-part series on the “Granada Relocation Center” called “Camp Amache” by the incarcerated.
First a brief history - Amache was started because of Executive Order 9066 signed by FDR that stated “anyone (think Japanese Americans) deemed to be a threat to national security will need to be relocated”. Radios and other personal items were seized and destroyed by FBI agents. Japanese Americans thought to be a risk were assembled in a horse track in Santa Ana, CA and sent to various (rapidly and poorly constructed) camps around the US. After a few years survivors were released and given $25 and a bus ticket - to reset their lives. The documented numbers - 110,000 Japanese Americans were relocated nationwide, 7000+ at Amache at its peak (1943) and 106+ died at the camp.
Next Emma shared her process of gathering information and reporting - starting with her emails to the National Park Service because she knew that changes were going to occur at the site (possibly leading to a national park designation), and so she planned to write a short story on the camp. The story grew when she got connected with Mitch Homma and Derek Okubo, both descendants of survivors of Amache. They shared many stories which led to further connections with important players such as John Hopper (a local history teacher) as well as survivors with even more stories.
To learn what the camp was like she travelled almost 5 hours by car to this very (intentionally) isolated site. She shared pictures of the one restored housing building, the barbed wire surrounding the camp and an original map of the various buildings on the facility. A quote from Derek Okubo – I remember hearing comments that “the Japanese were put in the camps to protect them from harm…(but) why were the guns pointing in rather than out?”. Inside the restored building we see a small room (cell) with a cot. The question of “How did you get through this?’ – to Carlene Tinker, a survivor – I relied on certain lifelong Japanese principles that teach perseverance and acceptance (paraphrased). There is a memorial site (pictured on a slide) for the 106 persons who died at Amache (including those who served in the war).
Now back to John Hopper, the history teacher at nearby Granada HS who inspired his students to become involved in the preservation of this important site resulting in a small museum containing personal survivor articles, collected stories and a diorama of the camp. The museum is run and staffed by John’s students!
Another quote - by Gary Ono suggests a journalist’s role “It is not knowing the truth that causes misunderstanding”.
How did the “short story” expand to a 3-part series? Realizing the expanse of this story, Emma and her editor agreed to a 3-part series – 1) History – focused on descendant’s stories 2) Education – John Hopper, CU/DU professors, Carlene Tinker’s connection and 3) What’s next? – what do stakeholders want at the site, how does the site become a national park and Gary Ono’s (another survivor) recommendations.
The final product on the KUNC website includes an interactive timeline of significant events, interactive visuals and an interactive map allowing descendants to locate where their relatives were in the camp. The National Park is still in development - other buildings may be restored, there is a Youth Ambassador Program training young people to share the camp’s stories and there will be a Denver Art Museum Exhibit about the camp.
All of this (preserving our history - both good and bad - and reporting the truth) depends on our support for funding the NPS and Public Radio! For more here’s a link to Emma’s reporting - https://www.kunc.org/saving-amache-the-community-effort-to-preserve-a-bitter-history